effective-agent-skills SKILL.md skillB
effective-agent-skills from davidondrej/skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add davidondrej/skills/effective-agent-skills@git:20260926.7dce66cPins git:20260926.7dce66c in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- B, 16 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- davidondrej/skills
- Path
skills/skill-authoring/effective-agent-skills/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 3
- Latest version
- git:20260926.7dce66c, committed Sep 26, 2026
- First version recorded
- Sep 25, 2026
- Size
- 12,854 bytes
- Repository stars
- 4,161
- License
- MIT
Write, review, and debug agent skills. Use when creating or editing SKILL.md files, improving skill structure, or diagnosing invocation and execution problems.
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
# Effective Agent Skills --- ## 1. What agent skills are An Agent Skill is a folder containing a `SKILL.md` file (YAML frontmatter + markdown instructions), plus optional subfolders for scripts, references, and assets that the agent loads on demand. ``` my-skill/ ├── SKILL.md # Required: metadata + instructions ├── scripts/ # Optional: executable code (CLIs, validators, helpers) ├── references/ # Optional: detailed docs loaded only when needed └── assets/ # Optional: templates, fonts, static files ``` Agent Skills (agentskills.io) is an open standard. The folder and `SKILL.md` format are portable; optional behavior such as invocation control can be client-specific. --- ## 2. Why use skills Skills package procedural knowledge and context for reuse: - **Context efficiency** — instructions load only when relevant - **Repeatability** — multi-step procedures become auditable workflows - **Composability** — multiple skills combine at runtime per task - **Portability** — same files work across vendors and surfaces --- ## 3. How they work — progressive disclosure Three levels of loading: …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add davidondrej/skills/effective-agent-skills@sha256:16545d0124875443The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260926.7dce66c, 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_ummhh73qke6fcxa5)
1 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 3 versions of this file, between Sep 25, 2026 and Sep 26, 2026, more than one a day.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260926.7dce66c latest | 2026-09-26 | 7dce66c | 12,854 B | B | view · diff |
| git:20260925.41f8784 | 2026-09-25 | 41f8784 | 12,714 B | B | view · diff |
| git:20260925.cb72780 | 2026-09-25 | cb72780 | 12,717 B | B | view |
Audit of the latest version
- fail: No prompt-injection phrasing (matched: ignore previous instructions)
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (12854 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 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
Starting a new one? Use a template for SKILL.md on mdpantry, which passes every one of these checks and says what to change in it.
Source
davidondrej/skills · 4,161 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-21 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_ummhh73qke6fcxa5 GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=davidondrej/skills/effective-agent-skills GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/16545d0124875443925ddd9a46861073f575b4c49214d7d2d1071aae0aa9db08
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.