Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward deletion and the smallest change that solves the problem.
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
# Laziness Protocol
Aim for the most result with the least code and complexity.
- **Prefer deletion.** When asked to refactor or improve, look for removals before additions.
- **Maintain a flat call hierarchy.** Avoid deep call chains. A rich interface that hides substantial work is not a deep call chain. If answering a question requires tracing through more than 3 files or layers, flatten it.
- **Consolidate decisions.** Do not repeat the same choice in several places. Put it behind one source of truth and pass the result as a simple flag.
- **Minimize the diff.** Make the smallest change that solves the problem. Fewer lines beat "elegant" boilerplate.
- **Question the threading.** If a task asks you to pass a new signal through types, schemas, pipelines, or similar layers, stop and look for a more direct path.
- **Sweat the small leaks.** Remove tiny pass-throughs, representation leaks, and duplicated choices before they spread. Small leaks compound into permanent coordination costs.
**The test:** If a human developer would find the code exhausting to maintain, it is a bad solution.
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261006.f7c5841, 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 (1371 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
iap/pstack-hermes · 32 stars · license a license file GitHub does not identify · pushed 2026-11-04 · branch master
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_mcr3ccgovhyjynrz
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=iap/pstack-hermes/principle-laziness-protocol
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/9006579e9e3f33955d17569733db688ae65f22577dc3b21803d219a5a8445aff
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.
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/architect/SKILL.md · Sketch types, signatures, and module structure before code, then stay in the loop while implementation fills in. Use…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/arena/SKILL.md · Spawn N parallel candidates at the same task, pick a base, graft the strongest parts of the losers into it. Use for…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/automate-me/SKILL.md · Use for "automate me", "create/update/refresh my -mode skill", "turn/capture my preferences or working style into a…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/blast-radius/SKILL.md · Find what a change could break somewhere else before it ships, beyond the diff, and prove the one fact it's safe…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/create-verification-skill/SKILL.md · Generate a project-local verification skill that drives your app the way a user does — any language, framework, or…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/figure-it-out/SKILL.md · Design an auditable playbook when no narrower one fits: a large migration, an ambitious multi-part change, or work a…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/hermesbot/SKILL.md · Use when building a control surface (page, dashboard, buttons) that wakes a hermes bot over a webhook subscription…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/how/SKILL.md · Use for "how does X work", code walkthroughs before changing something, and placement / ownership / layering questions…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/interrogate/SKILL.md · Use for "interrogate", "adversarial review", "multi-model review", "challenge this", "stress test this code", "find…
cursor/plugins · harness/pstack/claude-code/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
cursor/plugins · pstack/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
nightly-labs/openbot · marketplace/production-catalog/bundles/pstack/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
michael-denyer/pstack-claude · plugins/pstack/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
backnotprop/pstack · skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite · assets/.agent/skills/engineering-principles/laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
barbieri/local-openfinance · .agents/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
theonlyfusioncube/potetos-for-everyone · skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Bias toward deletion and the smallest change that fully solves the problem. Use when considering adding code…
