generate-codebook SKILL.md skillA
generate-codebook from aperivue/medsci-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add aperivue/medsci-skills/generate-codebook@git:20261002.1e9aa4fPins git:20261002.1e9aa4f in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- aperivue/medsci-skills
- Path
skills/generate-codebook/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 5
- Latest version
- git:20261002.1e9aa4f, committed Oct 2, 2026
- First version recorded
- May 31, 2026
- Size
- 4,455 bytes
- Repository stars
- 366
- License
- MIT
Use when a tabular dataset (CSV, Excel, Parquet, Stata, SAS) needs a data dictionary. Profiles every variable (type, levels, range, missingness) into codebook.md and codebook.json and flags coded values of unknown meaning as [NEEDS DICTIONARY] instead of guessing.
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
# Generate Codebook Skill
Turn a raw tabular dataset into a structured, **citable** data dictionary (codebook). This is the
*generator* side of the dictionary-first workflow: it produces the artifact that `/define-variables`
and dictionary-first QC later consume. Distributions, types, and missingness are observable and the
bundled script profiles them; the **meaning** of a coded value (`fatty_liver_grade = 0`) is not
observable from the data and lives only in the authoritative data dictionary. You generate code and
review output — you do **not** invent the meaning of coded values.
## Deterministic Script
Run the bundled profiler rather than describing columns from memory:
```bash
python "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate_codebook.py" data.csv --out-dir .
```
Supports `.csv/.tsv/.xlsx/.parquet/.dta/.sas7bdat`. Flags: `--max-levels N`
(categorical cutoff, default 20), `--json-only`, `--md-only`. The script is
pandas-only, runs locally, and never sends data anywhere.
## Workflow
### Step 1: Profile (deterministic)
Run `generate_codebook.py` on the dataset. It writes `codebook.json` (machine-
readable) and `codebook.md` (review table), reporting per variable: role
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add aperivue/medsci-skills/generate-codebook@sha256:6c461d01e9310dd5The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261002.1e9aa4f, 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_sw42kmjfgrnd6wyx)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 5 versions of this file, between May 31, 2026 and Oct 2, 2026, about one every 31 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261002.1e9aa4f latest | 2026-10-02 | 1e9aa4f | 4,455 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260930.c8ed96c | 2026-09-30 | c8ed96c | 3,896 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260930.30387c2 | 2026-09-30 | 30387c2 | 3,911 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260930.913abeb | 2026-09-30 | 913abeb | 4,094 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260531.ea33769 | 2026-05-31 | ea33769 | 7,129 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 (4455 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
aperivue/medsci-skills · 366 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-02 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_sw42kmjfgrnd6wyx GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=aperivue/medsci-skills/generate-codebook GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/6c461d01e9310dd5d1c9fdeb98fce242607c706490993af411de91f3b7ee9edc
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.