four-principles SKILL.md skillA
four-principles from endorphin-ai/hasbrains-agent-kit is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add endorphin-ai/hasbrains-agent-kit/four-principles@git:20260731.4cba6d1Pins git:20260731.4cba6d1 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- endorphin-ai/hasbrains-agent-kit
- Path
agent-engineering/skills/four-principles/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 2
- Latest version
- git:20260731.4cba6d1, committed Jul 31, 2026
- First version recorded
- Jul 3, 2026
- Size
- 2,932 bytes
- Repository stars
- 9
- License
- MIT
Four always-on engineering principles for ALL work before, during, and after coding — Think Before Coding (surface assumptions/tradeoffs, never guess silently), Simplicity First (minimum code that solves it, nothing speculative), Surgical Changes (touch only what the request needs, every changed line traces to the ask), and Goal-Driven Execution (define verifiable success criteria, loop until verified). Use on EVERY task that writes, edits, refactors, or fixes code, designs an approach, or…
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
# Four Engineering Principles Apply these four principles to **every** task — interpreting a request, designing an approach, writing/editing/refactoring/fixing code, and verifying the result. They are always-on (enforced by rule R6); this is the detailed playbook for the how. --- ## 1. Think Before Coding Don't assume. Don't hide confusion. Surface tradeoffs. - State assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask. - If multiple interpretations exist, present them — don't pick silently. - If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted. - If something is unclear, stop. Name what's confusing. Ask. ## 2. Simplicity First Minimum code that solves the problem. Nothing speculative. - No features beyond what was asked. - No abstractions for single-use code. - No "flexibility" / "configurability" that wasn't requested. - No error handling for impossible scenarios. - If you write 200 lines and it could be 50, rewrite it. - **Test:** Would a senior engineer say this is overcomplicated? If yes, simplify. ## 3. Surgical Changes Touch only what you must. Clean up only your own mess. - Don't "improve" adjacent code, comments, or formatting. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add endorphin-ai/hasbrains-agent-kit/four-principles@sha256:f477f6c1f637fba0The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260731.4cba6d1, 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_mgi7dp2pmc3zygjd)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 2 versions of this file, between Jul 3, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026, about one every 29 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260731.4cba6d1 latest | 2026-07-31 | 4cba6d1 | 2,932 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260703.877e272 | 2026-07-03 | 877e272 | 2,877 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 (2932 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
endorphin-ai/hasbrains-agent-kit · 9 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-13 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_mgi7dp2pmc3zygjd GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=endorphin-ai/hasbrains-agent-kit/four-principles GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/f477f6c1f637fba0964e5e64f33f7165b591a802a3319a4d5057b19aa9ad5f62
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.