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DESIGN.mdA

DESIGN.md from crenshawdev/cadence is a DESIGN.md file: the design rules coding agents follow in that repo.

Install it, pinned
mdr add crenshawdev/cadence/DESIGN.md@git:20261030.096ea8a

Pins git:20261030.096ea8a in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade
A, 14 of 14 checks passed
Kind
DESIGN.md file
Repository
crenshawdev/cadence
Path
DESIGN.md
Versions recorded
15
Latest version
git:20261030.096ea8a, committed Oct 30, 2026
First version recorded
Aug 23, 2026
Size
54,299 bytes
Repository stars
8
License
MIT

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

# Cadence - Design Plan

A single-developer distillation descended from GSD, derived from a file-backed deep-dive of all 69 skills,
34 agents, and the `gsd-core` engine (110 workflows / 94 references / 143 node scripts /
~55K lines).

Audience assumptions (John): solo dev; Rust/CLI/backend + some COSMIC/iced UI + general
scripts; NOT building AI/LLM products; already runs mem-* (primary memory), claude-mem,
Obsidian vault, Codex as a genuine second model (panel-review / codex-rescue /
codex-risk-gate), Artifact + cosmic-design for UI. Claude-Code-only runtime.

---

## 1. The four structural decisions (apply once, win everywhere)

These are worth more than any per-skill cut. Each removes weight from *many* skills at once.

1. **Standalone repo - the repo is the only source.** Cadence is a plain git repo; the installed
   plugin copy is disposable output, NEVER edited in place. Install = the Claude Code plugin
   install: the plugin runtime carries the tree, and `/plugin` updates it after a repo change.
   Dev flow = clone the repo (+ occasional manual `git merge`/cherry-pick from upstream that
   you adjudicate). No skill/agent/workflow may depend on the install mechanism —
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint
mdr add crenshawdev/cadence/DESIGN.md@sha256:cceefcd6e062db7a

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261030.096ea8a, 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 badge

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_663x4ftd7r5u7t5m.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_663x4ftd7r5u7t5m)

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

Versions

The registry has recorded 15 versions of this file, between Aug 23, 2026 and Oct 30, 2026, about one every 5 days.

versioncommittedcommitsizeaudit
git:20261030.096ea8a latest2026-10-30 096ea8a 54,299 BA view · diff
git:20261008.6d86b6f2026-10-08 6d86b6f 54,269 BA view · diff
git:20261008.38271812026-10-08 3827181 54,564 BA view · diff
git:20261007.88f28c22026-10-07 88f28c2 56,030 BA view · diff
git:20261007.6f95f932026-10-07 6f95f93 55,428 BA view · diff
git:20261007.ffb8be32026-10-07 ffb8be3 55,414 BA view · diff
git:20261007.a013c012026-10-07 a013c01 53,978 BA view · diff
git:20261007.68fb3432026-10-07 68fb343 54,052 BA view · diff
git:20261004.33bdca22026-10-04 33bdca2 54,054 BA view · diff
git:20261004.38ce32d2026-10-04 38ce32d 53,947 BA view · diff
git:20260905.64fac042026-09-05 64fac04 52,221 BA view · diff
git:20260825.0b838582026-08-25 0b83858 50,105 BA view · diff
git:20260825.8f177dd2026-08-25 8f177dd 50,094 BA view · diff
git:20260823.7ed73372026-08-23 7ed7337 50,101 BA view · diff
git:20260823.ed7a2a32026-08-23 ed7a2a3 49,693 BA view

Audit of the latest version

A  14 of 14 checks passed. Fixed automatic checks with no AI involved, so the same checks give the same answer every run.
  • pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (54299 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

crenshawdev/cadence · 8 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-04 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_663x4ftd7r5u7t5m
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=crenshawdev/cadence/DESIGN.md
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/cceefcd6e062db7a5eaa5c2a21e1ba16fa0420896abde06de228f7b0d41d0099

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: what DESIGN.md is and how agents use it · which agent file does what.

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