How do I install the Skill Review skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add deanyou/skill-review in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Skill Review safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Skill Review?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Skill Review free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Skill Review?

deanyou (@deanyou) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Skill Review by deanyou — Agent Skill

Name: Skill Review
Author: deanyou

Skill Review

Audit a Claude Code skill file against the official skills specification. Use when the user asks to review, audit, or check a skill for spec compliance, or when a skill file may be too long, have wrong frontmatter, or needs structural improvement.

deanyou ea18d7f 3.7 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Claude Code Skill Spec Auditor

Audit the skill named "$ARGUMENTS". If no argument was given, ask the user which skill to review.

Step 1 — Locate the skill file

find .claude/skills ~/.claude/skills -name "SKILL.md" 2>/dev/null | head -30
wc -l <path/to/SKILL.md>
ls -la <skill-dir>/

Read the SKILL.md file in full.

Step 2 — Checklist (score PASS / WARN / FAIL)

A. File size

Check	Limit	Notes
SKILL.md line count	≤ 500 lines	Excess is silently truncated before Claude sees it
reference.md exists when needed	—	Required if SKILL.md would overflow

Module templates, long examples, and reference tables belong in reference.md, not the main file.

B. Frontmatter fields

Field	Required	Constraint
`name`	Yes	Must match the slash-command name exactly
`description`	Yes	≤ 1,536 chars; drives auto-trigger matching
`allowed-tools`	Recommended	`ToolName` or `ToolName(glob)`; glob uses bare ``, not `/prefix/`
`argument-hint`	Recommended	Short hint shown in autocomplete UI

allowed-tools patterns:

CORRECT: Bash(virtuoso *)   Bash(vcli *)   Read   Write
WRONG:   Bash(*/virtuoso *) — leading */ has unclear glob semantics
WRONG:   Bash               — no glob = allows ALL bash commands (too broad)

C. Skill body

Check	What to look for
Arguments routing	Body references the ARGUMENTS variable to route on user input
Skill-dir-relative paths	Companion files use the CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR variable, not hardcoded absolute paths
Dynamic blocks	Time-sensitive content (git branch, date, env vars) injected at load time
No hardcoded paths	Absolute paths to project dirs should not appear in skill body

D. Content quality

Check	Guidance
Templates vs reference.md	Multiple long code blocks (>30 lines each) → extract to `reference.md`
No commented-out code	Clean, actionable content only
Runnable examples	Snippets work as-is or with minimal substitution

Step 3 — Report

Produce a findings table:

| # | Check             | Status | Finding                                           |
|---|-------------------|--------|---------------------------------------------------|
| 1 | File size         | FAIL   | 792 lines — move templates to reference.md        |
| 2 | allowed-tools     | WARN   | Bash(*/vcli *) — remove leading */                |
| 3 | argument-hint     | FAIL   | Missing from frontmatter                          |
| 4 | Arguments routing | WARN   | ARGUMENTS variable not used — skill ignores input |

List recommended fixes in priority order (FAIL first, then WARN).

Step 4 — Offer to fix

Ask: "Apply all fixes now?" If yes:

Extract overflow content to reference.md in the same directory
Fix frontmatter: allowed-tools, argument-hint, name
Add arguments routing block and a load instruction pointing to reference.md

Spec reference (invariants)

SKILL.md > 500 lines: content past line 500 is dropped silently
description is used for semantic matching — keep it focused, under ~1,000 chars
allowed-tools controls which tools Claude may call during skill execution
The ARGUMENTS variable = everything the user typed after the slash command name
The CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR variable = absolute path to the skill's directory (currently: ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR})

---name: skill-reviewdescription: Audit a Claude Code skill file against the official skills specification. Use when the user asks to review, audit, or check a skill for spec compliance, or when a skill file may be too long, have wrong frontmatter, or needs structural improvement.---# Claude Code Skill Spec AuditorAudit the skill named "$ARGUMENTS". If no argument was given, ask the user which skill to review.## Step 1 — Locate the skill file```bashfind .claude/skills ~/.claude/skills -name "SKILL.md" 2>/dev/null | head -30wc -l <path/to/SKILL.md>ls -la <skill-dir>/```Read the SKILL.md file in full.## Step 2 — Checklist (score PASS / WARN / FAIL)### A. File size| Check | Limit | Notes ||-------|-------|-------|| SKILL.md line count | ≤ 500 lines | Excess is silently truncated before Claude sees it || reference.md exists when needed | — | Required if SKILL.md would overflow |Module templates, long examples, and reference tables belong in `reference.md`, not the main file.### B. Frontmatter fields| Field | Required | Constraint ||-------|----------|------------|| `name` | Yes | Must match the slash-command name exactly || `description` | Yes | ≤ 1,536 chars; drives auto-trigger matching || `allowed-tools` | Recommended | `ToolName` or `ToolName(glob)`; glob uses bare `*`, not `*/prefix/` || `argument-hint` | Recommended | Short hint shown in autocomplete UI |**`allowed-tools` patterns**:```CORRECT: Bash(virtuoso *) Bash(vcli *) Read WriteWRONG: Bash(*/virtuoso *) — leading */ has unclear glob semanticsWRONG: Bash — no glob = allows ALL bash commands (too broad)```### C. Skill body| Check | What to look for ||-------|-----------------|| Arguments routing | Body references the ARGUMENTS variable to route on user input || Skill-dir-relative paths | Companion files use the CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR variable, not hardcoded absolute paths || Dynamic blocks | Time-sensitive content (git branch, date, env vars) injected at load time || No hardcoded paths | Absolute paths to project dirs should not appear in skill body |### D. Content quality| Check | Guidance ||-------|----------|| Templates vs reference.md | Multiple long code blocks (>30 lines each) → extract to `reference.md` || No commented-out code | Clean, actionable content only || Runnable examples | Snippets work as-is or with minimal substitution |## Step 3 — ReportProduce a findings table:```| # | Check | Status | Finding ||---|-------------------|--------|---------------------------------------------------|| 1 | File size | FAIL | 792 lines — move templates to reference.md || 2 | allowed-tools | WARN | Bash(*/vcli *) — remove leading */ || 3 | argument-hint | FAIL | Missing from frontmatter || 4 | Arguments routing | WARN | ARGUMENTS variable not used — skill ignores input |```List recommended fixes in priority order (FAIL first, then WARN).## Step 4 — Offer to fixAsk: "Apply all fixes now?" If yes:1. Extract overflow content to `reference.md` in the same directory2. Fix frontmatter: `allowed-tools`, `argument-hint`, `name`3. Add arguments routing block and a load instruction pointing to `reference.md`## Spec reference (invariants)- SKILL.md > 500 lines: content past line 500 is dropped silently- `description` is used for semantic matching — keep it focused, under ~1,000 chars- `allowed-tools` controls which tools Claude may call during skill execution- The ARGUMENTS variable = everything the user typed after the slash command name- The CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR variable = absolute path to the skill's directory (currently: ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR})

Frequently asked questions