principle-explain-the-number
Apply before you trust, report, or act on a number you measured: a speedup, a regression, a throughput, a latency, or an eval result. Find what limits it, and rule out that it measured something other than the work you think.
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/cursor/plugins --skill principle-explain-the-number- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads principle-explain-the-number automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Explain the Number
- Ask "why not double?" Name the resource or code path that bounds the result, such as a core, a lock, the disk, the network, or the load generator itself. Get it from a profile or from system counters taken during a run, then map it to source. A guess from reading the code is not a limiter. If you cannot say why the number is not twice as good, you do not know what you measured.
- List what else the number could be measuring, and rule out each one with evidence. The usual suspects are errors, skipped or cached work, code that never ran, an untuned side (one left on default settings), noise, and a piece too small to matter end to end.
- Keep the evidence with the number. Put the run count, the spread, and the limiter in the notes or a linked artifact.
For a performance number, run the full procedure with the benchmark-checklist skill. For an eval result, ask the same of the trials: did every run do the task, does the gap hold across trials and models, and does the scenario matter.
You skipped this when the evidence behind a number has no run count, no spread, or no named limiter, or when the time saved is larger than the time the changed piece took.
Distinct from Prove It Works, which checks that an output is real.
FAQ
What does the principle-explain-the-number skill do?
Apply before you trust, report, or act on a number you measured: a speedup, a regression, a throughput, a latency, or an eval result. Find what limits it, and rule out that it measured something other than the work you think.
How do I install principle-explain-the-number?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/cursor/plugins --skill principle-explain-the-number in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/principle-explain-the-number/ (personal) or .claude/skills/principle-explain-the-number/ (project).
Which AI agents can use principle-explain-the-number?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is principle-explain-the-number safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains principle-explain-the-number?
It is published by cursor in cursor/plugins. It has 1,219 recorded installs.
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