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jmporchetjmporchet/pstack-hermes/skills/principle-encode-lessons-in-structure/SKILL.md

principle-encode-lessons-in-structure

Skill2 starsChanged 2 months agoMITView on GitHub

Apply when you catch yourself writing the same instruction a second time, or notice a recurring correction. Encode the rule as a lint, metadata flag, runtime check, or script instead of more text.

48 other projects use a version of this, 46 of them edited.

Adopted by

Most recently taken up by

Used with

Projects with it also use principle-explain-the-number, poteto-help and 8 more.

Other files people use alongside this one.

Files found in the same public projects as a version of this one, more often than they turn up anywhere else. Each project counts once, large collections count for less, and this file's own repository is left out.
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  • ianclearySkill

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  • drafaelSkill

    in-your-own-words

    Restate the user's goals and the problem they are trying to solve to check understanding. Manual invocation only; use when the user explicitly invokes in-your-own-words or requests this understanding check. Do not solve the task or rewrite the assistant's last answer.

    Also in 20 projects that use this

  • TheOnlyFusionCubeSkill

    maintain-formal-verification-skill

    Bring a project's formal verification back in line with the code after the code changes: find the commits that touched verified code, update the model, harness, or properties to describe the code as it is now, rerun, and say whether each failure is drift in the verification or a bug in the code. Use for /maintain-formal-verification-skill, \"is the model still true to the code\", or after merges and refactors that touched verified code without rechecking it.

    Also in 16 projects that use this

  • TheOnlyFusionCubeSkill

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    Draw what an app's user sees as a Mermaid statechart from a TLA+ model. States are gray if they work, red if still wrong, and green if fixed. Each bug TLC finds is a numbered path. Use for /statechart, \"show the PM the bug\", or to turn an agreed chart into a TLA+ skeleton.

    Also in 15 projects that use this

  • +1 more from TheOnlyFusionCube

The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

7 rules. 1 is common, 6 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.

  • 1

    Common

    Most of the 48 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 6

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 0

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Distinctive:

    When you catch yourself writing the same instruction a second time:

    line 13
  2. Distinctive:

    Ask: can this be a lint rule, a metadata flag, a runtime check, or a script?

    line 14
  3. Distinctive:

    If yes, encode it. Delete the instruction

    line 15
  4. Distinctive:

    If no (genuinely requires judgment), make the instruction more prominent and add an example of the failure mode

    line 16
  5. Common:

    Corollary: Don't paper over symptoms.

    line 20
  6. Distinctive:

    Capture every correction: When the human intervenes or tests fail, decide if it's a one-off or a pattern.

    line 23
  7. Distinctive:

    Close the loop: Don't just record. Apply now or create a concrete todo.

    line 25

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 48 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

Encode Lessons in Structure

Encode recurring fixes in mechanisms (tools, code, metadata, automation) instead of textual instructions. Every error, human correction, and unexpected outcome is a learning signal. Capture it, route it, and close the loop.

Why: Textual instructions are easy to miss. They require the reader to notice, remember, and comply. Structural mechanisms (lint rules, metadata flags, runtime checks, automation scripts) enforce the rule without cooperation.

Pattern: When you catch yourself writing the same instruction a second time:

  1. Ask: can this be a lint rule, a metadata flag, a runtime check, or a script?
  2. If yes, encode it. Delete the instruction
  3. If no (genuinely requires judgment), make the instruction more prominent and add an example of the failure mode

Pick the strongest rung. When more than one mechanism would work, choose the strongest the situation allows (an unrepresentable state that cannot compile, then a lint or banned API that fails CI, then a canonical helper, then a runtime check), because agents copy whatever the surrounding code already does and a weaker guard becomes the next template.

Corollary: Don't paper over symptoms. If the fix is structural, ONLY use the structural fix. The instruction IS the symptom.

Feedback loop:

  • Capture every correction. When the human intervenes or tests fail, decide if it's a one-off or a pattern.
  • Route to the right layer. One-off -> brain note. Recurring fix -> skill or lint rule. Systemic issue -> principle.
  • Close the loop. Don't just record. Apply now or create a concrete todo.

Anti-patterns:

  • Acknowledging without recording ("I'll keep that in mind" does not persist)
  • Recording without routing (a brain note about a lint rule that should exist is wasted unless the lint rule gets implemented)
  • Fixing without generalizing (fixing one instance while leaving the recurring pattern intact)

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