Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed thresholds. Discovers available MCPs and queries each evidence category (source control, issue tracker, long-form docs, real-time chat, infrastructure observability, error tracking, product analytics warehouse) in parallel, then returns a cited read on decisions and tradeoffs. Use how for runtime behavior.
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
# Why
Investigate the motivation and intent behind code. The companion `how` skill answers what the code does and how it works. `why` answers what forces led to its shape.
Each spawn below names a role line in the `pstack-models.mdc` rule and a default. 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.
Every spawn is `generalPurpose` with `readonly: false` (agent mode). **Do not use readonly/Ask mode.** It strips MCP access, which disables the MCP-backed investigators and the synthesizer's citation spot-checks. Investigators still shouldn't write anything.
## Operating Posture
Operate as a **careful, cautious, and precise investigator**. Be honest about what you know vs what you're inferring. Read `references/epistemics.md` for the full confidence framework and phrasing guide. The synthesizer must follow it.
## Step 1. Understand the Target and the Question
…
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261013.9e6954c, 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 (8770 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
nightly-labs/openbot · 5,267 stars · license a license file GitHub does not identify · pushed 2026-11-04 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_mz567od3sd7mlrl2
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=nightly-labs/openbot/why
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/fa1d1e9dec14b15381c1ccccad74044d6b6ea3b4af56821f59ba2d8e59b07545
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.
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/babysit/SKILL.md · Babysit a pull request through the NorbiAI review loop until no valid issue remains. Fix valid findings, rebut false…
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/biome-anti-slop/SKILL.md · Install and configure vendored Biome anti-slop GritQL rules in a local TypeScript or JavaScript repository. Use when a…
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/prototype/SKILL.md · Build several different design directions (3 by default) for a feature or issue as Storybook stories, show them to the…
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/release-upgrade-safety/SKILL.md · Audit a pending OpenBot release for upgrade and data-loss hazards before the version is bumped or tagged. Use when…
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/ship/SKILL.md · Ship the current branch to main. Review the diff, fix findings, open the pull request, babysit the NorbiAI review and…
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/signal-deploy/SKILL.md · Check and deploy Signal (the `remote-api` service in `remote/`) to production from a release tag. Use when asked to…
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/smoke-and-ship/SKILL.md · Smoke test the current branch, then ship it to main only when all smoke items pass. Use when the user asks to smoke and…
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/smoke/SKILL.md · Start one or more local OpenBot dev instances and smoke test the features that the current changes or a pull request…
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/triage/SKILL.md · Triage one GitHub issue or bug report. Decide if it is valid, find the root cause, and fix it. Push back with evidence…
nightly-labs/openbot · .agents/skills/zaidan/SKILL.md · Install and configure the Zaidan component registry in an existing SolidJS codebase, and recommend Zaidan components…
cursor/plugins · harness/pstack/claude-code/skills/why/SKILL.md · Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed…
cursor/plugins · pstack/skills/why/SKILL.md · Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed…
michael-denyer/pstack-claude · plugins/pstack/skills/why/SKILL.md · Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed…
backnotprop/pstack · skills/why/SKILL.md · Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed…
bastani-inc/atomic · packages/workflows/skills/why/SKILL.md · Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed…
millw14/merrymen · plugins/merrymen/skills/why/SKILL.md · Explain why the user's Merrymen trading agent has or hasn't traded, from its recorded state, blockers and recent…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/why/SKILL.md · Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed…
j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite · assets/.agent/skills/code-intelligence/why/SKILL.md · Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed…
