research-code-parsimony SKILL.md skillA
research-code-parsimony from uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills/research-code-parsimony@git:20261107.9f2365fPins git:20261107.9f2365f in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills
- Path
skills/research-code-parsimony/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 7
- Latest version
- git:20261107.9f2365f, committed Nov 7, 2026
- First version recorded
- Sep 4, 2026
- Size
- 16,763 bytes
- Repository stars
- 20
- License
- MIT
Keep scoped implementation and review work from growing unnecessary code by identifying the real owner, real callers, and existing capability before adding surface. Use when writing, extending, or reviewing research code; for a dedicated cleanup pass over pre-existing debt, use a maintenance skill instead.
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
# Research Code Parsimony ## Establish The Contract And The Owner First Before adding code, be able to state: - the behavior or scientific contract being requested, including what must stay reproducible; - the module, function, script, or config that already owns this behavior, and which callers actually exercise it; - whether a maintained dependency or a native language/library capability already provides it. Search before creating an owner. If none fits a genuinely new capability, create one clear owner rather than forcing unrelated behavior into an existing module. ## Reuse Before You Add - Extend an understood existing owner instead of introducing a parallel one. - Prefer a maintained dependency when it reduces ownership burden while meeting the scientific and operational contract. Check the standard library and present dependencies first. - Parsimony means less code to own — not fewest files, shortest diff, or clever one-liners. Readable, explicit code beats a compressed version. - Never satisfy the request by solving a smaller or easier scientific problem than the one asked for. ## Mark Copied Source Where It Lives …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills/research-code-parsimony@sha256:cfbc5a544ec5a82cThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261107.9f2365f, 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_fi6bp5ilfdyhzb4v)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 7 versions of this file, between Sep 4, 2026 and Nov 7, 2026, about one every 11 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261107.9f2365f latest | 2026-11-07 | 9f2365f | 16,763 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261028.67cee2d | 2026-10-28 | 67cee2d | 16,380 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260922.86f870d | 2026-09-22 | 86f870d | 14,660 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260922.2a3a6c4 | 2026-09-22 | 2a3a6c4 | 13,909 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260921.9b3de7c | 2026-09-21 | 9b3de7c | 12,946 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260905.878f7fc | 2026-09-05 | 878f7fc | 5,282 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260904.8c561a1 | 2026-09-04 | 8c561a1 | 3,819 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 (16763 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
uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills · 20 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-07 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_fi6bp5ilfdyhzb4v GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills/research-code-parsimony GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/cfbc5a544ec5a82c15085bd6a8891072aad336138f255957fdb3b9083445515f
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.