design-explore SKILL.md skillA
design-explore from vbcherepanov/total-agent-memory is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add vbcherepanov/total-agent-memory/design-explore@git:20260419.06b33f1Pins git:20260419.06b33f1 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- vbcherepanov/total-agent-memory
- Path
examples/skills/design-explore/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260419.06b33f1, committed Apr 19, 2026
- Size
- 2,134 bytes
- Repository stars
- 75
- License
- MIT
Explore 2-4 design options with pros/cons/criteria matrix before writing code. Use for L3-L4 tasks (refactors, architecture, new subsystems). Pairs with save_decision MCP tool.
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
# design-explore
Use this skill when the user asks for "design", "architecture", "approach", "options", "trade-offs", "how should we do X", or when task classifier returns level >= 3.
## Workflow
1. **Discover prior art** — `memory_recall(query="<task keywords>", mode="index", limit=10)` + `analogize(query="<task description>", exclude_project=None)` — check if similar decision was made before.
2. **Generate 2-4 options** for the design space. For each option, fill:
- **Core approach** (1 sentence)
- **Implementation sketch** (3-5 lines)
- **Pros** (3 bullets)
- **Cons** (2-3 bullets)
- **Unknowns** (what we don't yet know)
3. **Build criteria matrix** — list 3-5 criteria that matter (e.g. performance, maintainability, migration risk, team familiarity). Rate each option 1-5 per criterion.
4. **Pick one** with justification referring to matrix. Name what was **discarded** and why.
5. **Save** — `save_decision(title, options, criteria_matrix, selected, rationale, discarded, project)`.
6. **Only then** proceed to implementation — with a clear decision in memory for next session.
## Output template
```markdown
## Decision: {title}
### Prior art
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add vbcherepanov/total-agent-memory/design-explore@sha256:294ba4f82e2d7c11The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260419.06b33f1, 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_xctwca5fz3nqb3th)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Apr 19, 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 (2134 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
vbcherepanov/total-agent-memory · 75 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-04 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_xctwca5fz3nqb3th GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=vbcherepanov/total-agent-memory/design-explore GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/294ba4f82e2d7c11c3d9c937c6f3865d360096defdb308deed5e419d8b60d8ae
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.