how SKILL.md skillA
how from cursor/plugins is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add cursor/plugins/how@git:20261014.ce649c0Pins git:20261014.ce649c0 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- cursor/plugins
- Path
pstack/skills/how/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 10
- Latest version
- git:20261014.ce649c0, committed Oct 14, 2026
- First version recorded
- Jul 26, 2026
- Size
- 2,651 bytes
- Repository stars
- 15,125
- License
- none declared
Use for "how does X work", code walkthroughs before changing something, and placement / ownership / layering questions ("where should this live", "which package owns this", "is this the right layer"). Explains subsystem architecture, runtime flow, onboarding mental models. Use why for motivation.
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
# How Explore the codebase to answer "how does X work?" questions. Produce architectural explanations at the level of a senior engineer onboarding onto a subsystem, enough to build a working mental model, not so much that it reads like annotated source code. Every spawn is a Task subagent with `subagent_type: generalPurpose` and `readonly: true`. Explorers use the `how explorer` line in the `pstack-models.mdc` rule (default `grok-4.7-xhigh-fast`), and every explainer uses the `how explainer` line (default `claude-opus-5-5-xhigh`). Set `model` to that line's value, or to the default if the rule or the line is missing. Leave `model` unset when the value is `auto` or `inherit-parent`. If the Task tool rejects a slug, use the default and say so. If it rejects the default, use the closest valid slug of the same family from its error message. Pick each subagent's reasoning level and fast or standard speed for the job, per the Subagents section of the **poteto-mode** skill. ## 1. Assess complexity If the scope is ambiguous, state your interpretation and explore. The user can redirect. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add cursor/plugins/how@sha256:08a00079bb15b425The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261014.ce649c0, 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_m5ayljhcljutndjn)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 10 versions of this file, between Jul 26, 2026 and Oct 14, 2026, about one every 9 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261014.ce649c0 latest | 2026-10-14 | ce649c0 | 2,651 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261010.00b14f1 | 2026-10-10 | 00b14f1 | 2,518 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261006.df58112 | 2026-10-06 | df58112 | 3,081 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260923.12d587d | 2026-09-23 | 12d587d | 3,077 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260923.70b2dc8 | 2026-09-23 | 70b2dc8 | 2,718 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260907.e8d856f | 2026-09-07 | e8d856f | 2,738 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260901.23a56e2 | 2026-09-01 | 23a56e2 | 7,322 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260901.73f8be4 | 2026-09-01 | 73f8be4 | 7,316 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260813.63d938c | 2026-08-13 | 63d938c | 7,285 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260726.d45ad02 | 2026-07-26 | d45ad02 | 7,285 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 (2651 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
cursor/plugins · 15,125 stars · license none declared · pushed 2026-11-01 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_m5ayljhcljutndjn GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=cursor/plugins/how GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/08a00079bb15b4258874ac3ff62d4ca7e94350ffedb521d0fd296dc9dd21904e
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.