dichotomy-of-control SKILL.md skillA
dichotomy-of-control from deciqai/knowledge-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add deciqai/knowledge-skills/dichotomy-of-control@git:20261025.cb4e537Pins git:20261025.cb4e537 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- deciqai/knowledge-skills
- Path
dichotomy-of-control/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 5
- Latest version
- git:20261025.cb4e537, committed Oct 25, 2026
- First version recorded
- Jul 16, 2026
- Size
- 8,052 bytes
- Repository stars
- 13
- License
- MIT
Activate when: user says "I can't stop worrying about something I can't control," "I'm anxious about how this will turn out," "I keep replaying what went wrong," "I need them to change," "this uncertainty is paralyzing me," or is processing a setback, preparing for a high-stakes unknown outcome, or stuck in anger/frustration at someone else's choices. Do NOT activate when: the user needs to grieve or feel first (premature Stoic framing suppresses healthy emotion); or the user is avoiding real…
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
# Dichotomy of Control ## Overview Separate what is *within your power* (judgments, intentions, voluntary actions) from what is *not* (outcomes, others' actions, external events) — then direct effort to the first and acceptance to the second. Formulated by Epictetus (*Enchiridion* §1, c. 125 CE), operationalized in CBT (Beck 1976), proven under extreme conditions by Marcus Aurelius and Stockdale. Influence is not control. Accepting the uncontrollable frees energy for what matters. Composes with [`metacognition`](../metacognition/SKILL.md), [`regret-minimization`](../regret-minimization/SKILL.md), [`wu-wei`](../wu-wei/SKILL.md), [`knowing-and-doing-as-one`](../knowing-and-doing-as-one/SKILL.md), [`probabilistic-thinking`](../probabilistic-thinking/SKILL.md). ## When to Use - Experiencing anxiety, frustration, or anger about something you cannot directly determine - Decision under uncertainty about an outcome you cannot directly control - Processing a setback; advising someone in a stressful situation - Uncertainty is paralyzing a project or negotiation - Someone says "serenity prayer," "what's within my power," "Stoicism," "things I can't change" …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add deciqai/knowledge-skills/dichotomy-of-control@sha256:19e7b6dd1f9d5943The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261025.cb4e537, 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_e3h7wcsb3ytxtk7q)
5 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 5 versions of this file, between Jul 16, 2026 and Oct 25, 2026, about one every 25 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261025.cb4e537 latest | 2026-10-25 | cb4e537 | 8,052 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260816.be84677 | 2026-08-16 | be84677 | 8,052 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260719.ed3f856 | 2026-07-19 | ed3f856 | 8,052 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260717.2ed857e | 2026-07-17 | 2ed857e | 8,052 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260716.fac12bf | 2026-07-16 | fac12bf | 8,052 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 (8052 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
deciqai/knowledge-skills · 13 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-25 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_e3h7wcsb3ytxtk7q GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=deciqai/knowledge-skills/dichotomy-of-control GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/19e7b6dd1f9d5943566898f829765c9ac97ae4fc7fde37d4c9d8f8a623ff855a
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.