Recursive Language Model (RLM) Agent Skill

Use when a query requires analysing files or documents that are too large to.

Context cost
1.1k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
3 files · 13.6 kB1 script among them — read before you run
Licence
not declarednone named by its author
Last change
—no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Use when a query requires analysing files or documents that are too large to

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.

productivity

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.md3.5 kB · preview
--- name: rlm ---
8# Recursive Language Model (RLM)
9
10## What is RLM
11
12Standard LLMs degrade on long inputs — accuracy drops as the context window fills up
13("context rot"). RLM avoids this by never loading full content into the prompt. Instead,
14the model receives only a **manifest** (a list of files and line counts) and navigates the
15content on demand using structured tags.
16
17The model drives its own exploration: it peeks at specific lines, delegates sub-questions
18to recursive sub-calls, and emits an answer when it has enough information. This mirrors
19how an expert developer reads an unfamiliar codebase — skimming structure, drilling into
20relevant sections, ignoring noise.
21
22## When to use
23
24- Analysing a large codebase for a cross-cutting concern ("find all places that touch auth")
25- Summarising or querying a long document (research paper, log file, data export)
26- Any question where the relevant content is spread across many files or sections
This is a preview of SKILL.md. Download or install the skill to get the whole thing.
In the file
SKILL.md537 words
Files3
Licencenot declared
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.

≈70
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
1,055
on trigger
The instruction body and 2 supporting files, read only when the skill fires.
0.56%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 6% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

1.1k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Small enough to keep loaded permanently without thinking about it.

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

3 files, 13.6 kB on disk. Mostly text — the instructions the model reads — with 1 script in it that your client would run only if the instructions tell it to.

  • SKILL.md3.5 kB
  • rlm.py9.1 kB
  • system_prompt.txt1.0 kB
What is not in it

A skill installs nothing and depends on nothing: it is a folder your client reads. This one carries 1 script beside the text, so the bundle is 3 files you can review in full before installing.

Install

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

# Recursive Language Model (RLM) · 1.1k tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/recursive-language-model-rlm/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/recursive-language-model-rlm" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/recursive-language-model-rlm ] || { mv .claude/skills/recursive-language-model-rlm "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/recursive-language-model-rlm" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/recursive-language-model-rlm"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add osick/recursive-language-model-rlm

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/recursive-language-model-rlm/ 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/recursive-language-model-rlm/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/recursive-language-model-rlm" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/recursive-language-model-rlm ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/recursive-language-model-rlm "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/recursive-language-model-rlm" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/recursive-language-model-rlm" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/recursive-language-model-rlm/ 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. It appears as rlm in Gemini CLI, Codex, Copilot and Grok (its own name); Claude Code lists it by the folder name, recursive-language-model-rlm.

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
Referenceosick/recursive-language-model-rlm

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.

Reviews

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Publisher
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