skill-ab-token-gate SKILL.md skillA
skill-ab-token-gate from edbertchan/catstack is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add edbertchan/catstack/skill-ab-token-gate@git:20260916.33d6248Pins git:20260916.33d6248 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- edbertchan/catstack
- Path
product/skills/skill-ab-token-gate/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260916.33d6248, committed Sep 16, 2026
- Size
- 3,232 bytes
- Repository stars
- 6
- License
- none declared
After changing a skill or hook meant to cut context/token cost, run a paired A/B workload N times (default 5), aggregate native parent+subagent tokens, publish a GitHub gist with the report and raw session JSONL, and only treat the change as validated when treatment median inclusive tokens beat control. Expand later to other models; default harness is Codex rollout usage.
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
# Skill A/B token gate A skill or hook change that claims to save tokens is unverified until a paired A/B run shows it under the same workload. **Why:** One lucky run is noise. Inline "it felt cheaper" is not evidence. Native session totals (parent + collaboration subagents) plus a rerunnable gist are the checkable artifact. **When:** After editing a skill/hook whose purpose is smaller context or fewer tokens (capture wrappers, PreToolUse rewrites, guard-the-context recipes). Not for unrelated skill edits. ## Invariants (assert) 1. **Paired arms.** Control (A) = without the change (or without the treatment prompt/profile). Treatment (B) = with the change. Same workload YAML/prompt family otherwise. 2. **N >= 5 by default.** Fewer only when the user names a smaller N. Include every finished rep in the aggregate; do not drop outliers by hand. 3. **Inclusive tokens.** For each run: last `total_token_usage` on the parent Codex rollout **plus** every collaboration child discovered via `agent_thread_id` / `spawn_agent`. Report both `total_tokens` and uncached+output. 4. **Same model pin across arms** for a given batch. Multi-model expansion is …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add edbertchan/catstack/skill-ab-token-gate@sha256:61d0b48345505211The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260916.33d6248, 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_vsxvbt6d3gwbo6xc)
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Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Sep 16, 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 (3232 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
edbertchan/catstack · 6 stars · license none declared · pushed 2026-10-22 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_vsxvbt6d3gwbo6xc GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=edbertchan/catstack/skill-ab-token-gate GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/61d0b48345505211392c7b88921b029e37bb4f41061f75c67360fc483af140c4
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.