Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state in the reader's head; collapse one-caller wrappers and shrink mutable scope.
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
# Minimize Reader Load
Maintainability is the work a reader must do to understand code. Track two axes: **layers to trace** (indirections between the question and the answer) and **state to hold** (hidden or mutable context the reader must keep in their head). LOC, cyclomatic complexity, and "clean architecture" are proxies. Reader load is the thing that matters. The two axes are independent. A flat file with 50 globals can be as hard to reason about as a 6-layer adapter stack. Guard both. This is the human analog of [Guard the Context Window](../principle-guard-the-context-window/SKILL.md). Working memory is finite for readers too.
- **Collapse layers** that cost more than they save: wrappers with one caller, adapters with no second implementation, speculative indirection that was never needed. Inline them.
- **Make adjacent layers change the abstraction.** A layer that repeats the same methods and arguments adds reader load without compression. Collapse pass-through layers.
- **Demand interface compression.** A broad interface that hides little complexity makes readers learn both the surface and the implementation. Prefer boundaries that hide meaningful decisions.
…
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261011.042ae70, 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 (1965 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
creedants/pstack-t3 · 15 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-19 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_tbbzupkiavwyt776
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=creedants/pstack-t3/principle-minimize-reader-load
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/5b566bf8092c348778f0cece7bd52d24a6c65696b0237123b91c6ff960f22bb6
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.
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/architect/SKILL.md · Sketch types, signatures, and module structure before code, then stay in the loop while implementation fills in. Use…
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creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/automate-me/SKILL.md · Use for "automate me", "create/update/refresh my -mode skill", "turn/capture my preferences or working style into a…
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/benchmark-checklist/SKILL.md · Vet a perf measurement (limiter, tuning, limits, errors, repeatability, relevance, and whether the work happened)…
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/blast-radius/SKILL.md · Find what a change could break somewhere else before it ships, beyond the diff, and prove the one fact it's safe…
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/brigade-admin/SKILL.md · Run the executive admin for the brigade coordinators on one repository. It is one pinned T3 thread that forwards the…
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/brigade/SKILL.md · Give a project or a focus area its own standing head chef. It is one long-lived T3 thread that holds a purpose, takes…
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/correct/SKILL.md · Find the mistakes agents keep repeating in this repo and make each one impossible. Try architecture first, then types…
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/create-formal-verification-skill/SKILL.md · Generate a project-local skill that formally verifies the code where a bug costs the most and tests reach the least, in…
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/create-verification-skill/SKILL.md · Generate a project-local verification skill that drives your app the way a user does — any language, framework, or…
cursor/plugins · harness/pstack/claude-code/skills/principle-minimize-reader-load/SKILL.md · Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state…
cursor/plugins · pstack/skills/principle-minimize-reader-load/SKILL.md · Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state…
michael-denyer/pstack-claude · plugins/pstack/skills/principle-minimize-reader-load/SKILL.md · Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state…
backnotprop/pstack · skills/principle-minimize-reader-load/SKILL.md · Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state…
j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite · assets/.agent/skills/engineering-principles/minimize-reader-load/SKILL.md · Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state…
arjitj2/open-pstack · plugins/pstack/skills/principle-minimize-reader-load/SKILL.md · Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state…
painhardcore/pstack · .opencode/skills/principle-minimize-reader-load/SKILL.md · Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state…
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/principle-minimize-reader-load/SKILL.md · Apply when reviewing or shaping code that's hard to trace. Count layers between question and answer, and hidden state…
