Imprint

Your working imprint, portable across every agent.

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Imprint, verb. To stamp a mark that cannot be erased. noun. The mark itself, permanent, portable, unmistakably yours.

In ethology, imprinting is the moment a young animal learns, once and forever, who it belongs to. In printing, an imprint is the publisher's signature pressed into every page. In both meanings, something is marked at its core, and that mark travels with it.

This project is that mark, for human-AI work.

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What this is

Imprint is a single plugin that captures how you work and carries it across every AI agent you use.

On first run, the skill has a short conversation with you. Not about your project, about you. How you debug, how you plan, how you write commits, what you've shipped, what went wrong, what you prefer.

That conversation becomes a portable profile, a working imprint, stored alongside your code. Under 500 tokens. Structured. Readable. Yours.

Every session after that, the skill applies your imprint automatically: your code style, your review standards, your planning rhythm, your design taste, your git habits. Portable across any SKILL.md-compatible agent.

Switch models. Switch platforms. Switch teams. Your imprint comes with you.

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Install

Any SKILL.md-compatible agent (universal)

Copy skills/imprint/SKILL.md into your agent's skills directory. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Windsurf, Trae, Cline, Roo, and any agent that reads SKILL.md files.

git clone https://github.com/ilang-ai/Imprint.git
cp Imprint/skills/imprint/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/imprint/SKILL.md

Replace ~/.claude/skills/ with your agent's skills path.

Hermes Agent

hermes skills install ilang-ai/Imprint

Cursor

Browse and install from Cursor Directory.

VS Code / VS Code forks

Search "Imprint" in the Extensions panel, or:

• VS Code Marketplace
• Open VSX
• Open VSX

The VS Code extension auto-installs SKILL.md to 14 agent directories on your machine.

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What It Overlaps With

Imprint covers ground that these skills address individually. Not a drop-in replacement for all of them, but a single file that handles the common cases.

Instead of installing...	Imprint covers this by
claude-mem (memory)	Stores how you work, not what happened. ~90% smaller.
Caveman (compression)	Structured format is the default, not a mode.
onboard	Project context extraction on first run.
Code-review skills	Review against your standards, not universal rules.
systematic-debugging	Architecture first, then binary search. Lessons become immunity.
superpowers (planning)	Your rhythm, not a fixed methodology.
Progress-tracking skills	Auto-checkpoint on meaningful state changes.
TDD skills	Resources decide strategy, multi-model or single, auto-adapts.
Git-workflow skills	Searchable commits, README as landing page when discoverability is on.
seo-audit	Structured output is more parseable by AI search engines.
Copywriting skills	Tone, terminology, and rhythm derived from your imprint.

One file. Eleven capability areas. Depth varies by area.

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Compatibility

Agent	Status	Install
Hermes	native	hermes skills install ilang-ai/Imprint
VS Code	extension	VS Code Marketplace
Claude Code	SKILL.md	copy to ~/.claude/skills/imprint/
Cursor	directory	Cursor Directory
Codex CLI	SKILL.md	copy to ~/.codex/skills/imprint/
Copilot	SKILL.md	copy to ~/.github/skills/imprint/
Gemini CLI	SKILL.md	copy to ~/.gemini/extensions/imprint/skills/imprint/
Windsurf	SKILL.md	copy to ~/.windsurf/skills/imprint/
Trae	SKILL.md	copy to ~/.trae/skills/imprint/
Cline	SKILL.md	copy to ~/.cline/skills/imprint/
Roo	SKILL.md	copy to ~/.roo/skills/imprint/

native = one-command install from the platform's skill registry. directory = listed in the platform's plugin directory. extension = VS Code extension with auto-install to 14 agent directories. SKILL.md = copy the file to the agent's skills directory.

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Your imprint is yours

The imprint is a plain text file sitting next to your code. You own it.

• Read it, no black box, no vendor cache
• Edit it, nudge a preference, commit the change
• Version it, it's just git
• Share it, hand it to a teammate, they inherit your working style
• Port it, every SKILL.md agent speaks the same file

Switch tools, the imprint comes with you. No lock-in. Ever.

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Schema at a glance

META        schema version, timestamps, session count
CORE        global behavioral genes with confidence and scope
  GENE      traits (T:) and anti-patterns (A:), conditional via when:
FACT        verifiable environment data (stack, deploy target, model access)
PROJECT     repo-specific overrides, stack, constraints, mismatches
LESSONS     cross-project traps, accumulated from real experience
PROGRESS    milestone-only checkpoints, auto-summarized every 10 entries
RUNTIME     current mode settings (transparency, speed, compression)
DECAY       lifecycle rules for tentative genes and inactive projects

Core imprint stays under 500 tokens. Project and progress layers can grow.

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Example: real .dna.md

This is what an actual profile looks like after a few sessions:

::DNA{user}
::META{schema:2.0|updated:2026-04-18|sessions:5}

::CORE{
  ::CONTEXT{role:fullstack_dev|experience:4yr|model_access:2|discoverability:yes}

  ::GENE{style|conf:confirmed|scope:global}
    T:conclusions_first
    T:minimal_output|when:task_simple
    T:full_detail|when:task_complex
    A:verbose_without_signal⇒waste

  ::GENE{planning|conf:confirmed|scope:global}
    T:build_first_plan_later
    A:monolithic_spec⇒reject

  ::GENE{debug|conf:4/5|scope:global}
    T:check_architecture_before_code
    A:guess_from_error_message⇒wrong_direction
}

::FACT{
  ::ITEM{key:preferred_stack|value:react,node|conf:confirmed}
  ::ITEM{key:models_used|value:claude,gpt|conf:confirmed}
}

::PROJECT{repo:my-saas}
  ::STACK{frontend:next.js|backend:node|db:postgres}
  ::CONSTRAINT{auth:clerk|deploy:vercel}
}

::LESSONS{
  ::LESSON{id:middleware_order_matters|type:debug|scope:project|conf:confirmed}
  ::LESSON{id:always_check_env_vars_first|type:deploy|scope:cross_project|conf:3/5}
}

::PROGRESS{
  ::ITEM{date:2026-04-18|done:auth_flow|learned:clerk_webhook_needs_raw_body|next:stripe_integration}
}

::RUNTIME{transparency:quiet|speed:balanced|compression:structured_default}
::DECAY{tentative_unseen_30d=>remove|repeated_3x=>confirm|progress_10_items=>summarize}
::END{DNA}

312 tokens. Carries code style, debugging approach, project context, lessons, and progress across every session and every agent.

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Changelog

v2.1 (2026-04-19)

• Add Hermes Agent compatibility: native install via hermes skills install ilang-ai/Imprint
• Add agentskills.io-compatible frontmatter (version, author, metadata.hermes.tags)
• Update compatibility table and install docs

v2.0 (2026-04-18)

• Schema 2.0: CORE/PROJECT layered separation. Global genes no longer mix with project overrides.
• Conditional genes: T:minimal|when:simple + T:full_detail|when:complex. Context-dependent behavior.
• Five conflict types: user vs history, global vs project, two confirmed contradicting, multi-agent disagreement, lesson vs task. Each with explicit resolution.
• Progress compression: auto-summarize every 10 entries, keep file lean.
• User transparency: quiet/explain/audit three modes, natural switching.
• Reflexion reframed: part of the thinking process, not an extra API call. Zero visible latency.
• Context drift protection: re-read profile before major decisions in long sessions.
• Team override: project linter and team style rules always override personal genes.
• Speed mode: RUNTIME{speed:fast} skips reflexion for latency-sensitive work.
• Version sync: all manifests aligned to 2.0.0.

v1.5 (2026-04-18)

• Add reflexion loop for single-model code review: AI self-critiques and fixes its own output before presenting to user
• Improve code review no longer uses a static checklist, now runs an active self-correction cycle checking against user's profile and lessons

v1.4 (2026-04-18)

• Rebrand from all-in-one to Imprint
• Add Imprint design assets: banner, logo, social preview
• Add .cursor-plugin/ for Cursor Marketplace compatibility
• Add .claude-plugin/marketplace.json for self-distribution
• Submit to Claude Code official marketplace and Cursor Marketplace

v1.3 (2026-04-18)

• Add plugin manifest (.claude-plugin/plugin.json) for official marketplace
• Move SKILL.md to skills/imprint/SKILL.md per plugin spec
• Update install instructions for plugin format

v1.2 (2026-04-18)

• Fix enforce one question per message with explicit forbidden/correct examples
• Fix platform memory cache no longer bypasses onboarding
• Improve Rule 1 and Rule 2 promoted to top-level critical rules
• Improve onboarding wrap-up phrasing more natural

v1.1 (2026-04-18)

• Fix onboarding now asks one question at a time (was dumping 4-6 at once)
• Fix never expose internal terminology to user
• Add activation rules with auto-trigger on session start
• Add conflict resolution, mutation, decay, priority rules
• Add upgraded schema with META / FACT / PROJECT / PROGRESS / RUNTIME layers

v1.0 (2026-04-18)

• Initial release

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Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. Keep the imprint under 500 tokens and the file human-readable, those are the two hard constraints.

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Links

• ilang.ai
• GitHub
• VS Code Marketplace
• Open VSX
• Cursor Directory
• skills.sh
• Hugging Face
• SKILL.md spec

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License

MIT License. 2026 Eastsoft Inc. / Palm Media Technology / Canada.

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