Karpathy Guidelines
Karpathy Guidelines is an agent skill (a SKILL.md file) from multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills. Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. It works with Claude Code and Cursor and has 217,301 GitHub stars. Install it by copying the skill folder into your agent's skills directory.
github.com/multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills/skills/karpathy-guidelines (opens in a new tab)
- Plugin marketplace
- Docs & writing
- Maintained
Add this skill
Claude
This repository is a Claude Code plugin marketplace. In Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills
/plugin install andrej-karpathy-skills@karpathy-skillsIn the Claude apps, zip the karpathy-guidelines folder and upload it under Customize > Skills > + > Upload a skill (code execution must be on).
ChatGPT / Codex
Codex reads skills from .agents/skills/ in a repo or ~/.agents/skills/ for every project:
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills.git
cp -r andrej-karpathy-skills/skills/karpathy-guidelines .agents/skills/karpathy-guidelines # repo; ~/.agents/skills for all projectsStandalone skills also load in the ChatGPT desktop app.
Cursor
Cursor loads skills from .cursor/skills/ (or ~/.cursor/skills/) and also reads .claude/skills/:
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills.git
cp -r andrej-karpathy-skills/skills/karpathy-guidelines .cursor/skills/karpathy-guidelines # project; ~/.cursor/skills for all projectsSource (checked Oct 7, 2026): code.claude.com/docs/en/skills (opens in a new tab), code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-marketplaces (opens in a new tab), support.claude.com/en/articles/12512180-using-skills-in-claude (opens in a new tab), learn.chatgpt.com/docs/build-skills (opens in a new tab), cursor.com/docs/context/skills (opens in a new tab)
What this skill does
Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. Use when writing, reviewing, or refactoring code to avoid overcomplication, make surgical changes, surface assumptions, and define verifiable success criteria. Tradeoff: These guidelines bias toward caution over speed. For trivial tasks, use judgment.
When it triggers
- Use when writing, reviewing, or refactoring code to avoid overcomplication, make surgical changes, surface assumptions, and define verifiable success criteria.
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What is the Karpathy Guidelines skill?
Karpathy Guidelines is an agent skill (a SKILL.md file) from multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills. Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. It works with Claude Code and Cursor and has 217,301 GitHub stars. Install it by copying the skill folder into your agent's skills directory. Its SKILL.md lives at github.com/multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills/skills/karpathy-guidelines.
How do I install the Karpathy Guidelines skill?
In Claude Code, run /plugin marketplace add multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills and then /plugin install andrej-karpathy-skills@karpathy-skills. For Codex or Cursor, copy the karpathy-guidelines folder into .agents/skills/ or .cursor/skills/.
Is the Karpathy Guidelines skill free?
Yes. The repository is open source under the MIT license.
Is Karpathy Guidelines maintained?
The repository's most recent commit was on Apr 20, 2026. appsgit only lists skills from repositories with a commit in the last six months.