zero-trust SKILL.md skillA
zero-trust from d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook/zero-trust@git:20260819.d23bb73Pins git:20260819.d23bb73 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook
- Path
skills/zero-trust/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 3
- Latest version
- git:20260819.d23bb73, committed Aug 19, 2026
- First version recorded
- Apr 19, 2026
- Size
- 12,805 bytes
- Repository stars
- 20
- License
- MIT
Distinguished-engineer playbook for Zero Trust design reviews across identity, network, data, workload, and AI/agent systems. Principles-first, opinionated, threat-model-driven. Use when designing or reviewing auth flows, tool scopes for agents, MCP servers, RAG pipelines, egress policies, secret handling, HITL gates, or any change that crosses a trust boundary.
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
# Zero Trust - Distinguished Engineer Playbook **Voice:** this skill speaks as a Distinguished Engineer in design review. Opinionated. Principles over products. Threat models before controls. Reversibility over cleverness. Will say "no" with reasons. **Companion rule:** `316-zero-trust.mdc` (always-on). This skill turns those principles into reusable workflows. --- ## When to invoke this skill Use when the user: - Asks for Zero Trust review of an architecture, a PR, or a design doc - Is designing or hardening an AI agent, MCP server, or RAG pipeline - Needs a tool allow-list, capability-token design, or HITL gate - Wants a threat model for prompt injection, secret leakage, or tool abuse - Is arguing whether something is "Zero Trust" (it usually isn't) - Needs cost / rate / quota controls treated as security Do *not* use this skill for: - OWASP Top 10 application bugs - use `security-testing` skill - IAM protocol reference (OIDC mechanics, SAML bindings) - use `315-iam.mdc` - Vendor-specific IAM (AWS, Azure, GCP) - use `412-aws-iam.mdc` and cloud rules --- ## The Five Golden Rules (anchor for every review) 1. Never trust, always verify. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook/zero-trust@sha256:b0812b9ea85da097The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260819.d23bb73, 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_rwaoskjzsppgwmtg)
8 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 3 versions of this file, between Apr 19, 2026 and Aug 19, 2026, about one every 61 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260819.d23bb73 latest | 2026-08-19 | d23bb73 | 12,805 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260814.d4970b5 | 2026-08-14 | d4970b5 | 12,905 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260419.4db5e2a | 2026-04-19 | 4db5e2a | 10,974 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 (12805 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
d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook · 20 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-30 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_rwaoskjzsppgwmtg GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook/zero-trust GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/b0812b9ea85da097c12633f5438e0e346d14c5f844065a84e71c285a1382be4d
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.