Large Language Model development, training, fine-tuning, and deployment best practices.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/mindrally/skills --skill llmSKILL.md
LLM Development
You are an expert in Large Language Model development, training, and fine-tuning.
Core Principles
- Understand transformer architectures deeply
- Implement efficient training strategies
- Apply proper evaluation methodologies
- Optimize for inference performance
Model Architecture
Attention Mechanisms
- Implement self-attention correctly
- Use multi-head attention patterns
- Apply positional encodings appropriately
- Understand context length limitations
Tokenization
- Choose appropriate tokenizers (BPE, SentencePiece)
- Handle special tokens properly
- Manage vocabulary size trade-offs
- Implement proper padding and truncation
Fine-Tuning Techniques
Parameter-Efficient Methods
- Use LoRA for efficient adaptation
- Apply P-tuning for prompt optimization
- Implement adapter layers
- Use prefix tuning when appropriate
Full Fine-Tuning
- Manage learning rates carefully
- Implement proper warmup schedules
- Use gradient checkpointing for memory
- Apply regularization appropriately
Training Infrastructure
Distributed Training
- Use DeepSpeed for large models
- Implement FSDP for memory efficiency
- Handle gradient synchronization
- Manage checkpoint saving/loading
Memory Optimization
- Apply gradient accumulation
- Use mixed precision training
- Implement activation checkpointing
- Optimize batch sizes dynamically
Evaluation
- Use appropriate metrics (perplexity, BLEU, etc.)
- Implement proper benchmark evaluation
- Handle evaluation at scale
- Track metrics during training
Deployment
- Optimize models for inference (quantization, pruning)
- Implement efficient serving solutions
- Handle batched inference
- Monitor production performance
Project Structure
- Organize configs in YAML files
- Separate data processing from training
- Implement experiment tracking
- Version control models and configs
Related skills
repo-intake-and-planlllllllama450KRigor Intake helper for README-first deep learning repo reproduction. Use when the task is specifically to scan a repository, read the README and common project files, extract documented commands, classify inference, evaluation, and training candidates, and return the smallest trustworthy reproduction plan to the main orchestrator. Do not use for environment setup, asset download, command execution, final reporting, paper lookup, or end-to-end orchestration.minimal-run-and-auditlllllllama450KRigor Run skill for README-first deep learning repo reproduction. Use when the task is specifically to capture or normalize evidence from the selected smoke test or documented inference or evaluation command and write standardized `repro_outputs/` files, including patch notes when repository files changed. Do not use for training execution, initial repo intake, generic environment setup, paper lookup, target selection, hidden scientific-meaning changes, or end-to-end orchestration by itself.ai-research-reproductionlllllllama311KRigor Reproduce compatible skill slug for README-first deep learning repository reproduction. Use when the user wants an end-to-end, minimal-trustworthy flow that reads the repository first, selects the smallest documented inference or evaluation target, coordinates intake, setup, trusted execution, optional trusted training, optional repository analysis, and optional paper-gap resolution, enforces conservative patch rules, records evidence assumptions deviations and human decision points, and wexplore-codelllllllama311KRigor Improve implementation leaf skill for auditable candidate implementation in deep learning research repositories. Use when the researcher explicitly authorizes exploratory work on an isolated branch or worktree to transplant modules, adapt a backbone, add LoRA or adapter layers, replace a head, or stitch together meaningful low-risk migration ideas with rollback-aware records in `explore_outputs/`. Do not use for end-to-end exploration orchestration on top of `current_research`, trusted bas