principle-minimize-reader-load SKILL.md skillA
This file is byte-identical to the first copy the registry indexed, one of 4 indexed copies. Same content hash, so the same checks give both the same grade.
principle-minimize-reader-load 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-minimize-reader-load@git:20261012.f3afb70Pins git:20261012.f3afb70 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-minimize-reader-load/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 4
- Latest version
- git:20261012.f3afb70, committed Oct 12, 2026
- First version recorded
- May 27, 2026
- Size
- 1,996 bytes
- Repository stars
- 3,337
- License
- MIT
Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state in the reader's head; collapse one-caller wrappers and shrink mutable scope.
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
# Minimize Reader Load Maintainability is the work a reader must do to understand code. Track two axes: **layers to trace** (indirections between the question and the answer) and **state to hold** (hidden or mutable context the reader must keep in their head). LOC, cyclomatic complexity, and "clean architecture" are proxies. Reader load is the thing that matters. The two axes are independent. A flat file with 50 globals can be as hard to reason about as a 6-layer adapter stack. Guard both. This is the human analog of [Guard the Context Window](../principle-guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md). Working memory is finite for readers too. - **Collapse layers** that cost more than they save: wrappers with one caller, adapters with no second implementation, speculative indirection that was never needed. Inline them. - **Make adjacent layers change the abstraction.** A layer that repeats the same methods and arguments adds reader load without compression. Collapse pass-through layers. - **Demand interface compression.** A broad interface that hides little complexity makes readers learn both the surface and the implementation. Prefer boundaries that hide meaningful decisions. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add backnotprop/pstack/principle-minimize-reader-load@sha256:1ea2b7fef2391caeThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261012.f3afb70, 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_jog5jwbcrn6owscc)
2 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 4 versions of this file, between May 27, 2026 and Oct 12, 2026, about one every 46 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261012.f3afb70 latest | 2026-10-12 | f3afb70 | 1,996 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260914.55bfdc2 | 2026-09-14 | 55bfdc2 | 2,095 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260819.4b32d9d | 2026-08-19 | 4b32d9d | 2,099 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260527.b3eabf1 | 2026-05-27 | b3eabf1 | 1,734 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 (1996 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_jog5jwbcrn6owscc GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=backnotprop/pstack/principle-minimize-reader-load GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/1ea2b7fef2391cae5844c4efdbd59031f775e8a52d06b7495d707229a200dcca
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