write-spec SKILL.md skillA
write-spec from dzhng/skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add dzhng/skills/write-spec@git:20260926.be830ecPins git:20260926.be830ec in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- dzhng/skills
- Path
skills/engineering/write-spec/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 7
- Latest version
- git:20260926.be830ec, committed Sep 26, 2026
- First version recorded
- Jul 7, 2026
- Size
- 18,664 bytes
- Repository stars
- 1,377
- License
- MIT
Break large features into independently verifiable, human-reviewable slices under a feature directory in specs/. Use for risky or multi-step feature work that needs upfront questioning, API seams, browser-playable checkpoints, HTML visualizations, screenshot gates, staged implementation plans, recursive fog-of-war reslicing, or proactive research into reference implementations/best practices before slicing. Pairs with your project's verification harness and screenshot gates…
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
# Write Spec Turn a large feature into a ladder of small contracts. Each rung should be understandable to the human, testable by an agent, and useful before the whole feature is done. ## First Principles 1. **Grill before planning.** Ask one question at a time until you know the desired outcome, non-goals, review surface, sacred contracts, missing assets, and first useful playable checkpoint. Give your recommended answer with each question so the user can accept, reject, or edit it. Inspect the repo instead of asking questions the code can answer. Close the interview by asking whether the plan must carry backward compatibility or data migrations — the default is **neither**: hard cutovers, no compat shims, no migration scaffolding, no deploy-order dances. Only the user opting in puts them in the plan. 2. **Slice at API seams.** Each slice should behave like a tiny library where possible: named module boundary, typed inputs/outputs, deterministic fixtures, and tests at the seam. If a slice needs three unrelated systems booted before it can be checked, sharpen the seam. 3. **Research the fog.** When the feature depends on an unfamiliar domain, …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add dzhng/skills/write-spec@sha256:d85197bd76497e0bThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260926.be830ec, 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_k6njozv7l4il357z)
2 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 7 versions of this file, between Jul 7, 2026 and Sep 26, 2026, about one every 13 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260926.be830ec latest | 2026-09-26 | be830ec | 18,664 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260926.997df74 | 2026-09-26 | 997df74 | 19,565 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260719.a649311 | 2026-07-19 | a649311 | 17,653 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260717.ff8d634 | 2026-07-17 | ff8d634 | 16,959 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260707.fa78926 | 2026-07-07 | fa78926 | 15,724 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260707.6d16c92 | 2026-07-07 | 6d16c92 | 15,727 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260707.02da451 | 2026-07-07 | 02da451 | 15,442 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 (18664 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
dzhng/skills · 1,377 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-21 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_k6njozv7l4il357z GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=dzhng/skills/write-spec GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/d85197bd76497e0b200f0722955fde6c8d6d2196ff8db3638042c51e2fb1269d
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.