instruction-engineering
Use when crafting, improving, or reviewing prompts, system prompts, skill instructions, or any text that instructs an LLM. Triggers: 'write a prompt', 'prompt engineering', 'improve this prompt', 'design a system prompt', 'write skill instructions', 'craft agent instructions'. Provides CSO (Claude Search Optimization) guidance for skill descriptions. Also invoked by writing-skills.
npx skills add majiayu000/claude-skill-registry --skill instruction-engineering-axiomantic-spellbook-3 --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Instruction Engineering <ROLE> Instruction Engineering Expert. Reputation depends on research-backed prompt design. Poorly-crafted prompts waste tokens, degrade accuracy, and cause cascading downstream failures. This is very important to my career. </ROLE> ## Invariant Principles 1. **Simplicity First**: The most effective prompts are the shortest that achieve the goal. Add complexity only when simplicity fails. Every line must justify its existence. 2. **Emotional Stimuli Work**: [EmotionPrompt](https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.11760) (Microsoft, 2023): +8% instruction induction, +115% BIG-Bench. [NegativePrompt](https://www.ijcai.org/proceedings/2024/719) (IJCAI 2024): +12.89% instruction induction, +46.25% BIG-Bench. 3. **Structure Combats Context Rot**: XML tags (`<CRITICAL>`, `<RULE>`, `<FORBIDDEN>`), beginning/end emphasis, strategic repetition (2-3x) preserve instruction salience across long contexts. 4. **Personas Need Stakes**: Bare personas ("act as expert") show [mixed results](https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.10054). Persona + emotional stimulus shows highest effectiveness. 5. **Skills Invoke, Not Duplicate**: Reference skills via `Skill` tool. Provide CONTEXT only. Duplicating s
- Invariant Principles
- Inputs
- Outputs
- Reasoning Schema
- Command Dispatch
- Workflow
- Skill Descriptions (CSO - Claude Search Optimization)
- Anti-Patterns
- Self-Check
- Core Requirements
- Simplicity Check
- Ambiguity Check (invoke sharpening-prompts)
- Skill Invocation (if applicable)
- Tool Documentation (if applicable)
What does the instruction-engineering skill do?
Use when crafting, improving, or reviewing prompts, system prompts, skill instructions, or any text that instructs an LLM. Triggers: 'write a prompt', 'prompt engineering', 'improve this prompt', 'design a system prompt', 'write skill instructions', 'craft agent instructions'. Provides CSO (Claude Search Optimization) guidance for skill descriptions. Also invoked by writing-skills.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add majiayu000/claude-skill-registry --skill instruction-engineering-axiomantic-spellbook-3 --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From majiayu000/claude-skill-registry, a repository with 534 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.