principle-prove-it-works
Skill4 starsChanged 16 days agoMITView on GitHub
Use at the end of every task, before you say it succeeded. Check the actual output yourself, for example by exercising the feature, reading back what got stored, or opening the diff. A proxy signal, a subagent's self-report, or a successful compile does not count.
49 other projects use a version of this.
Adopted by
Most recently taken up by
- paramcodes/skillstheir own version, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- tristanphvn/keeltheir own version, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- hidenobunagai/astacktheir own version, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- creedants/pstack-t3their own version, first seen Nov 3, 2026
- painhardcore/pstacktheir own version, first seen Nov 2, 2026
- christofferbergj/agent-skillstheir own version, first seen Nov 1, 2026
Used with
Projects with it also use setup-pstack, poteto-help and 3 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.
bnemaSkillsetup-pstack
Configure which Pi models pstack uses per role. Detects available provider/model specs and writes pstack's user configuration. Use for /setup-pstack, "configure pstack models", or changing pstack model choices.
Also in 25 projects that use this
ianclearySkillpoteto-help
Guides users through pstack setup, /poteto-mode, and picking the skill, playbook, or principle for a task. Type /poteto-help with a question.
Also in 14 projects that use this
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
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
instructureSkillketchup
Rebuild context after /clear by analyzing uncommitted changes across Canvas LMS and all plugin repositories
Also in 18 projects that use this
Other versions49 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 0
None found.
Wrote their own version · 49
- backnotprop/pstack★ 3.8ksame name
- jtaroreh/agystack★ 128same name
- uzairansaruzi/p3-stack★ 126same name
- dsebban/skills★ 71same name
- The-AIE/the-gibson★ 44same name
- TheOnlyFusionCube/potetos-for-everyone★ 21same name
- creedants/pstack-t3★ 18same name
- painhardcore/pstack★ 18same name
- Scino/fstack★ 18same name
- mariusflorescu/pstack-t3★ 13same name
39 more not listed
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.
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The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
5 rules. 0 are common, 5 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
0
Common
Most of the 49 edited versions we read keep these.
5
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
- Distinctive: line 9
Look at the real artifact before calling a task finished: exercise the feature, read the value that was stored, examine the diff.
- Distinctive: line 18
Check whether a process is alive by querying the process, not by reading a status file it last wrote.
- Distinctive: line 19
Read the value at its source rather than a cached copy or something computed from it.
- Distinctive: line 20
When a verification fails, suspect the observation method first.
- Distinctive: line 21
Prefer a deterministic script that reruns the comparison over a one-time visual check.
“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 49 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
Look at the real artifact before calling a task finished: exercise the feature, read the value that was stored, examine the diff. Proxies, self-reports, and a successful compile do not count as evidence.
When it applies
The end of every task, before you report success.
What to do
- Expect indirect checks to tempt you. File timestamps, a subagent's summary, and a cached screenshot feel cheaper than looking, but acting on a wrong inference costs more.
- Check whether a process is alive by querying the process, not by reading a status file it last wrote.
- Read the value at its source rather than a cached copy or something computed from it. After changing a firewall rule, send a request that should be blocked and confirm it is blocked. Do not stop at "the config file contains the rule."
- When a verification fails, suspect the observation method first.
- Prefer a deterministic script that reruns the comparison over a one-time visual check. Run that script and keep what it prints as an artifact the reviewer can execute again (principle-build-the-lever).
- Show that artifact to the user in the reply. Reserve committing it for big or complicated work that needs an audit trail, such as a big port or migration, using the show-me-your-work skill.
A delegate reporting "all tests pass" may have run a subset. Rerun the command or read its captured output before repeating the claim.
The failure it prevents
False "done" claims, trust in subagent summaries, and the belief that a green build means working software.
Done when
Evidence from the real artifact accompanies the claim of completion.
Compare principle-explain-the-number: that one asks whether a measurement means what it claims, and this one asks whether the output exists and behaves correctly.
Related: principle-build-the-lever, principle-sequence-verifiable-units, principle-explain-the-number, create-verification-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.