finetuning-method-selection SKILL.md skillA
finetuning-method-selection 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/finetuning-method-selection@git:20260714.baa5bd7Pins git:20260714.baa5bd7 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- wshobson/agents
- Path
plugins/llm-finetuning/skills/finetuning-method-selection/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260714.baa5bd7, committed Jul 14, 2026
- Size
- 7,926 bytes
- Repository stars
- 42,320
- License
- MIT
Decide whether to fine-tune at all, and route to the right method (SFT, DPO/ORPO/KTO, GRPO/RLVR, continued pretraining) and base model. Use when starting any fine-tuning effort, when unsure whether RAG or prompting would suffice, or when choosing between preference-optimization and reinforcement methods.
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
# Fine-Tuning Method Selection This is the router skill for the fine-tuning lifecycle: it decides whether fine-tuning is the right tool at all, and if so, which method and which base-model size class. Every other skill in this plugin assumes this routing already happened — start here before opening `lora-qlora-recipes`, `preference-optimization`, or `grpo-rlvr-training`. ## When to Use This Skill - Starting any fine-tuning effort, before a framework or base model has been chosen. - Unsure whether RAG or prompt engineering would solve the problem more cheaply than training. - Choosing between preference optimization (DPO family) and a reinforcement method (GRPO/RLVR) for the same underlying task. - Sizing a candidate model/method combination before committing to a run. ## Quick Reference | Situation | Route | |---|---| | Facts change often (prices, docs, news) | RAG, not fine-tuning | | Desired behavior still being figured out | Prompt engineering | | Stable domain knowledge, ≥500MB text | CPT then SFT — see Off-Ramps First | | Have input/output demonstrations | SFT — see `lora-qlora-recipes` | …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add wshobson/agents/finetuning-method-selection@sha256:f5bdd023c60c7be8The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260714.baa5bd7, 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_ofsqnzexsveiw2ka)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Jul 14, 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 (7926 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_ofsqnzexsveiw2ka GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=wshobson/agents/finetuning-method-selection GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/f5bdd023c60c7be833cde26ff505a838774b0e81adbc8b8dab3e63dd6a727a61
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.