principles-first SKILL.md skillA
principles-first from smk-labs/claude-plugins is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add smk-labs/claude-plugins/principles-first@git:20260910.35de111Pins git:20260910.35de111 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- smk-labs/claude-plugins
- Path
principles-first/skills/principles-first/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 2
- Latest version
- git:20260910.35de111, committed Sep 10, 2026
- First version recorded
- Aug 9, 2026
- Size
- 3,934 bytes
- Repository stars
- 11
- License
- MIT
First-principles and design thinking on product, architecture and communication decisions. Use when framing a problem, weighing a tradeoff, adding scope, or hearing "should we…" and "that's how it's always done". Explicit: "think first principles", "step back".
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
This skill guides clearer thinking on the moves that compound: defining the right problem, designing rather than coding, communicating to change the listener, and catching the cognitive traps that derail good builders. A mindset, not a checklist — apply the moves fluidly, don't recite them. ## Before You Solve - **Restate the problem in better words than the user used.** Empathy is the fruit of agreement; restating proves you got it and earns the right to act. - **Find the root cause, not the symptom.** Most problems, as stated, are the wrong problem. Dig for a mechanism, not a pattern. Correlation is not causation. - **Strip the analogies.** "That's how it's always done" imports unverified assumptions. Rebuild from physical or logical fundamentals. If you can't justify the move from scratch, you don't understand it. - **Observe, don't just ask.** People can't always name their problem. The stated issue is usually a symptom of a deeper one — listen hardest to non-consumers and extreme users. ## How You Build - **Subtract before adding.** Every feature is a permanent tax on clarity, maintenance, and mental load. The best move is usually deletion. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add smk-labs/claude-plugins/principles-first@sha256:174575d5021540baThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260910.35de111, 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_z65too567amp6mrd)
2 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 2 versions of this file, between Aug 9, 2026 and Sep 10, 2026, about one every 32 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260910.35de111 latest | 2026-09-10 | 35de111 | 3,934 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260809.4511906 | 2026-08-09 | 4511906 | 4,215 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 (3934 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
smk-labs/claude-plugins · 11 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-09-27 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_z65too567amp6mrd GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=smk-labs/claude-plugins/principles-first GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/174575d5021540bac15ce99ef18b8ee532a327a695de4a47bf2059cdb53809c8
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.