pol-probe SKILL.md skillA
pol-probe from deanpeters/product-manager-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add deanpeters/product-manager-skills/pol-probe@git:20260810.b68bf96Pins git:20260810.b68bf96 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- deanpeters/product-manager-skills
- Path
skills/pol-probe/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 5
- Latest version
- git:20260810.b68bf96, committed Aug 10, 2026
- First version recorded
- Feb 6, 2026
- Size
- 10,856 bytes
- Repository stars
- 7,599
- License
- a license file GitHub does not identify
Define a Proof of Life probe to test a risky hypothesis cheaply. Use when you need harsh truth before building real product.
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
## Purpose Define and document a **Proof of Life (PoL) probe**—a lightweight, disposable validation artifact designed to surface harsh truths before expensive development. Use this when you need to eliminate a specific risk or test a narrow hypothesis **without building production-quality software**. PoL probes are reconnaissance missions, not MVPs—they're meant to be deleted, not scaled. This framework prevents prototype theater (expensive demos that impress stakeholders but teach nothing) and forces you to match validation method to actual learning goal. ## Input **Works best with:** The hypothesis or risk you need to test. **Also useful:** What evidence would change your mind, available time/resources, and what you've validated already. Anything supplied with the invocation itself — text after the skill name, a pasted context dump, or an appended `ARGUMENTS:` line — counts as answers already given. Use it and skip whatever it covers; don't re-ask. **Arriving empty-handed? That works too.** The skill asks for the hypothesis and the riskiest assumption inside it before designing the probe. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add deanpeters/product-manager-skills/pol-probe@sha256:575c87ca8d0029edThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260810.b68bf96, 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_aajbkmmbrflx4554)
1 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 5 versions of this file, between Feb 6, 2026 and Aug 10, 2026, about one every 46 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260810.b68bf96 latest | 2026-08-10 | b68bf96 | 10,856 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260704.6a4fbf2 | 2026-07-04 | 6a4fbf2 | 10,798 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260309.0a8f6ac | 2026-03-09 | 0a8f6ac | 10,067 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260208.7991d2c | 2026-02-08 | 7991d2c | 9,313 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260206.7788ebc | 2026-02-06 | 7788ebc | 8,961 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 (10856 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
deanpeters/product-manager-skills · 7,599 stars · license a license file GitHub does not identify · pushed 2026-10-16 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_aajbkmmbrflx4554 GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=deanpeters/product-manager-skills/pol-probe GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/575c87ca8d0029ed0d0f8d9a421402d8c332cb12048544fe2c4dfee5ea55431a
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.