querying-markdown SKILL.md skillA
This file is byte-identical to the first copy the registry indexed. Same content hash, so the same checks give both the same grade.
querying-markdown from oaustegard/claude-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add oaustegard/claude-skills/querying-markdown@v0.2.0Pins v0.2.0 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- oaustegard/claude-skills
- Path
plugins/development-tools/skills/querying-markdown/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- v0.2.0, committed Jul 25, 2026
- Size
- 5,705 bytes
- Repository stars
- 158
- License
- MIT
Query, filter, and transform Markdown structurally with mq — a jq-like CLI for Markdown. Use to extract headings/sections/code-blocks/links from .md files, build a table of contents, pull code blocks of a given language, slice or reshape LLM prompt/output Markdown, or batch-transform docs. Triggers on "extract sections from this markdown", "get all the code blocks", "jq for markdown", "mq", or any structural query over Markdown that grep/Read can't do cleanly.
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
# querying-markdown
`mq` is "jq for Markdown" — it parses a `.md` file into a node stream and lets
you select, filter, and transform by structure (`.h2`, `.code("rust")`,
`.link`) instead of by line-matching. Reach for it when the task is structural:
"every H2 title", "all bash code blocks", "a table of contents", "strip the
frontmatter". For plain substring search, `grep` is still the right tool; for
code (not prose) structure, use `tree-sitting`.
## Before you use mq: is this actually a structural task?
mq parses the whole document into a node tree before it answers, and that parse
cost is real (see [Empirical findings](#empirical-findings)). Most "query a
markdown file" tasks don't need it. Decide first, using the target — not the
file type:
| Your target | Use | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lines with a fixed prefix — `#`/`##` headings, `>` quotes, `-` bullets, a leading line/verse number | **grep / awk** | Line-matching, not structure. grep is faster and already installed. |
| A substring anywhere | **grep** | mq adds nothing. |
| Code *structure* inside fences (ASTs, symbols, call sites) | **tree-sitting** | mq sees the fence, not the code inside it. |
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add oaustegard/claude-skills/querying-markdown@sha256:b32215eac22c2aa4The line at the top of this page pins the label v0.2.0, 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_y7cu6pvp2fygw5dy)
5 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Jul 25, 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 (5705 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
oaustegard/claude-skills · 158 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-07 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_y7cu6pvp2fygw5dy GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=oaustegard/claude-skills/querying-markdown GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/b32215eac22c2aa4dee81248df671d30c180580820f354496d46e8de0f50e458
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.
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