Gestalt Similarity Agent Skill

Apply the Gestalt principle of Similarity — elements that share visual attributes (color, shape, size, orientation) are perceived as…

Context cost
4k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
2 files · 15.8 kBtext throughout, nothing executable
Licence
Apache-2.0the author’s own terms
Last change
—no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Apply the Gestalt principle of Similarity — elements that share visual attributes (color, shape, size, orientation) are perceived as belonging together, regardless of their physical proximity. Use when grouping related items in a list, status indicators, dashboard cards, navigation, or any context where you want the user to perceive certain items as a set. Similarity is one of the strongest grouping cues; it works even when proximity says otherwise. Color is the strongest similarity cue, then size, then shape; orientation is weakest.

What this skill changes about the agent has not been set out here as a list. Its SKILL.md, shown below, says it in the author’s own words.

design
Filed under

Design & Media

The skill itself

A skill is instructions the model reads, so you can see what you are getting: below is the start of its SKILL.md. The front matter loads with every session, the body loads when the skill triggers, and the whole file comes with the install.

SKILL.md9.3 kB · preview
--- name: gestalt-similarity ---
6# Gestalt Similarity
7
8> **Definition.** Similarity is the Gestalt principle that elements sharing visual attributes — color, shape, size, orientation, texture — are perceived as belonging together. Two red dots in a sea of blue dots form a group, even when they're not physically close. Three identical icons in a row of varied icons form a set. Items styled the same way "go together" in the user's perception, regardless of their position in the layout.
9
10Similarity is one of the original Gestalt grouping principles, established by Wertheimer in the early 20th century. It's one of the strongest perceptual forces in visual design: the user's brain automatically segments the visual field into groups based on visual similarity, before any conscious analysis. Designs that exploit this segmentation work with the user's perception; designs that fight it work against it.
11
12## The hierarchy of similarity cues
13
14Not all similarity is equally strong. Research consistently finds:
15
16**Color is the strongest grouping cue.** Two items with the same color are perceived as a group even when many other attributes differ. Highlighting selected items with color is one of the most reliable design techniques.
17
18**Size is second.** Items of the same size group together; different sizes form different groups. This is why heading hierarchy works — large text reads as one set (headings), smaller text as another set (body).
19
20**Shape is third.** Items with the same shape group together. Round buttons read as a different set than square buttons. Cards of the same proportions feel like one set.
21
22**Orientation is weakest.** Items oriented the same way group, but the cue is subtle. Useful for distinguishing axes (vertical vs. horizontal) more than for grouping items.
23
24When you want to group items strongly, reach for color. When you want to distinguish groups, reach for color difference. Other similarity cues are reinforcement, not primary.
This is a preview of SKILL.md. Download or install the skill to get the whole thing.
In the file
SKILL.md1,390 words
Files2
LicenceApache-2.0
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈150
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
3,800
on trigger
The instruction body and 1 supporting file, read only when the skill fires.
2.0%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 20% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

4k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Middling. Fine to keep on in a project where you use it weekly, worth unloading in one where you never do.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been set out here step by step. It is in the body of its SKILL.md: the start of it is shown above, and the whole file comes with the install.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

Its SKILL.md does not declare which tools it asks the agent for, so what it touches is whatever the instructions themselves ask for — read them before you install it.

What it asks for
Writes filesnot declared
Network accessnot declared

This SKILL.md carries no allowed-tools line, so neither is declared. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

2 files, 15.8 kB on disk. A bundle is text throughout: the instructions the model reads, plus the templates it fills in.

  • SKILL.md9.3 kB
  • references/lineage.md6.5 kB
What is not in it

No dependencies and nothing executable: a skill is text the agent reads, so the bundle is 2 files you can review in full before installing. The Apache-2.0 licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

# Gestalt Similarity · 4k tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/gestalt-similarity/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/gestalt-similarity" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/gestalt-similarity ] || { mv .claude/skills/gestalt-similarity "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/gestalt-similarity" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/gestalt-similarity"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add hashgraph-online/gestalt-similarity

Windows PowerShell says 'running scripts is disabled on this system'? Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once, or type npx.cmd instead of npx (codex.cmd, gemini.cmd, grok.cmd likewise). PowerShell 7 needs neither. Writes to .claude/skills/gestalt-similarity/ in the current project. For every project instead, run mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/gestalt-similarity/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/gestalt-similarity" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/gestalt-similarity ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/gestalt-similarity "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/gestalt-similarity" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/gestalt-similarity" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/gestalt-similarity/ only after the download succeeds, so files left there by another skill of the same name, or by an older release, do not mix in. A copy already there is moved aside, not deleted, and the line prints where.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. Most of these read a skills folder and pick it up without being told; the rest take the same folder another way — an upload in the app, a parameter on an API call — and then choose it by its description just the same.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude DesktopCustomize › Skills
ChatGPTSkills › Create › Upload
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok Build.grok/skills/
Microsoft CopilotSkills › Upload a skill
PerplexityComputer › Skills › Upload a skill
DeepSeek Harness.dsh/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Devin Desktop.devin/skills/
Windsurf (legacy).windsurf/skills/
OpenAI Agents SDKInstructions or sandbox Skills
HTTP / APIa request parameter
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
PriceFree
Referencehashgraph-online/gestalt-similarity

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

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Publisher
Servers1
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