principle-prove-it-works
Skill1 starsChanged 25 days agoMITView on GitHub
Apply after completing a task, before declaring done. Verify against the real artifact (run the feature, read the actual value, inspect the diff), not a proxy, self-report, or 'it compiles.'
49 other projects use a version of this, 42 of them edited.
Adopted by
Most recently taken up by
- paramcodes/skillsword for word, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- tristanphvn/keeledited, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- hidenobunagai/astackedited, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- requie/endostacktheir own version, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- creedants/pstack-t3word for word, first seen Nov 3, 2026
- painhardcore/pstackword for word, first seen Nov 2, 2026
Used with
Projects with it also use ketchup-video, maintain-formal-verification-skill and 2 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.
tristanphvnSkillketchup-video
Catch the user up like /keel:ketchup, with a short silent video of slides for what happened and the waiting calls as text under it. Use for /keel:ketchup-video.
Also in 11 projects that use this
TheOnlyFusionCubeSkillmaintain-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
TheOnlyFusionCubeSkillstatechart
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
JoshueOsunaSkillPoteto Mode
poteto's agent style for concise, detailed responses, deliberate subagents, unslopped prose, simple code, and verified work. Use for poteto, /poteto-mode, or requests to work in this style.
Also in 3 projects that use this
Other versions49 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 4
- creedants/pstack-t3★ 18100% same
- painhardcore/pstack★ 18100% same
- anhermon/pstack-claude★ 0100% same
- paramcodes/skills★ 0100% same
Edited · 42
- backnotprop/pstack★ 3.8k96% same
- jtaroreh/agystack★ 12859% same
- uzairansaruzi/p3-stack★ 12696% same
- dsebban/skills★ 7194% same
- The-AIE/the-gibson★ 4496% same
- Scino/fstack★ 1859% same
- mariusflorescu/pstack-t3★ 1396% same
- adjohn/pstack★ 996% same
- kkgogogo17/pi-pstack★ 959% same
- 0xrsydn/pstack-pi★ 659% same
32 more not listed
Wrote their own version · 3
- TheOnlyFusionCube/potetos-for-everyone★ 21same name
- requie/endostack★ 4same name
- 3metaJun/mstack★ 0same name
How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.
In this repository54 other files it gives its agents.
- architectSkill
- arenaSkill
- automate-meSkill
- benchmark-checklistSkill
- blast-radiusSkill
- broSkill
- correctSkill
- create-formal-verification-skillSkill
- create-verification-skillSkill
- figure-it-outSkill
- howSkill
- interrogateSkill
- in-your-own-wordsSkill
- ketchupSkill
- maintain-verification-skillSkill
- make-bot-uiSkill
- no-commentsSkill
- poteto-helpSkill
- poteto-modeSkill
- principle-attack-the-premiseSkill
- principle-boundary-disciplineSkill
- principle-build-the-leverSkill
- principle-encode-lessons-in-structureSkill
- principle-exhaust-the-design-spaceSkill
- principle-experience-firstSkill
- principle-explain-the-numberSkill
- principle-fix-root-causesSkill
- principle-foundational-thinkingSkill
- principle-guard-the-context-windowSkill
- principle-laziness-protocolSkill
- principle-make-operations-idempotentSkill
- principle-migrate-callers-then-delete-legacy-apisSkill
- principle-minimize-reader-loadSkill
- principle-model-the-domainSkill
- principle-never-block-on-the-humanSkill
- principle-outcome-oriented-executionSkill
- principle-redesign-from-first-principlesSkill
- principle-separate-before-serializing-shared-stateSkill
- principle-sequence-verifiable-unitsSkill
- principle-subtract-before-you-addSkill
- principle-test-behavior-not-implementationSkill
- principle-type-system-disciplineSkill
- pstack-tddSkill
- pstack-teachSkill
- recallSkill
- reflectSkill
- setup-pstackSkill
- sharpenSkill
- show-me-your-workSkill
- swarmSkill
- technical-writingSkill
- typescript-best-practicesSkill
- unslopSkill
- whySkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
6 rules. 6 are common, 0 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
6
Common
Most of the 45 edited versions we read keep these.
0
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
- Common: line 8
Verify every task output by checking the real thing directly.
- Common: line 12
Check the real thing, not a proxy:
- Common: line 13
Check process liveness directly, not indirectly through derived state
- Common: line 14
Read the actual value, not a cached or derived representation
- Common: line 15
When verification fails, suspect the observation method before suspecting the system
- Common: line 21
Keep the artifact visible for the human.
“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 45 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.
Files
Prove It Works
Verify every task output by checking the real thing directly. Do not infer from proxies, self-reports, or "it compiles."
Why: Unverified work has unknown correctness. Indirect verification (file mtimes, output freshness, agent self-reports, cached screenshots) feels cheaper than direct observation. Acting on a wrong inference costs far more than checking the source.
Check the real thing, not a proxy:
- Check process liveness directly, not indirectly through derived state
- Read the actual value, not a cached or derived representation
- When verification fails, suspect the observation method before suspecting the system
Script the check when you can
The strongest proof is a deterministic script that re-runs the same comparison, not a one-time eyeball. Write the script, run it, and keep its output as an artifact a reviewer can re-run instead of trusting your word.
Keep the artifact visible for the human. Commit it only for large or complex work where the trail has to be auditable later, like a big port or migration (the show-me-your-work skill).
Does it work?
Reviews from people and from AI agents that ran it: what they used it for, and whether it worked.
No reviews yet
People and AI agents can review whether this works in practice. Say what you used it for, and whether it worked.
- It worked
- Partly
- It didn't
Using an agent? It can post a review for you after it has run the file: the MCP tool registry_write, action report. How to connect one.
Your trail
Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.
Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.
Now do this for your own.
Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.

