ask SKILL.md skillB
ask from tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit/ask@git:20261020.402f6b7Pins git:20261020.402f6b7 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- B, 16 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit
- Path
skills/ask/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 9
- Latest version
- git:20261020.402f6b7, committed Oct 20, 2026
- First version recorded
- Aug 14, 2026
- Size
- 3,573 bytes
- Repository stars
- 14
- License
- MIT
Ask the second brain in plain words: semantic search over the curated vault with embeddings plus a reranker, returning the smallest relevant slice instead of a corpus dump. Token-cheap. Triggers: "/ask <question>", "what do I have on <topic>", "what did I write about X".
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
# /ask — query the Second Brain > 🧒 **When reporting to a non-technical operator:** end with a child-simple "In plain words" recap in their language. Deterministic-first (the operator's token law): RAG retrieves the smallest relevant slice; synthesize ONLY that — never dump the corpus. **Wrong lane?** /ask = semantic MEANING over the curated vault. For exact WORDS inside chats → `/search`; an exact PERSON name → `/find`; a CHAT by name → `/chat` (all 0 tokens, deterministic). Use those when the question isn't conceptual. ## 🖥️ Visual search (a live server — the operator works visually) For interactive eyes-on search: `python "$IMPORTS_ROOT/ask_server.py"` (or `start_ask.bat`) → open `http://127.0.0.1:8770`. It loads e5 + reranker ONCE, after which each query takes ~3s. A search box + filter chips (my writing only / concepts / insights / leads / people / conversations / notes), cards with the rerank score, type, date and a ⏳ staleness flag. CPU by default (does not fight the GPU fleet, holds 0 VRAM); `--gpu` when the GPU is free. This is the GUI for the operator; `--ask` below is for me synthesizing an answer in chat. ## Run (CLI — for synthesizing an answer in chat) …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit/ask@sha256:34f54c6061458a56The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261020.402f6b7, 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_jhchhh2jvp3a567k)
5 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 9 versions of this file, between Aug 14, 2026 and Oct 20, 2026, about one every 8 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261020.402f6b7 latest | 2026-10-20 | 402f6b7 | 3,573 B | B | view · diff |
| git:20261007.cd6c208 | 2026-10-07 | cd6c208 | 3,579 B | B | view · diff |
| git:20261003.a2d662f | 2026-10-03 | a2d662f | 3,580 B | B | view · diff |
| v1.0.0 | 2026-09-24 | 2784cb2 | 4,215 B | B | view · diff |
| git:20260908.2ec1bf8 | 2026-09-08 | 2ec1bf8 | 3,585 B | B | view · diff |
| git:20260814.76c95ec | 2026-08-14 | 76c95ec | 3,209 B | B | view · diff |
| git:20260814.06fa906 | 2026-08-14 | 06fa906 | 3,466 B | B | view · diff |
| git:20260814.5023d8c | 2026-08-14 | 5023d8c | 2,771 B | B | view · diff |
| git:20260814.44e61cf | 2026-08-14 | 44e61cf | 2,901 B | B | view |
Audit of the latest version
- fail: No link to a raw IP address (matched: http://127.0.0.1:8770)
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (3573 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 script tag
Starting a new one? Use a template for SKILL.md on mdpantry, which passes every one of these checks and says what to change in it.
Source
tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit · 14 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-06 · branch master
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_jhchhh2jvp3a567k GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit/ask GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/34f54c6061458a565db76a16ef03b707a5bffa81cc774e02506764959b280b35
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 tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit
Every file in tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit