spike-contract SKILL.md skillA

This file is byte-identical to the first copy the registry indexed, one of 4 indexed copies. Same content hash, so the same checks give both the same grade.

spike-contract from jakeselby/model-citizen is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.

Install it, pinned
mdr add jakeselby/model-citizen/spike-contract@git:20260928.7bdb9bf

Pins git:20260928.7bdb9bf in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade
A, 17 of 17 checks passed
Kind
SKILL.md skill
Repository
jakeselby/model-citizen
Path
primitives/skills/spike-contract/SKILL.md
Versions recorded
3
Latest version
git:20260928.7bdb9bf, committed Sep 28, 2026
First version recorded
Sep 19, 2026
Size
2,388 bytes
Repository stars
24
License
MIT

Frame a spike so its result is a decision, with the question, the cheapest experiment, a numeric exit criterion, the measured result and the machine it ran on. Use when asked to "spike", "prototype to find out", "de-risk", or "check whether X is feasible", and when writing the spikes section of a plan or README.

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

# The spike contract

A spike answers one question with the cheapest experiment that can answer it, and it is judged
against a number written down before the experiment ran. Everything else is a prototype
looking for a purpose.

## Before running anything, write the row

Each spike gets one entry, in the project's spikes README or the plan's addendum:

- **Question** — one sentence, answerable yes/no or with a number. "Can the core simulate
  14 million cells at one tick per second on the target machine?"
- **Cheapest experiment** — the smallest thing that produces the number. A throwaway script,
  a synthetic dataset, a stub of the real path. Name what is faked.
- **Exit criterion** — the number and the comparison. "Under 800 ms per tick, mean of 100
  ticks." Written before the run, not adjusted after.
- **Status** — `not started`, `running`, `passed`, `failed`, `inconclusive`, with the date.
- **Machine** — the hardware and OS the budget was measured on. A budget measured on a
  laptop does not transfer to CI or to the target machine without saying so.

## Run it

- Record the exact command and the raw output, in the row or in a linked file.
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint
mdr add jakeselby/model-citizen/spike-contract@sha256:c836b1df1ba12323

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260928.7bdb9bf, 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_6hqehum2t76bpfdw.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_6hqehum2t76bpfdw)

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

Versions

The registry has recorded 3 versions of this file, between Sep 19, 2026 and Sep 28, 2026, about one every 4 days.

versioncommittedcommitsizeaudit
git:20260928.7bdb9bf latest2026-09-28 7bdb9bf 2,388 BA view · diff
git:20260923.097bdb02026-09-23 097bdb0 2,380 BA view · diff
git:20260919.6cf18f72026-09-19 6cf18f7 2,428 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 (2388 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

jakeselby/model-citizen · 24 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-15 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_6hqehum2t76bpfdw
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=jakeselby/model-citizen/spike-contract
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/c836b1df1ba123232f0f6c02a7d289834ac3e11ef6e39d049b380713e9b94df0

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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Every file in jakeselby/model-citizen

Other files named spike-contract

spike-contract SKILL.md skill
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git:20260928.ca93e6d · audit A · 24 stars
spike-contract SKILL.md skill
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spike-contract SKILL.md skill
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