Home / uchicago-dsi / ai-sci-skills · skills/rut-breaker/SKILL.md · GitHub

rut-breaker skillA

rut-breaker is agent-read markdown (skill) from uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills: Detect when work is stuck in a low-yield loop and force a better reset move. Use when the agent is repeating the same kind of fix, relaunch, sweep, or analysis without materially improving understanding or changing the decision..

Indexed from public GitHub and served as immutable, content-addressed versions. Install it pinned to an exact SHA-256 with the mdr CLI, and every file is verified against the hash recorded here before it reaches your agent. The deterministic audit below grades the latest version, and the same file always earns the same grade.

What the file says

# Rut Breaker

## Treat A Rut As A Pattern

- A rut is not just slow progress.
- A rut exists when similar actions keep recurring without sharper understanding, better evidence, or a changed plan.
- Compose this skill with domain skills after enough evidence suggests the current loop is low-yield.

## Use This Output Contract

When using this skill, report:

1. Repeating loop.
2. Evidence the loop is low-yield.
3. Stuck assumption.
4. Reset move.
5. Cheapest test after the reset.

## Detect Common Ruts

- Repeated relaunches with no new diagnosis.
- Repeated parameter sweeps that do not narrow uncertainty.
- Repeated code tweaks aimed at the same symptom with no mechanism.
- Repeated notebook updates that add detail but not a sharper conclusion.
- Repeated status checks on a job that is neither clearly healthy nor clearly failed.

## Apply These Rules

- Name the loop concretely.
- State what has actually been learned from the last few cycles.
- Identify the assumption keeping the loop alive.
- Choose a reset move that changes the information structure, not just the parameter values.
- Prefer reset moves that simplify, isolate, or compare against a stronger reference.
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

Latest version
mdr add uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills/rut-breaker@git:20260320.999ac68
Exact content
mdr add uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills/rut-breaker@sha256:925b96bff740ca61

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Versions

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Audit of the latest version

A  17 of 17 checks passed. Deterministic, no model, 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 (2425 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

uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills · 20 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-09-23 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_tdpjqqy3if7pujfa
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills/rut-breaker
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/925b96bff740ca611a1f9f2b93319e953f473d99dec20658e780f236f1c0a8a7

Your agent 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.

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