principle-fix-root-causes SKILL.md skillA
This file is byte-identical to the first copy the registry indexed, one of 3 indexed copies. Same content hash, so the same checks give both the same grade.
principle-fix-root-causes from backnotprop/pstack is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add backnotprop/pstack/principle-fix-root-causes@git:20261015.df856f4Pins git:20261015.df856f4 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- backnotprop/pstack
- Path
skills/principle-fix-root-causes/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 5
- Latest version
- git:20261015.df856f4, committed Oct 15, 2026
- First version recorded
- May 27, 2026
- Size
- 1,821 bytes
- Repository stars
- 3,337
- License
- MIT
Apply when debugging. Trace each symptom back to the first place the system went wrong and fix it there. A guard is a fix only when the state it handles is legitimate.
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
# Fix Root Causes When debugging, fix the fault, not the place where it surfaced. The symptom is where a wrong state became visible. The root cause is the first place the system did something it should not do, or failed to handle a state it should handle. **Why:** A symptom fix hides the evidence and leaves the fault free to surface somewhere else. Each one makes the system harder to reason about, because the code now carries a workaround for a bug that nobody named. **Pattern:** - Reproduce first. - Ask "why" at each step until the answer is a wrong decision in the code, not a consequence of an earlier one. - When stuck, instrument. Read the actual error and the actual state. Do not guess. - Ask whether the state that triggered the symptom is legitimate. If the system may be in that state, the code that broke on it is the root cause, and handling the state there is the fix. If the state should never exist, a check where it broke hides the bug. Find what produced the state. Guards, retries, swallowed errors, clamped values, and discarded state are the usual ways to hide a bug. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add backnotprop/pstack/principle-fix-root-causes@sha256:8df3c8c3fe57eb00The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261015.df856f4, 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_dchofi6c2j5acgxp)
2 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 5 versions of this file, between May 27, 2026 and Oct 15, 2026, about one every 35 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261015.df856f4 latest | 2026-10-15 | df856f4 | 1,821 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261014.c3ed187 | 2026-10-14 | c3ed187 | 1,369 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260914.55bfdc2 | 2026-09-14 | 55bfdc2 | 1,246 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260819.4b32d9d | 2026-08-19 | 4b32d9d | 1,366 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260527.b3eabf1 | 2026-05-27 | b3eabf1 | 1,252 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 (1821 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
backnotprop/pstack · 3,337 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-28 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_dchofi6c2j5acgxp GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=backnotprop/pstack/principle-fix-root-causes GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/8df3c8c3fe57eb0055a5c8efab8ab144557fdf301da70b1cdc77a3a3ef3f3052
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.
More from backnotprop/pstack
Every file in backnotprop/pstack