prompt-optimizer SKILL.md skillA
prompt-optimizer from cbrock84/headcount is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add cbrock84/headcount/prompt-optimizer@git:20260901.aa45383Pins git:20260901.aa45383 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- cbrock84/headcount
- Path
plugins/technology/skills/prompt-optimizer/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 2
- Latest version
- git:20260901.aa45383, committed Sep 1, 2026
- First version recorded
- Aug 28, 2026
- Size
- 4,791 bytes
- Repository stars
- 2,076
- License
- MIT
Turns rough intent or a weak prompt into a reliable one — diagnosing why output is inconsistent, restructuring the instruction, and adapting it across models. Use this when a prompt is not producing what was wanted, when output varies run to run, when writing a prompt for a repeated task, when moving a prompt between models, or when someone describes what they want an AI to do and needs it written properly.
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
# Prompt optimizer ## Diagnose before rewriting Bad output has a small number of causes, and the fix differs entirely by cause: - **Underspecified** — the model is guessing at something you know. Most common by far. - **Overspecified** — so many constraints that they conflict, and the model satisfies some arbitrarily. - **Wrong shape** — asking for a paragraph when you want a table, or a decision when you want options. - **No success criterion** — nothing in the prompt says what good looks like, so quality varies with nothing. - **Buried instruction** — the actual task is in the middle of context and gets weighted like context. - **Genuinely hard** — the task needs information the model does not have, and no prompt fixes that. Say so rather than iterating. Read the actual bad output before rewriting. The failure mode names the cause. ## What reliably helps - **Say what to do, not what to avoid.** Negative instructions are weaker than positive ones and often summon the thing named. - **Give the shape of the output** — the sections, the length, the format. If format matters, show an example rather than describing it. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add cbrock84/headcount/prompt-optimizer@sha256:4d3fb4a4d6c83bdeThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260901.aa45383, 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_hpsstouigp7eqnvo)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 2 versions of this file, between Aug 28, 2026 and Sep 1, 2026, about one every 3 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260901.aa45383 latest | 2026-09-01 | aa45383 | 4,791 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260828.f80dcb5 | 2026-08-28 | f80dcb5 | 4,490 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 (4791 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
cbrock84/headcount · 2,076 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-18 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_hpsstouigp7eqnvo GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=cbrock84/headcount/prompt-optimizer GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/4d3fb4a4d6c83bde5a87bfdab4603e54fd9b68007b8979559fa9aa60cbd52d77
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 cbrock84/headcount
Every file in cbrock84/headcount