measure-before-optimize SKILL.md skillA
measure-before-optimize from karsten-s-nielsen/mad-scientist-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add karsten-s-nielsen/mad-scientist-skills/measure-before-optimize@git:20260929.7b74d3aPins git:20260929.7b74d3a in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- karsten-s-nielsen/mad-scientist-skills
- Path
plugins/mad-scientist-skills/skills/measure-before-optimize/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 3
- Latest version
- git:20260929.7b74d3a, committed Sep 29, 2026
- First version recorded
- Apr 14, 2026
- Size
- 9,362 bytes
- Repository stars
- 3
- License
- MIT
Pre-change measurement gate for perf-sensitive functions. Use BEFORE modifying any function that has a pytest-benchmark test, appears in a performance baselines file, or is flagged as a hot path in CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md. Captures baseline median and p95, verifies the change does not regress beyond a configurable threshold, reports the delta. Peer skill to optimization-audit — this one is pre-change; that one is retrospective.
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
# Measure Before Optimize A pre-change measurement discipline that captures a performance baseline, gates the change on a regression threshold, and reports the delta. Designed as a peer to `optimization-audit`: this skill is pre-change, that one is retrospective. ## When to use this skill - Before modifying a function that has a `pytest-benchmark` test. - Before modifying a function listed in the project's performance baselines file (commonly `docs/performance-baselines.md` or `docs/benchmarks.md`). - Before modifying a function flagged as a hot path in `CLAUDE.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `CONTRIBUTING.md`, or a performance-related document. - When the user says "optimize X", "speed up Y", "this function is slow", or similar performance-intent phrases. - When a task touches tracking-scale data, Spark UDFs with strict memory budgets, or any code in a documented hot loop. ## What this skill is NOT for - Retrospective performance audits — use `optimization-audit` instead. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add karsten-s-nielsen/mad-scientist-skills/measure-before-optimize@sha256:46b20dec6de5075bThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260929.7b74d3a, 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.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_3ygc4qzdyem5eaum)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 3 versions of this file, between Apr 14, 2026 and Sep 29, 2026, about one every 84 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260929.7b74d3a latest | 2026-09-29 | 7b74d3a | 9,362 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260926.35dafdd | 2026-09-26 | 35dafdd | 8,849 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260414.9c3849d | 2026-04-14 | 9c3849d | 8,800 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (9362 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
karsten-s-nielsen/mad-scientist-skills · 3 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-01 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_3ygc4qzdyem5eaum GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=karsten-s-nielsen/mad-scientist-skills/measure-before-optimize GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/46b20dec6de5075b5debae1a7c28ea12343b574f162cd7bbf8db56d7dbd61ca7
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.