readchk
Verify the model's understanding of a user's instruction before spending non-trivial work. Use when a request is long, bundled, high-stakes, hard to undo, or has ambiguous scope or referents such as this, that, it, the other one, whatever is cleaner, or whichever order makes sense. Restate internally, cross-check against available context, proceed silently when resolved, and surface only a genuine surviving fork.
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/lilmgenius/paperthin --skill readchk- 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 readchk 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.
Check the read before acting: did you understand the instruction correctly enough to spend the work?
Goal
readchk catches misread instructions before they become coherent work against the wrong target. It verifies a claim about the requester's intent against available context: the current message, session history, project memory, files on disk, and established conventions.
This is not factchk: the question is what was meant, not whether a world claim is true.
Workflow
- Recognize the signal: a long or multi-part instruction, ambiguous scope or referents, deliberately flexible wording, or stakes high enough that a wrong guess would cost real work.
- Restate the instruction internally in different words. Do not copy the user's wording back to yourself and treat that as understanding.
- Cross-check the restatement against available context. Look for contradictions, missing antecedents, or two plausible readings that context cannot choose between.
- If context resolves the read, proceed silently. Do not ask the requester to confirm what the available context already answered.
- If a real fork survives, surface one specific clarifying question anchored to the restated understanding. Name the choice; do not ask a vague "does this look right?"
- For substantial work, log one durable "understood as: ..." line before beginning so a later reader can audit whether the work matched the confirmed read.
Rules
- Restate, don't echo. A paraphrase proves you built a model of the request; a verbatim repeat proves little.
- Silent when context resolves it. The default good outcome is invisible. Surfacing a question for a resolved or unambiguous request is a defect.
- One fork at a time. If several ambiguities exist, surface the highest-stakes one first instead of dumping a checklist.
- Never silently resolve a fork that changes the shape of the work.
- Log large commitments, not every turn. Durable read logs are for plans, multi-file changes, irreversible actions, or work a fresh reviewer may need to audit.
Verification
Before proceeding with the work: the restatement is a paraphrase, every surfaced fork is genuinely unresolved by available context, and no substantial work starts without either a silent pass or a resolved fork.
FAQ
What does the readchk skill do?
Verify the model's understanding of a user's instruction before spending non-trivial work. Use when a request is long, bundled, high-stakes, hard to undo, or has ambiguous scope or referents such as this, that, it, the other one, whatever is cleaner, or whichever order makes sense. Restate internally, cross-check against available context, proceed silently when resolved, and surface only a genuine surviving fork.
How do I install readchk?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/lilmgenius/paperthin --skill readchk 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/readchk/ (personal) or .claude/skills/readchk/ (project).
Which AI agents can use readchk?
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 readchk 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 readchk?
It is published by lilmgenius in lilmgenius/paperthin. It has 1,213 recorded installs.
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