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Agent skill

Eli5

by greenfield-inc in greenfield-inc/Pane

Teach an unfamiliar topic from first principles with a picture-first HTML explanation, saved in Grain when connected.

Custom licenceAuto-check: notesWriting & Content

Install Eli5

skills CLI
$ npx skills add greenfield-inc/Pane --skill eli5 -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install greenfield-inc/Pane eli5 --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/greenfield-inc/Pane.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/main/src/services/paneChatBundle/skills/eli5 .claude/skills/eli5 && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
eli5
GitHub stars
519
Token cost
~1.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
589 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
35
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
Custom licence

At a glance

Teach an unfamiliar topic from first principles with a picture-first HTML explanation, saved in Grain when connected.

  • Works in 3 steps: The picture. Masthead, then the opening… → The mechanism. How it actually works,… → The real names. Inside details blocks:…
  • Explain from scratch
  • SKILL.md covers Task: $ARGUMENTS, When to use it, Ground it and The three floors, plus 3 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Eli5 is an agent skill from greenfield-inc/Pane. Teach an unfamiliar topic from first principles with a picture-first HTML explanation, saved in Grain when connected. Use for "explain from scratch," "I'm lost," "what does this mean?", "explain in plain English," beginner questions about how something works, or /eli5; no explicit skill invocation is needed. Skip simple factual lookups and respect text-only requests.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Writing & Content, covering Plain language and style rules. The repository describes itself as: Terminal-first, open-source AI agent manager for any CLI agent (agent agnostic), any OS (mac, windows, linux). The Open-Source Agentic Development Environment for running…

When your agent uses it

  • Explain from scratch
  • What does this mean?
  • Explain in plain English
  • Beginner questions about how something works

Example prompts

  • “explain from scratch,”
  • “m lost,”
  • “what does this mean?”
  • “/eli5”

Requirements

  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, Write

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. The picture. Masthead, then the opening diagram, then at most a
  2. The mechanism. How it actually works, still in plain words, with
  3. The real names. Inside details blocks: the proper terminology

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit b08541d. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • Read
    • Grep
    • Glob
    • Bash
    • Write

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Eli5 loads about 1.1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 94 tokens; SKILL.md has 589 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~94
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.1k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md
    allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, Write

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

Its licence (Custom licence) doesn't allow us to republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 589 words (~1,062 tokens).

“The reader is not five. The reader is sharp, busy, and new to exactly this. Respect both halves: no jargon they have not been given, and no padding they have to wade through. One page, one topic, picture first.”

— opening of SKILL.md by greenfield-inc, Custom licence
name
eli5
allowed-tools
Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, Write
argument-hint
<topic, question, or path to explain>

Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub

Files

Just SKILL.md in main/src/services/paneChatBundle/skills/eli5 of greenfield-inc/Pane.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit b08541d

Compare with similar skills

Eli5 next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Eli5 compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Eli5 this skillgreenfield-inc/Pane519—~1.1kAutomated safety check: NotesCustom licence
Asd Ste100danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill4k—~4.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Simple Issue Descriptionevery-app/open-seo23k1 repos~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Ponytail AuditDietrichGebert/ponytail158k—~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Technical Writing Standardcursor/plugins10k10 repos~2.4kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Natural Japanese Business Writingcoji/natural-japanese1.9k—~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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  • Simple Issue Description

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More from greenfield-inc/Pane

All 35 skills in this repo

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  • Session Trace

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    Auto-check passed

  • Discussion

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    519 GitHub stars~666 tokensUpdated today
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  • Excalidraw PR Diagrams

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    Create Excalidraw diagram JSON files and PR visual overviews that make visual arguments.

    519 GitHub stars~9.4k tokensUpdated today
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  • HTML Explainer

    greenfield-inc/Pane

    The house standard for any skill that renders an HTML page for a person to read, covering design tokens, typography, components, diagrams, and quality gates so every generated page shares one calm…

    519 GitHub stars~1.6k tokensUpdated today
    Auto-check: notes

  • Pane Work

    greenfield-inc/Pane

    Answer questions about the user's own work in Pane, read-only.

    519 GitHub stars~1.8k tokensUpdated today
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Categories

Questions about Eli5

What does Eli5 do?

Teach an unfamiliar topic from first principles with a picture-first HTML explanation, saved in Grain when connected. Eli5 is an agent skill from greenfield-inc/Pane. Teach an unfamiliar topic from first principles with a picture-first HTML explanation, saved in Grain when connected.

When should I use Eli5?

Eli5 fits situations like: explain from scratch; what does this mean?; explain in plain English; beginner questions about how something works.

How do I install Eli5 in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add greenfield-inc/Pane --skill eli5 -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (main/src/services/paneChatBundle/skills/eli5 in greenfield-inc/Pane) into .claude/skills/eli5 in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Eli5 in Codex?

Run `npx skills add greenfield-inc/Pane --skill eli5 -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (main/src/services/paneChatBundle/skills/eli5 in greenfield-inc/Pane) into .agents/skills/eli5 in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Eli5 in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add greenfield-inc/Pane --skill eli5 -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/eli5, .gemini/skills/eli5, .github/skills/eli5 and .opencode/skills/eli5 in your project.

What does Eli5 need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Eli5 is instructions for the agent only. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, Write.

Does Eli5 access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Eli5 safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (pre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: bash)), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Eli5 use?

Eli5 has a licence file (the repository's licence) that doesn't match a standard licence. Read it on GitHub before reusing the skill.

How many tokens does Eli5 use?

About 1.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Eli5?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Eli5: Asd Ste100 (danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill, 4k stars), Simple Issue Description (every-app/open-seo, 23k stars), Ponytail Audit (DietrichGebert/ponytail, 158k stars) and Technical Writing Standard (cursor/plugins, 10k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Eli5?

greenfield-inc (a GitHub organization) maintains it in greenfield-inc/Pane, which has 519 GitHub stars. The repository holds 35 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: greenfield-inc/Pane on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.