rut-breaker SKILL.md skillA
rut-breaker from uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills/rut-breaker@git:20260320.999ac68Pins git:20260320.999ac68 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills
- Path
skills/rut-breaker/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260320.999ac68, committed Mar 20, 2026
- Size
- 2,425 bytes
- Repository stars
- 20
- License
- MIT
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.
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
# 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
mdr add uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills/rut-breaker@sha256:925b96bff740ca61The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260320.999ac68, 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_tdpjqqy3if7pujfa)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Mar 20, 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 (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
uchicago-dsi/ai-sci-skills · 20 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-07 · 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 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.