# Distill Skill

> >-

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-justingastby-hermes-mind-skill-distill-skill`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [JustinGastby](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/justingastby)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [JustinGastby](https://github.com/JustinGastby)
- **Source:** https://github.com/JustinGastby/Hermes-Mind-Skill/tree/main/cursor/skills/distill-skill

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-justingastby-hermes-mind-skill-distill-skill
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Distill Skill

Mirrors the self-improving skill loop from Hermes Agent: after solving
something non-trivial, decide whether to save the approach so future tasks
skip the trial-and-error instead of re-deriving it from scratch.

## When to propose a skill

Propose distillation when the just-finished task matches any of:

- Took several tool calls / multiple steps to get right (roughly 4+)
- Involved recovering from an error, a wrong turn, or a failed attempt before succeeding
- The user corrected your approach mid-task
- The user explicitly asked to save/remember/turn this into a skill

Skip silently (don't mention this check to the user) when:

- The task was a single simple edit, a question, or a read-only lookup
- The approach is a one-off unlikely to recur (e.g. a throwaway debug print)
- It would just duplicate an existing skill's content (see below)
- The procedure would require hardcoding secrets, credentials, or machine-specific paths

## Workflow

1. **Check for an existing skill.** List `.cursor/skills/*/SKILL.md` and
   `~/.cursor/skills/*/SKILL.md`. If one already covers this workflow, prefer
   **patching** it (add a pitfall, tighten a step, add/replace an example)
   over creating a duplicate.
2. **Draft a short proposal first, not a file.** Include:
   - Proposed name (lowercase, hyphens, max 64 chars)
   - One-sentence description (what it does + when to use it)
   - 3-5 bullets covering what it would capture: the procedure, key
     commands, pitfalls hit, and how success was verified
3. **Ask the user to confirm** with a compact question, e.g. "这个方法要不要
   存成一个 skill，下次同类任务直接复用？" Do not write any file before the
   user agrees — a wrong or premature skill is worse than no skill.
4. **On yes**, create (or patch) `.cursor/skills//SKILL.md` following
   the `create-skill` skill's conventions: YAML frontmatter with
   `name`/`description`, concise body, concrete steps/commands over prose,
   one level of progressive disclosure if the reference material is long.
5. **On no or no response**, drop it. Don't create the file and don't ask
   again for this same task.

## What to capture in the skill body

- The concrete procedure (steps, commands, code snippets) that actually
  worked — not a narrative of the exploration that got there
- Pitfalls hit and how to avoid them next time (if a wrong approach was
  tried first, note briefly *why* it failed)
- A verification step (command/test) that confirms the task succeeded
- Links to relevant files only when they are stable, checked-in paths — not
  scratch or generated output files

## Curating over time

When patching an existing skill instead of creating a new one, keep it
tight: fold the new case in as an example or a bullet rather than appending
a new section per occurrence. If a skill has drifted from how the codebase
actually works, correct it in place rather than leaving stale instructions
next to the fix.

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [JustinGastby](https://github.com/JustinGastby)
- **Source:** [JustinGastby/Hermes-Mind-Skill](https://github.com/JustinGastby/Hermes-Mind-Skill)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-justingastby-hermes-mind-skill-distill-skill
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/justingastby
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.