why SKILL.md skillA

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

Install it, pinned
mdr add michael-denyer/pstack-claude/why@git:20261030.bfaf03e

Pins git:20261030.bfaf03e in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade
A, 17 of 17 checks passed
Kind
SKILL.md skill
Repository
michael-denyer/pstack-claude
Path
plugins/pstack/skills/why/SKILL.md
Versions recorded
16
Latest version
git:20261030.bfaf03e, committed Oct 30, 2026
First version recorded
Aug 27, 2026
Size
10,582 bytes
Repository stars
3,776
License
MIT

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

On Codex, read the [platform mapping](../poteto-mode/references/codex-tools.md), including its per-skill notes, before following this skill.

On GitHub Copilot, read the [platform mapping](../poteto-mode/references/copilot-tools.md), including its per-skill notes, before following this skill.

On Muse, read the [platform mapping](../poteto-mode/references/muse-tools.md), including its per-skill notes, before following this skill.

Investigate the motivation and intent behind code. The companion `how` skill 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 `pstack-models.md` and a default in [Models](#models). Set `model` to that line's value, or to the default if the sheet or the line is missing. Leave `model` unset when the value is `auto` or `inherit-parent`. If the `Agent` tool 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. Pick each subagent's reasoning level for the job, per the Subagents section of the **poteto-mode** skill.
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint
mdr add michael-denyer/pstack-claude/why@sha256:b931c1413d6c727d

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261030.bfaf03e, 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_6cpwwqdepd3hqn4s.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_6cpwwqdepd3hqn4s)

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

Versions

The registry has recorded 16 versions of this file, between Aug 27, 2026 and Oct 30, 2026, about one every 4 days.

versioncommittedcommitsizeaudit
git:20261030.bfaf03e latest2026-10-30 bfaf03e 10,582 BA view · diff
git:20261020.d56fdb02026-10-20 d56fdb0 10,538 BA view · diff
git:20261020.88f6d392026-10-20 88f6d39 10,298 BA view · diff
git:20261015.1dba27e2026-10-15 1dba27e 10,547 BA view · diff
git:20261013.058a3482026-10-13 058a348 10,441 BA view · diff
git:20261005.8d3aa572026-10-05 8d3aa57 12,034 BA view · diff
git:20260925.c02fd492026-09-25 c02fd49 11,881 BA view · diff
git:20260925.9f3a2ca2026-09-25 9f3a2ca 11,845 BA view · diff
git:20260923.1924a062026-09-23 1924a06 10,837 BA view · diff
git:20260923.4a3ef202026-09-23 4a3ef20 10,859 BA view · diff
git:20260922.55853d92026-09-22 55853d9 10,463 BA view · diff
git:20260907.ebb8c272026-09-07 ebb8c27 10,459 BA view · diff
git:20260907.3df207b2026-09-07 3df207b 21,836 BA view · diff
git:20260907.09f3a502026-09-07 09f3a50 21,694 BA view · diff
git:20260901.f8c37b82026-09-01 f8c37b8 21,972 BA view · diff
git:20260827.c2ade4b2026-08-27 c2ade4b 22,002 BA 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 (10582 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

michael-denyer/pstack-claude · 3,776 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-02 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_6cpwwqdepd3hqn4s
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=michael-denyer/pstack-claude/why
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/b931c1413d6c727de907051986df09bc2a86d8ceb8c0a5bd68954341d73c5289

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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