general-vs-special SKILL.md skillA
general-vs-special from codybrom/clairvoyance is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add codybrom/clairvoyance/general-vs-special@git:20260722.fcfda01Pins git:20260722.fcfda01 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- codybrom/clairvoyance
- Path
skills/general-vs-special/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 5
- Latest version
- git:20260722.fcfda01, committed Jul 22, 2026
- First version recorded
- Feb 25, 2026
- Size
- 4,514 bytes
- Repository stars
- 15
- License
- MIT
Evaluates whether interfaces are appropriately general-purpose. Use when checking interface generality, when if-branches or parameters serve only one caller, or when getters/setters expose internal representation. Not for information leakage across boundaries (use information-hiding) or auditing configuration parameters (use pull-complexity-down).
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
# General vs. Special-Purpose Review Lens When invoked with $ARGUMENTS, focus the analysis on the specified file or module. Read the target code first, then apply the checks below. General-purpose modules are surprisingly simpler, deeper and less effort to build. They produce better information hiding and can even provide these benefits when used in a single context. Because a general-purpose interface doesn't need to know about specific callers, the knowledge always stays where it belongs. ## When to Apply - Designing a new module, API, or utility - When a module has use-case-specific logic embedded in it - When a module's interface is cluttered with rarely-used parameters - When deciding between a flexible API and a specific one ## Core Principles ### The Generality Test > "What is the simplest interface that will cover all my current needs?" — John Ousterhout, _A Philosophy of Software Design_ Not "the most general interface possible." The target is **somewhat general-purpose**. - **Functionality**: Scoped to current needs. Doesn't build features you don't need. - **Interface**: General enough to support multiple uses. Doesn't tie it only to today's caller. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add codybrom/clairvoyance/general-vs-special@sha256:2e9b6a8ff81ac8c4The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260722.fcfda01, 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_v36fmtokp5ucgaxg)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 5 versions of this file, between Feb 25, 2026 and Jul 22, 2026, about one every 37 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260722.fcfda01 latest | 2026-07-22 | fcfda01 | 4,514 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260701.ba096c5 | 2026-07-01 | ba096c5 | 4,678 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260301.1854d20 | 2026-03-01 | 1854d20 | 4,592 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260227.455211b | 2026-02-27 | 455211b | 4,874 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260225.e46f12c | 2026-02-25 | e46f12c | 4,480 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 (4514 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
codybrom/clairvoyance · 15 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-08 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_v36fmtokp5ucgaxg GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=codybrom/clairvoyance/general-vs-special GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/2e9b6a8ff81ac8c47f5af47c95618438aafab3745b34a3fceac7b384f357d02e
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.