before-you-build SKILL.md skillA
before-you-build from wshobson/agents is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add wshobson/agents/before-you-build@git:20260612.f661b95Pins git:20260612.f661b95 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- wshobson/agents
- Path
plugins/before-you-build/skills/before-you-build/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260612.f661b95, committed Jun 12, 2026
- Size
- 2,794 bytes
- Repository stars
- 42,320
- License
- MIT
Pre-build product and feature risk review for founders, product managers, and AI-assisted builders. Use this skill when the user is about to build a landing page, MVP, SaaS product, internal tool, agent workflow, or major feature and needs to check demand, positioning, monetization, retention, trust, distribution, and adoption risk before implementation starts.
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
# Before You Build Run a compact pre-mortem before implementation. The goal is not to block building; it is to identify the highest-risk assumption, the smallest validation step, and the build scope that should be delayed until evidence improves. ## When To Use Use this skill when a user asks to build or ship: - A new product, MVP, prototype, landing page, SaaS app, marketplace, content site, agent workflow, or internal tool - A major feature with unclear adoption, revenue, retention, trust, or distribution impact - A public launch asset where weak positioning could waste development or promotion effort Skip this skill when the task is a narrow implementation fix, refactor, test repair, dependency update, or already-validated change with clear acceptance criteria. ## Risk Checklist Review the idea across these risks: - **Demand:** Is there evidence that a specific buyer or user urgently wants this? - **Positioning:** Can the target user understand what it is and why it matters in one sentence? - **Monetization:** Is there a credible path to payment, budget, or strategic value? - **Retention:** Is there a reason users would return after the first try? …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add wshobson/agents/before-you-build@sha256:e5ce9fc6e4efcb3cThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260612.f661b95, 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_oexces5xrbjvzlpw)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Jun 12, 2026.
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 (2794 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
wshobson/agents · 42,320 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-08 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_oexces5xrbjvzlpw GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=wshobson/agents/before-you-build GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/e5ce9fc6e4efcb3cf5499333db288f678d563ab265ed03c89c1c5708693b595a
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.