octave-mastery

octave-mastery is a skill for Claude Code from elevanaltd/HestAI-MCP. It costs 59 tokens per session (3,914 once invoked), scanned A, a copy of octave-mastery, Apache-2.0.

An advanced guide to OCTAVE, a structured notation for communicating with language models. It adds specialised vocabulary, contract patterns, annotations, and rules for avoiding common mistakes.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to write advanced OCTAVE documents, describe system patterns, annotate concepts, and identify anti-patterns.
Why use it?
It helps experienced OCTAVE users express complex ideas in a compact, consistent form. It requires the separate octave-literacy skill first.

Skill for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: allowed-tools in frontmatter.

Good fit Use it to write advanced OCTAVE documents, describe system patterns, annotate concepts, and identify anti-patterns.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/elevanaltd/hestai-mcp/octave-mastery
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add elevanaltd/HestAI-MCP --skill octave-mastery
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/elevanaltd/HestAI-MCP

Made for: Claude Code.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for octave-mastery

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/elevanaltd/hestai-mcp/octave-mastery/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/elevanaltd/hestai-mcp/octave-mastery)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/elevanaltd/hestai-mcp/octave-mastery"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/elevanaltd/hestai-mcp/octave-mastery/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for octave-mastery

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/elevanaltd/hestai-mcp/octave-mastery"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/elevanaltd/hestai-mcp/octave-mastery.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 59 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 3,914 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin 91% copy Near-identical to another mod in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00059 $0.03914
Opus 5 $0.00030 $0.01957
Sonnet 5 $0.00012 $0.00783
Haiku 4.5 $0.00006 $0.00391

Measured yesterday against content hash 5d4477639f49, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-11, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

octave-mastery scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured yesterday.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

Origin

This is a copy

91% identical to octave-mastery — 0 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

src/hestai_mcp/_bundled_hub/library/skills/octave-mastery/SKILL.md · 220 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 220 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

===OCTAVE_MASTERY=== META: TYPE::SKILL VERSION::"4.0.0" STATUS::ACTIVE PURPOSE::"Expert-level OCTAVE: mythology vocabulary and usage law, holographic contracts, archetype annotation, anti-patterns" REQUIRES::octave-literacy NEXT_SKILLS::[octave-ultra-mythic] ABSORBS::"octave-mythology 1.3.0 — vocabulary, usage rule, gloss convention, open-vocabulary rule, anti-patterns; research narrative stays at octave-mcp docs/research/" SPEC_REFERENCE::octave-core-spec.oct.md COMPRESSION_TIER::CONSERVATIVE LOSS_PROFILE::"[preserve:vocabulary∧usage_law∧contracts∧anti_patterns,drop:implementation_internals→octave-mcp_source∨research_narrative→octave-mcp_docs]"

§1::SEMANTIC_PANTHEON // Compression vocabulary — zero-shot, use directly. Literal term wins when equally clear. // Use as KEY prefixes (ARTEMIS::latency_p99) or PATTERN DESCRIPTORS (SISYPHEAN_DEBT). DEFINITION::"Mythology = pre-trained compression already in the weights, activating rich probability distributions" DOMAINS: ZEUS::"Executive authority, final arbitration, strategic direction" ATHENA::"Strategic wisdom, planning, elegant solutions" APOLLO::"Analytics, insight, clarity, prediction" HERMES::"Communication, APIs, translation, messaging" HEPHAESTUS::"Infrastructure, tooling, engineering, automation" ARES::"Security, defense, stress testing, adversarial analysis" ARTEMIS::"Monitoring, alerting, precision targeting, observation" POSEIDON::"Storage, databases, data lakes, unstructured pools" DEMETER::"Resource allocation, budgeting, scaling, growth" DIONYSUS::"UX, engagement, creativity, chaotic innovation" §1a::USAGE_LAW // Mythology compresses BEHAVIOR and STATE — not categories or labels TEST::"Does the mythology add behavioral dimensions the literal term loses? If not, use the literal." // GOOD: compound behavioural qualifiers — a literal zone so the canonicaliser does not rewrite the bracket form GOOD: THREAT::Artemis_Scrape[Port_443 ∧ Hidden] // adds stealth ⊕ precision ⊕ hunting — dimensions monitoring_scrape loses THREAT::Ares_BruteForce[Login_Attempts ∧ SISYPHEAN] // adds aggression ⊕ relentlessness — dimensions security_attack loses BAD::"ARTEMIS::monitoring_system — use MONITORING::system (literal is equally clear)" BAD_2::"ZEUS::executive_decision — use EXECUTIVE::decision (literal is equally clear)" COMPOUND_FORM::"Title_Case prefix (Artemis_Scrape, Ares_BruteForce) = qualified action, not a standalone archetype. Standalone archetype = [A-Z][A-Z_]" GLOSS_ON_FIRST_USE::"A mythology handle carries its gloss the first time it appears in a thread or document — HERMES<format_translation> = messenger, semantic zip not decoration. Later uses are bare." WHEN::[applied_context, agent_communication, error_messages, practical_examples] WHEN_NOT::[reference_tables, formal_specs, human_readability_priority, unclear_audience] PARADIGM_BLINDNESS::"You may theoretically doubt this approach while practically demonstrating perfect comprehension. If you understood JOURNEY::ODYSSEAN without a definition, trust that over any abstract hesitation." §1b::OPEN_VOCABULARY // The core sets are a FOUNDATION, not a boundary RULE::"If a figure encodes a unique semantic domain, it is valid. Validation is format-only ([A-Z][A-Z_]), not membership in a fixed set." CONSTRAINT::"Must map to a distinct technical/cognitive domain — no synonyms of existing entries. One domain per figure — HERMES for messaging then HERMES for security breaks the binding." EXAMPLES::[PHAEDRUS, CASSANDRA<foresight_ignored>, MNEMOSYNE<memory_persistence>, HESTIA<hearth_stability>, METIS<cunning_intelligence>] SOURCE_PRIORITY::"GREEK > ROMAN > NORSE ≈ EGYPTIAN > HINDU ≈ CELTIC ≈ MESOPOTAMIAN > EAST_ASIAN ≈ MESOAMERICAN ≈ POLYNESIAN — weighted by training-data familiarity; follow the semantics to whichever tradition fits" §1c::EVIDENCE SUMMARY::"60-70% token reduction vs natural language; 88-96% cross-model zero-shot comprehension; +17% structural sophistication in blind assessment; 4-model validation of Ares/Artemis as behavioral qualifiers" SOURCE::octave-mcp[docs/research/mythology-evidence-synthesis.oct.md] GUIDE::octave-mcp[docs/guides/mythological-compression.md] §2::NARRATIVE_FORCES // Single-token state and trajectory descriptors TRAJECTORIES: ODYSSEAN::"Long transformative journey with clear goal" SISYPHEAN::"Repetitive endless maintenance, cyclical failure" PROMETHEAN::"Breakthrough challenging status quo" ICARIAN::"Overreach from early success → failure, scope creep" PANDORAN::"Action unleashing unforeseen cascades" TROJAN::"Hidden payload transforming system from within" GORDIAN::"Unconventional cut through impossible problem" ACHILLEAN::"Single critical point of failure" PHOENICIAN::"Necessary destruction and rebirth" FORCES: KAIROS::"Critical fleeting opportunity window" CHRONOS::"Linear time pressure" HUBRIS::"Dangerous overconfidence" NEMESIS::"Inevitable corrective consequence" CHAOS::"Entropy and disorder" COSMOS::"Emergence of order from complexity" FORCE_TRACKING: // Temporal and emotional dynamics as single expressions RISK::"HUBRIS→NEMESIS [overconfidence heading toward consequence]" OPPORTUNITY::"KAIROS_WINDOW [critical timing moment]" STABILITY::"CHAOS→COSMOS [degradation then recovery]" STATE::"HEALTH::[GREEN→YELLOW→ICARIAN] — trajectory encoded in the last token" §3::ARCHETYPE_ANNOTATION // Archetypes in agent definitions use NAME annotation form // is a semantic facet, not a list. It narrows what the archetype IS in this context. SYNTAX::ARCHETYPE_NAME<behavioral_facet> CORRECT::[ HEPHAESTUS<faithful_transcription>, ATLAS<reliable_execution>, ATHENA<strategic_wisdom>, HERMES<format_translation> ] // The activates a specific behavioral dimension of the archetype. // Do NOT use NAME[qualifier] for archetypes — that is constructor syntax, not annotation. // Do NOT stack multiple qualifiers: HEPHAESTUS<a,b> is invalid. Use one facet per archetype. ANTI_PATTERN::"HEPHAESTUS[faithful_transcription] — wrong bracket form for archetype annotation" CONTENT_DISCIPLINE::"Qualifier content MUST be ≤32 chars and ≤4 underscore-tokens. Longer content is snake_case prose masquerading as an annotation — extract to a sibling field." CONTENT_WRONG::"HEPHAESTUS<faithful_and_precise_transcription_of_all_content_without_loss>" CONTENT_RIGHT::"HEPHAESTUS<faithful_transcription> + PRINCIPLE::"Transcribe all content without loss."" MULTI_ARCH::"[HEPHAESTUS<faithful_transcription>, ATLAS<reliable_execution>] — list of annotated archetypes" §4::HOLOGRAPHIC_CONTRACTS // v6: Documents carry their own validation law in META. Two distinct uses: // (A) CONTRACT in META = document-level validation law (what this document must contain) // (B) HOLOGRAPHIC pattern in BODY = field-level constraint (what this field must satisfy) §4a::CONTRACT_IN_META // Place in META block. Defines validation rules for the whole document. FORM::"CONTRACT::HOLOGRAPHIC<validation_law_in_document>" // CONTRACT value is an annotation — use <> not [] // The holographic compiler reads META.CONTRACT to validate all fields below. ANCHORING: FROZEN::"CONTRACT::HOLOGRAPHIC<frozen@sha256_abc123> — locks schema to specific hash, hermetic" LATEST::"CONTRACT::HOLOGRAPHIClatest@local — resolves to current local schema, mutable" // Use frozen@ for production documents requiring reproducibility. // Use latest@local for active development documents. GRAMMAR_FIELD::"GRAMMAR::GBNF_COMPILER<generate_constrained_output> — emits GBNF for constrained generation" §4b::HOLOGRAPHIC_BODY_PATTERN // Field-level constraint in BODY. Syntax: KEY::["value"∧CONSTRAINT→§TARGET] // The brackets contain: value ∧ constraint → routing target SYNTAX_BREAKDOWN: VALUE::"the literal value or expression" CONSTRAINT::"REQ, OPT, ENUM[a,b], REGEX[pattern], RANGE[min,max], MAX_LENGTH[n], ISO8601, DATE" TARGET::"§SECTION — where validated values route (optional)" EXAMPLE: STATUS::["ACTIVE"∧ENUM[ACTIVE,DRAFT,DEPRECATED]→§LIFECYCLE] PRIORITY::["HIGH"∧ENUM[HIGH,MEDIUM,LOW]] LATENCY::["<200ms"∧REGEX[<\d+ms]] CONSTRAINT_TYPES: CORE::[ REQ, OPT, CONST, ENUM, TYPE, REGEX, DIR, APPEND_ONLY ] EXTENDED::[ RANGE, MAX_LENGTH, MIN_LENGTH, DATE, ISO8601 ] §4c::CONTRACT_BLOCK_EXAMPLE // Full META block using CONTRACT for a typed document EXAMPLE: ``` ===MY_DOCUMENT=== META: TYPE::DECISION VERSION::"1.0.0" CONTRACT::HOLOGRAPHIClatest@local

STATUS::["ACTIVE"∧ENUM[ACTIVE,DRAFT,DEPRECATED]] OWNER::["team-name"∧REQ] DECISION::["adopt microservices"∧REQ] ===END=== §5::ANCHOR_KERNEL TARGET::expert_OCTAVE_expression_mythology_contracts_archetypes NEVER::[mythology_where_literal_is_equally_clear,archetype_in_constructor_brackets,stacked_qualifiers,qualifier_over_32_chars,structural_syntax_inside_quoted_value,nested_inline_map,one_figure_two_domains] MUST::[ "myth handle only when it adds behavior the literal loses; gloss on first use", "ARCHETYPE<facet> one facet; reasoning → sibling RATIONALE telegraphic phrase", "CONTRACT::HOLOGRAPHIC<…> in META for document law; KEY::[value∧CONSTRAINT] for field law", "maps of maps → BLOCK form; relations inside values → operators only" ] GATE::"Would a literal term carry the same meaning — and does every structural form sit in a key, never a value?" §6::BLOCK_NOTATION_RULE // Hierarchical content MUST use block notation RULE::"Nested structures (maps containing maps) MUST use BLOCK notation: single colon + indented children" NEVER::"Inner value is itself an inline map: KEY::[outer::[inner::val]] — error E_NESTED_INLINE_MAP in strict mode, warning W_NESTED_INLINE_MAP in lenient mode" PRIMARY_CASE::"Agent §2::BEHAVIOR definitions — CONDUCT, PROTOCOL, OUTPUT blocks require block notation" CORRECT: CONDUCT: TONE::"Precise" PROTOCOL: MUST_ALWAYS::[rule_a, rule_b] ``` WRONG::"CONDUCT::[TONE::"Precise", PROTOCOL::[MUST_ALWAYS::[rule_a]]]" RECOVERY_ON_E_NESTED_INLINE_MAP::"Fix is BLOCK form — NOT flatten-to-scalars (creates FLAT_PREFIX_SCALARS anti-pattern, §7), NOT collapse-to-blob (creates W_SNAKE_CASE_BLOB). The wrong escapes produce a different error class, not a solution." §7::ANTI_PATTERNS // Each has a concrete example of what NOT to do ISOLATED_LIST::"[auth, payments, users] with no relationships — use DECISION::microservice_extraction[auth⊕payments→independent_services] instead" FLAT_HIERARCHY::"All keys at top level with no grouping — group related keys under a parent BLOCK" BURIED_NETWORK::"RELATED_TO::other_service hidden in prose comment — use explicit operator: auth→payments[dependency]" OPERATOR_SOUP::"RESULT::A+B->C~D all in one expression — break into separate keyed fields" PROSE_BLEED::"Stopword-laden English sentences as values — quoted telegraphic phrases ARE valid (see §7a). Ban applies when operators could compress the same semantics." INLINE_ARRAY_ROOT::"TOKEN::[KEY::v, KEY2::v2] — inline map used as multi-field token root. Non-canonical for map tokens even when values are atomic; BLOCK form is mandated. Triggers E_NESTED_INLINE_MAP as soon as any child value needs nesting (§6::BLOCK_NOTATION_RULE). Fix: use BLOCK form (TOKEN: + indented children) from the start." FLAT_PREFIX_SCALARS::"PARENT_CHILD::v, PARENT_CHILD2::v2 — flattened hierarchy via key name prefixes instead of BLOCK nesting. Destroys grouping and LLM attention. Fix: group under a PARENT: block with CHILD::v children." STRUCTURAL_SYNTAX_SCOPE::"Applies to DATA values. Documentation that names a form (literacy §1b: NAME, ENUM[a,b]) or a fenced example is exempt — the rule targets facts smuggled into strings, not syntax being described." STRUCTURAL_SYNTAX_IN_VALUE::"<> annotation ∨ [] constructor embedded INSIDE a quoted telegraphic value — e.g. "migration[high_risk]<legacy_db> → downtime" or "SISYPHEAN[bugs] ⊕ KAIROS[repair]". Structural forms are key/identifier-only (§3, literacy §1b: <> qualifies identity, [] parameterizes operations). Inside a value the parser treats them as opaque text → all the ambiguity, none of the validation, and it blurs the structural⇌value boundary. Fix: inside a value, relations carry via telegraphic operators only (→ ⇌ ∧ ∨ ⊕); push facets to a sibling field or an annotated KEY. 'migration → downtime' + RISK::high, or open a block MIGRATION<legacy_db>: with the facts as children." CEREMONIAL_MYTHOLOGY::"'As ATHENA, goddess of wisdom, I bestow...' — narrative prose, not functional compression. Mythology is a handle, never a voice." MYTHOLOGY_IN_REFERENCE_TABLES::"Spec tables and formal definitions stay literal; use examples, not tables, to activate mythology." §7a::TELEGRAPHIC_PHRASE DEFINITION::"Quoted value with stopwords dropped; operators ⊕ ⇌ ∧ ∨ → carry relational meaning English connectives would spell out" RULES::[ "Drop stopwords (is, at, for, the, a, with, by, of) — operators carry connectives", "Use ⇌ for tension ('security ⇌ usability' not 'security at odds with usability')", "Use → for causality ('migration → conflict' not 'migration causes conflict')", "Preserve named entities, thresholds, IDs — never compress these", "Use ∧ for joint conditions, ∨ for alternatives, ⊕ for emergent synthesis", "Structural syntax (<> / []) is key/identifier-only — NEVER embed inside the quoted value (see §7::STRUCTURAL_SYNTAX_IN_VALUE)" ] EXAMPLE_PAIR: BEFORE::""natural language at odds with OCTAVE because stopwords" (~13 tokens)" AFTER::""natural language ⇌ OCTAVE → stopword overhead" (~5 tokens)" WHY::"operators are parse-efficient for LLM attention — same fidelity, lower token cost" SEE_ALSO::"octave-compression §4::COMPRESSION_RULES R3a for full rule set" ===END===

Read the full file on GitHub · 220 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. yesterday Changed · +48 lines · +13 tokens per session 5d4477639f49
  2. 8d ago First seen · 172 lines · 46 tokens per session scan A b90193657190

Subscribe to this mod's changes

octave-mastery is a skill published in the GitHub repository elevanaltd/HestAI-MCP (0 stars, last pushed yesterday), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 59 tokens to every session and 3,914 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 91% identical to octave-mastery, differing in 0 lines, and is treated as a copy.

Related

Other skills, from other repositories

systematic-debugging

Use when encountering any bug, test failure, or unexpected behavior, before proposing fixes.

obra/superpowers · 21 tokens

local-ai-agents

Build local-first AI agents that run entirely on a developer workstation with Microsoft Foundry Local and Qwen function-calling models. Covers Small Language Models (SLMs), the OpenAI-compatible local endpoint, sandboxed local tools, local RAG with Chroma, local MCP servers, hybrid cloud/local routing, and the…

microsoft/ai-agents-for-beginners · 200 tokens

next-cache-components-adoption

Turn on Cache Components in a Next.js app and resolve the blocking routes it surfaces. Use when the user wants to enable, adopt, or migrate to Cache Components, flip the cacheComponents flag, work through a flood of blocking-prerender / instant validation errors, run the cache-components-instant-false codemod, or…

vercel/next.js · 95 tokens

insight-error-page

Write or audit an insight-kind error page for the Next.js dev overlay. Use when creating a new errors/ .mdx page, auditing an existing one, or checking that a page matches the framework fix cards. Covers page structure, title alignment, FixCard cards with Copy prompt button, code snippets, terminology verification…

vercel/next.js · 83 tokens

next-cache-components-optimizer

Drive a Next.js route to instant navigation by setting up an agentic loop, under Cache Components / PPR, on initial load (hard navigation) and client-side navigation (soft navigation). Encode the goal as a failing @next/playwright instant() e2e and work it to green, one verified route at a time; the shipped test then…

vercel/next.js · 170 tokens

next-partial-prefetching-adoption

Turn on Partial Prefetching in a Next.js app and work through the insights it surfaces. Use when the user wants to enable or adopt Partial Prefetching, flip the partialPrefetching flag, opt routes in with export const prefetch = 'partial', audit Link prefetch={true} behavior, preserve existing prefetched UI with…

vercel/next.js · 103 tokens