This file is byte-identical to the first copy the registry indexed, one of 3 indexed copies. Same content hash, so the same checks give both the same grade.
principle-attack-the-premise from backnotprop/pstack is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it directly before you write another fix that assumes it.
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
# Attack the Premise
When two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate, suspect the premise, not the fixes.
**Why:** Each failed fix is evidence against the belief it assumed. A third fix on the same premise spends effort where the evidence already says the cause is not.
**Pattern:**
- **Write the premise down.** The premise is the one sentence that every failed fix assumed.
- **Test the premise before the next fix.** Find an observation that would come out differently if the premise were false, and make it. Look at how the failures are distributed, not only at how large they are. Make the check rerunnable per [Build the Lever](../principle-build-the-lever/SKILL.md).
- **Follow the evidence.** If it contradicts the premise, the cause is elsewhere. Look for what the failures have in common that the premise did not predict. If it confirms the premise, ask the next "why" per [Fix Root Causes](../principle-fix-root-causes/SKILL.md). The earlier fixes may have treated a consequence instead of the cause.
…
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261015.df856f4, 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.
A 17 of 17 checks passed. Fixed automatic checks with no AI involved, so the same checks give the same answer every run.
pass: Frontmatter block present
pass: Frontmatter declares a name
pass: Frontmatter declares a description
pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (1916 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
GitHub
backnotprop/pstack · 3,337 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-28 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_l2whhl7wc5ykrmaj
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=backnotprop/pstack/principle-attack-the-premise
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/6a932884daad4aa189e9b5d1665226bbc75621d4d2a398fd4003bebd382f4599
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.
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cursor/plugins · pstack/skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it…
cursor/plugins · harness/pstack/claude-code/skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it…
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michael-denyer/pstack-claude · plugins/pstack/skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it…
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creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it…
