crafting-instructions SKILL.md skillA
crafting-instructions from oaustegard/claude-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add oaustegard/claude-skills/crafting-instructions@v0.5.0Pins v0.5.0 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- oaustegard/claude-skills
- Path
crafting-instructions/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 6
- Latest version
- v0.5.0, committed Sep 9, 2026
- First version recorded
- Nov 18, 2025
- Size
- 10,561 bytes
- Repository stars
- 158
- License
- MIT
Chooses the right FORMAT for instructions on Claude.ai — project instructions, a skill, or a standalone prompt — and gives the format-specific structure once chosen. Use when the question is which container an instruction belongs in ("should this be a skill or project instructions", "where do I put this", "how do I set up this project", "is this worth a skill"), or when someone has instructions and does not know how to package them. For the writing principles that apply inside any of the three…
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
# Crafting Instructions for Claude Choose the format for instructions on Claude.ai — Project instructions, Skills, or standalone prompts — and structure them for the format chosen. **Overlap notice.** The Core Optimization Principles below also appear in `writing-instructions`, which carries them in more depth. This skill owns the **format decision**; `writing-instructions` owns **how to write well inside a format**. The two descriptions are close enough that a request can land on either — route by which of those two questions is being asked. ## Decision Framework: Which Format to Use? Ask these questions to determine the right format: ### Use PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS when: - Context needs to persist for ALL conversations in a workspace - Multiple team members collaborate with shared knowledge - Background knowledge required for specific initiative - Custom behavior scoped to one project only **Signals:** "for this project", "all conversations about X", "team workspace", "project-specific" ### Use SKILL when: - Capability needed across MULTIPLE contexts/projects - Procedural knowledge that applies broadly - Instructions should activate automatically when relevant …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add oaustegard/claude-skills/crafting-instructions@sha256:e11110cb7cc04df7The line at the top of this page pins the label v0.5.0, 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_566ejesb5nyhudr7)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 6 versions of this file, between Nov 18, 2025 and Sep 9, 2026, about one every 59 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v0.5.0 latest | 2026-09-09 | db4e3e1 | 10,561 B | A | view · diff |
| v0.4.0 | 2026-08-25 | 6df976b | 11,960 B | A | view · diff |
| v0.3.1 | 2026-01-01 | ab21c6f | 11,029 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20251201.a6d1d0f | 2025-12-01 | a6d1d0f | 11,002 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20251118.f1f1e93 | 2025-11-18 | f1f1e93 | 9,060 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20251118.7058412 | 2025-11-18 | 7058412 | 8,862 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 (10561 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
oaustegard/claude-skills · 158 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-07 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_566ejesb5nyhudr7 GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=oaustegard/claude-skills/crafting-instructions GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/e11110cb7cc04df7da7ca406f07afd66b64f6a85e5dcafe26d06e5ebc6b5d81e
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.
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