emperor-tdd SKILL.md skillA
emperor-tdd from arbi-elezi/emperor-time is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add arbi-elezi/emperor-time/emperor-tdd@v0.4.9Pins v0.4.9 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- arbi-elezi/emperor-time
- Path
skills/emperor-tdd/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 3
- Latest version
- v0.4.9, committed Sep 27, 2026
- First version recorded
- Sep 24, 2026
- Size
- 3,201 bytes
- Repository stars
- 3
- License
- MIT
Emperor Time TDD iron law. Use BEFORE writing or editing production code for a feature, bugfix, refactor, or behavior change. No production code without a failing probe first. Delete implementation written before the probe failed. Prediction is ledgered before the command. Also use when writing or changing tests (name the break, exercise the real thing, no mirror assertions). Complements scientific-method.md.
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
# TDD Iron Law (Emperor Time) **NO PRODUCTION CODE WITHOUT A FAILING PROBE FIRST.** This is Vow of Evidence applied to code. Superpowers names the same law. Emperor Time is stricter on one point: the prediction is written in the claim ledger *before* the command runs, and the fail/pass tails are quoted. ## MUST — red-green-refactor checklist first Before any production code for a G1 criterion, open `skills/emperor-tdd/red-green-refactor.md` (Chain Jail leaf from Superpowers `test-driven-development` → **The Iron Law** / **Red-Green-Refactor** only) and/or run `scripts/emperor tdd` (prints the mechanical TDD / STEP / MUST card). No jumping to production code without Step 2 FAIL observed and quoted. Do not load whole `test-driven-development`; ET + emperor-tdd orchestrate. ## MUST — writing-good-tests when authoring or changing tests When writing or changing a test (mocks, helpers, expectations, cleanup), open `skills/emperor-tdd/writing-good-tests.md` (Chain Jail leaf from Superpowers `test-driven-development` → **Name the Break / Exercise the Real Thing / Gate Function / Mutation Check only**) and/or run `scripts/emperor good-tests` (prints the mechanical GOOD / PRIN / …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add arbi-elezi/emperor-time/emperor-tdd@sha256:88ae0cbd96489a96The line at the top of this page pins the label v0.4.9, 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_5cl2foqk47nzzv2y)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 3 versions of this file, between Sep 24, 2026 and Sep 27, 2026, about one every 2 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v0.4.9 latest | 2026-09-27 | 90f802b | 3,201 B | A | view · diff |
| v0.4.9 | 2026-09-27 | 58d9d33 | 2,288 B | A | view · diff |
| v0.3.2 | 2026-09-24 | 6c7c6c0 | 1,563 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 (3201 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
arbi-elezi/emperor-time · 3 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-05 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_5cl2foqk47nzzv2y GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=arbi-elezi/emperor-time/emperor-tdd GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/88ae0cbd96489a968a668fbbf0403ed365498ea567304cd4a434aed4dc24e5c0
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.