why SKILL.md skillA

why from iap/pstack-hermes is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.

Install it, pinned

mdr add iap/pstack-hermes/why@git:20261031.336cc57

Pins git:20261031.336cc57 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade: A, 17 of 17 checks passed
Kind: SKILL.md skill
Repository: iap/pstack-hermes
Path: skills/why/SKILL.md
Versions recorded: 1
Latest version: git:20261031.336cc57, committed Oct 31, 2026
Size: 10,741 bytes
Repository stars: 32
License: a license file GitHub does not identify

Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed thresholds. Discovers available MCPs and queries each evidence category (source control, issue tracker, long-form docs, real-time chat, infrastructure observability, error tracking, product analytics warehouse) in parallel, then returns a cited read on decisions and tradeoffs. Use how for runtime behavior.

Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.

What the file says

# Why

Investigate the motivation and intent behind code.

Companion to the `how` skill. `how` answers what the code does and how it works. `why` answers what forces led to its shape.

Each spawn below names a role line in the pstack model panel (`pstack-models.json` in the hermes config dir next to `config.yaml`) and a default. Set `model` to that line's value, or to the default if the rule or the line is missing. Leave `model` unset when the value is `inherit-parent`. If delegate_task rejects a slug, use the default and say so. If it rejects the default, use the closest valid slug of the same family from its error message.

## Operating Posture

Operate as a **careful, cautious, and precise investigator**. Be honest about what you know vs what you're inferring. Read `references/epistemics.md` for the full confidence framework and phrasing guide. The synthesizer must follow it.

## Step 1. Understand the Target and the Question
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint

mdr add iap/pstack-hermes/why@sha256:be0384c515929587

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261031.336cc57, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.

Badge

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_3s74tjzrn7o34sth.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_3s74tjzrn7o34sth)

1 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.

Versions

The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Oct 31, 2026.

version	committed	commit	size	audit
git:20261031.336cc57 latest	2026-10-31	336cc57	10,741 B	A	view

Audit of the latest version

A 17 of 17 checks passed. Fixed automatic checks with no AI involved, so the same checks give the same answer every run.

pass: Frontmatter block present
pass: Frontmatter declares a name
pass: Frontmatter declares a description
pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (10741 bytes)
pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
pass: No credential-shaped string
pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
pass: No text hidden with inline styles
pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
pass: No link to a raw IP address
pass: No script tag

Source

GitHub

iap/pstack-hermes · 32 stars · license a license file GitHub does not identify · pushed 2026-11-04 · branch master

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_3s74tjzrn7o34sth
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=iap/pstack-hermes/why
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/be0384c51592958758fe64d6915f507b9380ebd29bba49bad1a97d7578d2aafc

Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.

Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.

More from iap/pstack-hermes

AGENTS.md AGENTS.md file

iap/pstack-hermes · AGENTS.md

git:20261102.ff24d2d · audit A · 32 stars

architect SKILL.md skill

iap/pstack-hermes · skills/architect/SKILL.md · Sketch types, signatures, and module structure before code, then stay in the loop while implementation fills in. Use…