mrtooher/fable-mode

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Latest recorded source activity: October 12, 2026 at 15:24

SkillsMP catalog refreshed: October 26, 2026 at 11:37

skills collected: 7

GitHub stars: 876
GitHub forks: 95

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# fable-mode > **Current: v6.1 (2026-10-24)** — adds an error-first judgment check and a dissent > check to step 3 for prose with no answer key (see `bench/judgment/`). Live skills: `fable-mode` (root `SKILL.md`), > `fable-opus`, `fable-sonnet`, `double-check`, `execution-guardrails`. Ladder: Haiku → > Sonnet → Opus → the user. `fable-fable`, `fable-haiku` and the v3 `agents/` routing > are retired — see [SUPERSEDED.md](SUPERSEDED.md). Sections below that describe them > are kept as history. Execution discipline for Claude on large tasks: a written stage map, delegation to named agents where the runtime allows, a verification check at every stage that can actually **fail**, a skeptical self-review, and a mandatory cold double-check before anything is delivered. It is a checklist, not a capability transplant. Benchmarked three times so the README can say what it does and does not do (see [Evidence](#evidence)). ## The ladder ``` Haiku → Sonnet → Opus → Fable 5.1 → the user ``` One skill per rung, same core loop, tuned to that tier's known failure mode: | Skill | Model | Use it when | Known gap it guards | |---|---|---|---| | `fable-mode` | whatever is running | default; adapts intensity to the model | — | | `fable-fable` | Claude Fable 5.1 | the deliverable needs an **audit trail** (worklog, reproducible checks, flagged judgment calls) or spans sessions | none measured — a provenance runner, not an accuracy runner | | `fable-opus` | Claude Opus | peak synthesis short of Fable; orchestrates Sonnet/Haiku workers | trusts its own introspection; scope growth | | `fable-sonnet` | Claude Sonnet | balanced default for thorough work | skips the failable check, substitutes "looks right" | | `fable-haiku` | Claude Haiku | bulk, cheap, parallel mechanical work | skips verification under time pressure | Two always-on companions: - `execution-guardrails` — verify-before-flag, warning batching, word-boundary find-and-replace. Every model, every task, whether or not the loop runs. - `double-check` — the delivery gate. A panel of fresh checker agents (Haiku for mechanical checks, Sonnet for requirements, Opus to adjudicate) attacks the *finished* artifact. Every fable runner calls it before handing anything over. ## Core loop 1. **Stage map first.** Numbered stages, expected output each, one verifiable artifact per stage. Living document; at most two full replans per run — a third means the requirements are ambiguous, go back to the user. 2. **Delegate by name.** Reasoning stages to a Sonnet worker, mechanical stages to a Haiku worker, cold checks to a read-only verifier. Workers don't spawn workers. 3. **Verify with a check that can fail.** A test that runs, a file in the expected shape, a source actually fetched, an output diffed against spec. "I reviewed it and it looks right" is not a check. Name the exact command or mark the stage unverified. 4. **Self-critique.** Fix or flag a real weakness; a clean pass stated plainly beats a manufactured caveat. 5. **Double-check.** Fresh eyes, ternary verdicts (PASS / FAIL / UNVERIFIABLE), fix and re-check before delivery. ## v3: delegation is structural Field feedback on v2 (r/claudeskills): telling a model *in prose* to spawn a worker almost always runs the task inline. So v3 moves the discipline into real agent definitions under `agents/`: - `fable-orchestrator` — **no Write/Edit tool**. It cannot produce artifacts; every one must come from a named worker. Opus by default; `fable-fable` runs the same definition with `model: "fable"` (per-invocation override, documented for Claude Code and confirmed in Cowork). - `fable-worker-sonnet` / `fable-worker-haiku` — one bounded assignment, exact output path, named pass condition, evidence in the report. - `fable-verifier` — read-only; gets the spec and the artifact, never the producer's reasoning. The skills shrink to routers. Full history in `V3-CHANGES.md`. ## Evidence Three benchmark rounds, deterministic graders, tasks built with **unstated** traps (duplicate rows, grep-invisible `getattr("calc" + "_total")`, errata chains superseded by meeting notes, a real federal data file to fetch or fabricate). | Tier | Effect of the skill | Source | |---|---|---| | Fable 5.1 | **0 delta** — 100/100 in all 16 paired runs (n=2/cell, 4 tasks incl. open-ended real-data fetch); ~1.1× tokens, ~2× wall | `BENCHMARK-2026-09-02.md` | | Opus / Sonnet | 0 delta on closed graded tasks; **real** on open-ended research — Opus+skill fetched and parsed the NIAAA state dataset, Opus baseline shipped synthetic trend lines | July 2026 rounds | | Haiku | real but noisy: +25 / −17 across rounds; raises the floor on mechanical diligence, cannot supply synthesis | July 2026 rounds | | v6.1 judgment check (checker only) | Sonnet checkers: tie, 24/24 both arms. Haiku checkers on subtler errors: 30/30 vs 28/30 — both misses a strawman "case against". Small sample. | `bench/judgment/` | Read: the loop's value **inverts with model strength**. On Fable 5.1 it buys provenance. On Opus it buys real sources over plausible ones. On Haiku it buys verification the model would otherwise skip — sometimes. The harness is in `bench/`; rerun it. ## Install **Claude Code** (user scope — skills to `~/.claude/skills/`): ```bash git clone https://github.com/mrtooher/fable-mode.git && cd fable-mode && ./install.sh ``` **Cowork / claude.ai**: Settings → Capabilities → Skills → add each `<name>/SKILL.md` (root `SKILL.md` is `fable-mode`). The agents are not loadable there; the skills detect that and fall back to inline mode, saying so. > **Do not install anything from `agents/` as a skill.** Those files are agent > definitions: second-person system prompts whose frontmatter carries `tools:` and > `model:`. Loaded as a skill they land in the main thread and assert things about it > that are false there — `fable-orchestrator` in particular tells its reader it has no > Write tool and must delegate to worker agents that do not exist on a skill-only > surface. The result is a stall, or an inline run narrating a delegation that never > happened — the exact failure v3 exists to prevent. Agents go in `agents/`, skills go > in skills. Folder name must equal the `name:` field in each SKILL.md or the skill will not trigger. ## Files ``` SKILL.md fable-mode (default, adaptive) fable-fable/SKILL.md Fable 5.1 runner fable-opus/SKILL.md Opus runner (orchestrator route) fable-sonnet/SKILL.md Sonnet runner fable-haiku/SKILL.md Haiku runner execution-guardrails/ always-on rules double-check/ delivery gate agents/ orchestrator, sonnet worker, haiku worker, verifier bench/ fixtures generator, graders, prompts, results.json BENCHMARK-2026-09-02.md Fable 5.1 results EXAMPLE.md worked before/after: the failable check catching a bug V3-CHANGES.md why delegation became structural install.sh Claude Code installer ``` ## When NOT to use it One obvious approach that fits in a single pass → do it directly. Staging a trivial task buries the answer under ceremony. The loop earns its cost only when a one-shot attempt would plausibly miss something — or when you need to show your work.

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Skills in this repository

Computer Occupations, All Other

1 occupation categories · 29% classified

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description

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fable-mode

unclassified

Enforces staged execution discipline on large tasks: a written stage plan, parallel delegation where the runtime supports it, a failable verification check at each stage, and a skeptical self-review before delivery. Trigger when the user explicitly asks OR…

2026-10-12

double-check

unclassified

Automatic final verification pass on completed deliverables. Runs at the end of every fable-mode run — those skills invoke it before delivery. Also triggers when the user says "double check this". Uses a panel of fresh checker agents when spawning is…

2026-10-10

execution-guardrails

unclassified

Always-on operational guardrails, model-independent. Apply on EVERY task and EVERY model whether or not fable-mode's staged loop is running. Three rules: verify-before-flag, warning batching, and find-and-replace safety. Trigger whenever a response would flag…

2026-10-10

fable-opus

unclassified

Run fable-mode execution discipline on Claude Opus — the top of the escalation ladder. Trigger when the user explicitly asks for thorough/systematic/"deep work" handling on Opus ("fable on opus", "stage this on opus", "deep work mode, opus"). When a task…

2026-10-10

fable-sonnet

unclassified

Run fable-mode execution discipline on Claude Sonnet. When invoked by slash command or by name, spawns a Sonnet subagent that follows the staged loop — stage plan, parallel delegation, a failable verification check at each stage, and a skeptical self-review…

2026-10-10

fable-fable

Computer Occupations, All Other

Run fable-mode execution discipline on Claude Fable 5.1 — the top of the escalation ladder and the strongest staged run available. Routes the task to the @fable-orchestrator agent with its model overridden to Fable (`model: "fable"`), which stages the work,…

2026-09-02

fable-haiku

Computer Occupations, All Other

Run fable-mode execution discipline on Claude Haiku. Routes the task to the @fable-worker-haiku agent, whose definition carries the staged loop with tightened verification (no bare "unverified" allowed) and an escalate-don't-improvise rule. Trigger when the…

2026-09-02

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