principle-encode-lessons-in-structure

Use it when:: You catch yourself, or the agent, writing the same instruction a second time, or making the same correction again.
It does:: Encodes the rule as a lint, metadata flag, runtime check or script; when the lesson needs judgment, it makes the instruction more prominent and adds an example of the failure.
Length:: Its description plus two sentences.
Runs:: Only when you call it.

Skill 14 of 14 in the pstack bundle, after principle-guard-the-context-window.

TL;DR

One of pstack's principle skills, in Cursor's plugin repo, and one of its shortest. Its corollary: when the fix is structural, use only the structural fix, because the repeated instruction is the symptom.

Summarizes the skill at 8ecfb19.

npx skills add https://github.com/cursor/plugins --skill principle-encode-lessons-in-structure

skills.sh page Source on GitHub All skills from cursor/plugins

Total Downloads: 5,600 on skills.sh, Nov 9, 2026
Repo stars: 15,776 cursor/plugins
First seen: May 24, 2026 on skills.sh

Weekly Downloads

316

-16% over the 8 weeks to Nov 9

Weekly values

Week to	Installs
Sep 21	378
Sep 28	412
Oct 5	517
Oct 12	444
Oct 19	506
Oct 26	477
Nov 2	363
Nov 9	316

Category	category:engineering category:agents category:software-engineering Test-first work, implementation from specs, git hygiene and scope control. Build agents, orchestrate workers and give agents memory. Everything for building software: planning, coding, debugging, design, frameworks, cloud, agents and skills.
Type	type:guidelines Knowledge and rules the agent applies while it works: best practices, design principles, API references.
Effect	effect:none Adds no side effects of its own. It shapes how the agent thinks, writes or reviews. Guidelines and routers are always effect:none, even when the task they support edits code.
Needs	needs:none Instructions only. Works in any agent that supports skills.
Publisher	by:community Everyone else. Unverified vendor claims default to community.
Topics	code-quality guardrails

SKILL.md

From cursor/plugins at 8ecfb19. Checked daily, last changed Nov 6, 2026.

Frontmatter

name: principle-encode-lessons-in-structure
description: "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."
disable-model-invocation: true

Encode Lessons in Structure

If the lesson needs judgment and cannot be encoded, make the instruction more prominent and add an example of the failure mode.

Corollary: If the fix is structural, only use the structural fix. The instruction is the symptom.