What Data Format Does zhangxuefeng-skill Use? A Deep Dive into Markdown + YAML Front‑Matter

The zhangxuefeng‑skill repository stores its skill definitions entirely in Markdown files enriched with YAML front‑matter headers, following the Agent Skills specification.

The alchaincyf/zhangxuefeng-skill project implements a conversational AI persona using a structured data format that combines machine-readable metadata with human-readable documentation. This approach leverages the Agent Skills protocol, allowing the skill to be installed and interpreted by compatible runtimes like Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor.

The Core Data Format: Markdown with YAML Front‑Matter

At the heart of the repository lies SKILL.md, which exemplifies the primary data format. The file begins with a YAML front‑matter block delimited by triple dashes, followed by standard Markdown content.

The YAML header defines the skill's identity:

---
name: zhangxuefeng-perspective
description: |
  张雪峰的思维框架与表达方式。基于5本著作、15+篇权威媒体深度采访、...
---

Everything following the closing --- delimiter is plain Markdown that encodes the actual skill behavior. This includes role‑play rules, workflow definitions, mental models, and decision heuristics.

## 角色扮演规则（最重要）

- 用「我」而非「张雪峰会认为...」
- 直接用东北大哥的语气、快节奏、段子化的方式回答问题
...

Repository File Organization

The project maintains a consistent format across all documentation and resource files.

SKILL.md

Located at the repository root, SKILL.md serves as the canonical skill definition. It combines the YAML metadata header with the operational Markdown body that defines the Zhang Xuefeng persona implementation.

README.md

The README.md file provides repository overview, installation instructions, and Agent Skills protocol badges. It references the primary SKILL.md file and explains how the YAML front‑matter enables runtime discovery.

Auxiliary Resources

All supporting materials use the same plain Markdown format:

• references/research/01-writings.md: Research summaries stored as Markdown documents
• examples/demo-conversation.md: Sample dialogues demonstrating the skill in action

This uniformity ensures that content parsers can process the entire repository using a single Markdown parser without format switching.

Agent Skills Protocol Integration

The data format adheres to the Agent Skills specification, which mandates that skill definitions reside in *.md files with YAML front‑matter. This standardization enables one‑command installation:

npx skills add alchaincyf/zhangxuefeng-skill

The installer reads the YAML front‑matter in SKILL.md to identify the skill's name (zhangxuefeng-perspective) and description before registering it with the local development environment.

Summary

• zhangxuefeng-skill uses Markdown with YAML front‑matter as its exclusive data format.
• The SKILL.md file contains a YAML header defining metadata (name, description) followed by Markdown content defining behavior.
• Auxiliary files in references/ and examples/ maintain the same plain Markdown format.
• This structure complies with the Agent Skills protocol, enabling installation via npx skills add.

Frequently Asked Questions

What file extension does zhangxuefeng-skill use?

The repository uses .md (Markdown) extensions for all content files. The primary definition resides in SKILL.md, while documentation and examples use the same extension, ensuring compatibility with standard Markdown parsers.

How is the YAML front-matter structured in SKILL.md?

The YAML block appears at the very beginning of SKILL.md, enclosed between triple-dash delimiters (---). It defines two key fields: name (set to zhangxuefeng-perspective) and description (a multi‑line string explaining the persona's cognitive framework and expression style).

Can zhangxuefeng-skill be consumed by any AI assistant?

Yes. Any runtime implementing the Agent Skills protocol—including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenClaw, and Hermes Agent—can interpret the YAML front‑matter and Markdown body to instantiate the Zhang Xuefeng persona.

Where are the research sources stored?

Research materials reside in the references/ directory as plain Markdown files. For example, references/research/01-writings.md contains synthesized research content that supports the skill's knowledge base, all formatted as standard Markdown without YAML headers.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}