How do I install the Canon Rules skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add alainator/canon-rules in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Canon Rules safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Canon Rules?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Canon Rules free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Canon Rules?

alainator (@alainator) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Canon Rules by alainator — Agent Skill

Name: Canon Rules
Author: alainator

Canon Rules

Reference catalog of canon enforcement principles, epistemological operating rules, metascience diagnostic filters, adversarial validation protocols, and anti-patterns to avoid. Use as a reference when auditing fails, when a new idea conflicts with existing canon, when diagnosing inconsistency, or when user says "anti-patterns", "epistemology", "canon rules", "reasoning principles", "how do I check this", "what am I missing", "why is this inconsistent", "grill me harder", "adversarial review", "red team this", or "Russell Conjugation". Does NOT execute audits — use /auditing-physics or /auditing-canon for that.

alainator bfb7769 4 files · 20.6 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Canon Rules — Epistemology, Adversarial Protocols & Anti-Patterns

Quick Reference — The Five Operating Principles

Mechanism over association — state the causal chain or it's not proven
First-principles over tropes — derive from physics/biology, not genre convention
Evidence hierarchy — canon source > derived lore > cross-ref inference > "feels right"
Anti-reductionism — trace implications through every connected system
Adversarial self-validation — "what existing canon contradicts this?"

Detailed References (load on demand)

references/epistemological-framework.md — Full framework with named sources: Ioannidis corollaries, Garden of Forking Paths (Gelman), Aesthetic Fallacy (Hossenfelder), Humpty Dumpty Problem (Taleb), predictive power as ultimate metric (Broken Science Initiative), OODA Loop (Boyd)
references/adversarial-protocols.md — Adversarial Red Teaming, Adversarial Collaboration (Kahneman protocol), Russell Conjugation stripping, Self-Correction Loop, Ensemble Thinking (Diversity Prediction Theorem)
references/metascience-canon-filters.md — 6 diagnostic filters adapted from Ioannidis for worldbuilding: sample size, effect size, confirmation bias, flexible analysis, replication, survivorship bias

Anti-Patterns (Quick List)

Vague Lore — generic without checkable detail
Missing Locked Canon — settled decisions not recorded
No Verification Step — declaring clear without full-repo grep
Too Much in One Pass — mixing physics + prose audits
Patching Forward — 3+ contradictory fixes → revert, rethink
Flexible Analysis — reinterpreting a rule to accommodate new lore
Trusting Without Location — no file + line = reject the finding
The New Orthodoxy Trap — the system itself becoming rigid dogma (see Weinstein critique)

Out of Scope

This skill is a reference catalog. It does NOT execute audits (use /auditing-physics or /auditing-canon), stress-test decisions (use /interrogating-design), or check wiki structure (use /lint-wiki).

---name: canon-rulesdescription: Reference catalog of canon enforcement principles, epistemological operating rules, metascience diagnostic filters, adversarial validation protocols, and anti-patterns to avoid. Use as a reference when auditing fails, when a new idea conflicts with existing canon, when diagnosing inconsistency, or when user says "anti-patterns", "epistemology", "canon rules", "reasoning principles", "how do I check this", "what am I missing", "why is this inconsistent", "grill me harder", "adversarial review", "red team this", or "Russell Conjugation". Does NOT execute audits — use /auditing-physics or /auditing-canon for that.---# Canon Rules — Epistemology, Adversarial Protocols & Anti-Patterns## Quick Reference — The Five Operating Principles1. **Mechanism over association** — state the causal chain or it's not proven2. **First-principles over tropes** — derive from physics/biology, not genre convention3. **Evidence hierarchy** — canon source > derived lore > cross-ref inference > "feels right"4. **Anti-reductionism** — trace implications through every connected system5. **Adversarial self-validation** — "what existing canon contradicts this?"## Detailed References (load on demand)- `references/epistemological-framework.md` — Full framework with named sources: Ioannidis corollaries, Garden of Forking Paths (Gelman), Aesthetic Fallacy (Hossenfelder), Humpty Dumpty Problem (Taleb), predictive power as ultimate metric (Broken Science Initiative), OODA Loop (Boyd)- `references/adversarial-protocols.md` — Adversarial Red Teaming, Adversarial Collaboration (Kahneman protocol), Russell Conjugation stripping, Self-Correction Loop, Ensemble Thinking (Diversity Prediction Theorem)- `references/metascience-canon-filters.md` — 6 diagnostic filters adapted from Ioannidis for worldbuilding: sample size, effect size, confirmation bias, flexible analysis, replication, survivorship bias## Anti-Patterns (Quick List)- **Vague Lore** — generic without checkable detail- **Missing Locked Canon** — settled decisions not recorded- **No Verification Step** — declaring clear without full-repo grep- **Too Much in One Pass** — mixing physics + prose audits- **Patching Forward** — 3+ contradictory fixes → revert, rethink- **Flexible Analysis** — reinterpreting a rule to accommodate new lore- **Trusting Without Location** — no file + line = reject the finding- **The New Orthodoxy Trap** — the system itself becoming rigid dogma (see Weinstein critique)## Out of ScopeThis skill is a reference catalog. It does NOT execute audits (use /auditing-physicsor /auditing-canon), stress-test decisions (use /interrogating-design), or check wikistructure (use /lint-wiki).

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