How do I install the Self Destruct skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add landonschropp/self-destruct 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 Self Destruct safe to use?

SkillMD's automated safety review verdict for this skill is PASS. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Self Destruct?

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 Self Destruct free to use?

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

Who published Self Destruct?

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

Self Destruct by landonschropp — Agent Skill

Name: Self Destruct
Rating: 4.666666666666667 (3 reviews)
Author: LandonSchropp

Self Destruct

Use when creating a note, document, script or project that shouldn't outlive a known date — interview prep, a migration, a course, a time-boxed experiment — so it gets deleted on time instead of rotting in the repository.

LandonSchropp Updated Aug 19, 2026 1 repo stars

File contents

Self-Destruct

Time-boxed work leaves debris behind. A self-destruct records what to delete, when, and why, where an agent will actually read it.

REQUIRED: Invoke the ls-code:project-conventions skill for AGENTS.local.md and CLAUDE.local.md.

Mark The File

Markdown gets a callout, at the top of the file after any frontmatter:

> [!warning] Self-Destruct
> Delete this note after 2026-09-05, once the interview loop is over. It documents a single time-boxed project, and nothing in it generalizes.

Outside a vault, where that callout renders as a literal blockquote, use > **Self-Destruct:** and the same two sentences.

Anything with comment syntax gets one comment line, after any shebang:

# Self-Destruct: delete this file after 2026-09-05, once the migration has landed.

A format with no comments — JSON, CSV, an image — gets no marker, which makes the entry below its only record. A directory gets its marker in the README, or none if it hasn't got one.

Always an absolute date. "In three weeks" is unreadable by the time it matters.

Record It in AGENTS.local.md

The marker only fires if someone opens the file, so the instruction also goes where every session reads it. Add an entry under a ## Self-Destructs section in the repository's AGENTS.local.md:

## Self-Destructs

- After 2026-09-05, delete `<path>` and `<path>`, remove their lines from `.git/info/exclude`, and delete this entry. <Why this existed and why it stops mattering then.>

The deleting agent never loads this skill, so the entry has to stand alone: every path, its exclude lines, and the entry itself.

Keep It Out Of Version Control

A self-destructing file isn't committed unless the user asks for it. Add its path to .git/info/exclude, which is local to the clone and never committed itself. Not .gitignore — that is committed, so it would outlive the file it excludes.

Destroying

This skill sets the trap; it doesn't spring it. There is no sweep to run and nothing to check on a schedule. When you read an entry whose date has passed, delete what it names — the entry included — as part of whatever you were already doing, then tell the user what went. The ## Self-Destructs section goes with the last entry under it.

---name: self-destructdescription: Use when creating a note, document, script or project that shouldn't outlive a known date — interview prep, a migration, a course, a time-boxed experiment — so it gets deleted on time instead of rotting in the repository.---# Self-DestructTime-boxed work leaves debris behind. A self-destruct records what to delete, when, and why, where an agent will actually read it.**REQUIRED:** Invoke the `ls-code:project-conventions` skill for `AGENTS.local.md` and `CLAUDE.local.md`.## Mark The FileMarkdown gets a callout, at the top of the file after any frontmatter:```markdown> [!warning] Self-Destruct> Delete this note after 2026-09-05, once the interview loop is over. It documents a single time-boxed project, and nothing in it generalizes.```Outside a vault, where that callout renders as a literal blockquote, use `> **Self-Destruct:**` and the same two sentences.Anything with comment syntax gets one comment line, after any shebang:```bash# Self-Destruct: delete this file after 2026-09-05, once the migration has landed.```A format with no comments — JSON, CSV, an image — gets no marker, which makes the entry below its only record. A directory gets its marker in the README, or none if it hasn't got one.Always an absolute date. "In three weeks" is unreadable by the time it matters.## Record It in AGENTS.local.mdThe marker only fires if someone opens the file, so the instruction also goes where every session reads it. Add an entry under a `## Self-Destructs` section in the repository's `AGENTS.local.md`:```markdown## Self-Destructs- After 2026-09-05, delete `<path>` and `<path>`, remove their lines from `.git/info/exclude`, and delete this entry. <Why this existed and why it stops mattering then.>```The deleting agent never loads this skill, so the entry has to stand alone: every path, its exclude lines, and the entry itself.## Keep It Out Of Version ControlA self-destructing file isn't committed unless the user asks for it. Add its path to `.git/info/exclude`, which is local to the clone and never committed itself. Not `.gitignore` — that is committed, so it would outlive the file it excludes.## DestroyingThis skill sets the trap; it doesn't spring it. There is no sweep to run and nothing to check on a schedule. When you read an entry whose date has passed, delete what it names — the entry included — as part of whatever you were already doing, then tell the user what went. The `## Self-Destructs` section goes with the last entry under it.

Frequently asked questions