Fix filing at the policy layer, not agent skillA reusable instruction file that teaches an agent how to do one job well — the procedure, the tools, and what counts as done.Full definition → by skill. One shared filing-rules document plus a two-line mandate at the top of every writing skill — read the routing file first, file by primary subject, not by source format or skill name — repaired ten skills at once.
Catalog the confusion pairs explicitly: raw data dumps versus originals, a person who is also a company, policy analysis versus source material. Documenting each known mistake stops it recurring by a slightly different route.
The symptom of an overstuffed instructions file is not an error, it is degradation: slower and less precise responses as attentionThe mechanism that lets a model weigh which earlier words matter for the word it's currently processing — the core operation of a transformer.Full definition → spreads thin. The tell here was Claude Code itself asking for the file to be cut back.
Terms in this piece · Glossary
agent skill — A reusable instruction file that teaches an agent how to do one job well — the procedure, the tools, and what counts as done.
attention — The mechanism that lets a model weigh which earlier words matter for the word it's currently processing — the core operation of a transformer.
agent harness — The scaffolding around a model that turns it into a working agent — the loop, the tools it can call, and the rules for when to stop.
AI agent — An AI system that doesn't just answer once but works toward a goal in a loop — taking actions, reading the results, and deciding what to do next.
Why it matters
The follow-up to "Thin agent harnessThe scaffolding around a model that turns it into a working agent — the loop, the tools it can call, and the rules for when to stop.Full definition →, Fat Skills," arguing resolvers — not skills — are the piece that makes AI agentAn AI system that doesn't just answer once but works toward a goal in a loop — taking actions, reading the results, and deciding what to do next.Full definition → systems route intelligently. Read after the original; this is where the framework grows its connective tissue.
Key quotes
“You can't make someone smarter by shouting louder. You make them smarter by giving them the right book at the right moment.”
“That's when you know you've gone too far — the AI is telling you to stop talking.”
“A resolver is a routing table for context. When task type X appears, load document Y first.”
