Skill Reviewer

Skill Reviewer

When to use

Use when reviewing, auditing, or optimizing existing skills — checking quality against the 6 Skill Killers checklist. Also for validating a new skill before saving.

Reviews skills against the 7 Skill Killers — the most common anti-patterns that waste tokens, cause misfires, or degrade agent performance.

The 7 Skill Killers Checklist

Killer 1: Vague or Quiet Description

The description is the most critical line — it's a trigger, not a summary.

Good pattern:

description: >
  Use when the user says "create a DTO", "new data transfer object",
  or asks to convert request/response data into a typed PHP class.
  Also triggers on "map this to a DTO" or "I need a value object".
  Creates DTO classes following project conventions with SimpleDto
  base class, attribute mapping, and validation.

Bad patterns:

• ❌ "Creates DTO classes following project conventions" — no trigger phrases
• ❌ "Handles DTOs" — too vague, won't fire
• ❌ Only describes WHAT, never WHEN

Fix rules:

• Start with Use when the user says "..." or Use when [situation]
• Include 3-5 trigger phrases people actually say
• Write in third person (injected into system prompt)
• Be LOUD — models skip past quiet descriptions
• End with 1 sentence describing what the skill does
• For explicit-only skills: "ONLY when user explicitly requests: [X]. NOT for [Y]."

Killer 2: Over-Defining (Railroading)

The skill dictates every micro-step instead of guiding.

Check: Are there >15 numbered steps? Does it prescribe HOW to think? Fix: Set degrees of freedom — tight for fragile ops (migrations, deployments), loose for creative tasks (design, planning). Use bullets over numbered steps when order doesn't matter.

Killer 3: Stating the Obvious

Content the model already knows — wasting tokens on every invocation.

Check: For each paragraph, ask: "Does the model really need this?" Examples of waste:

• ❌ Explaining what PHP strict types do
• ❌ Describing how Laravel middleware works (in a middleware skill)
• ❌ Listing basic Git commands

Keep only: Project-specific conventions, non-obvious patterns, YOUR way of doing things.

Killer 4: Missing Gotcha Section

The highest-signal content in a skill. Documents failure patterns.

Check: Does the skill have a ## Gotcha or ## Common Mistakes section? Fix: Add one with real failure patterns:

## Gotcha

- Don't assume X — check Y first because Z
- The model tends to forget A when doing B
- Edge case: when C happens, do D instead of E

Killer 5: Monolithic Blob

Skill exceeds size limits (see docs/guidelines/agent-infra/size-and-scope.md).

Check: Review at >400 lines. Strongly consider split at >1200 words / >1500 words. Fix: Extract reference tables, templates, and examples into separate files in the skill folder, or split by responsibility.

Killer 6: Guideline-Dependent (Pointer-Only)

The skill delegates to guidelines instead of containing its own executable workflow.

Iron Rule: If a skill is not executable without opening a guideline, it is broken.

Check: Cover all guideline references in the skill — is the Procedure still executable? Litmus test: Remove → See guideline ... lines. Does the skill still tell the agent what to do?

Fail if: ≥3 guideline delegations AND ≤1 action verb AND <3 procedure steps Warn if: ≥2 guideline delegations AND ≤2 action verbs AND <3 procedure steps

Fix: Inline the essential workflow steps from the guideline. Keep the guideline reference for deep-dive details, but the Procedure must work standalone.

Killer 7: Created Without Analysis

The skill/rule/command was written without inspecting existing state or defining expected behavior.

Check: Was the artifact created based on:

• Reading the existing implementation or related artifacts?
• Comparing with current behavior, tests, or requirements?
• Defining expected behavior before writing?
• Using targeted tools for investigation?

Fail or warn if:

• No evidence of inspecting existing state before creating/refactoring
• Looks like blind trial-and-error or copy-paste-and-hope
• Expected behavior is only implied, never explicitly stated
• Refactor made artifact cleaner but weaker (lost validation, examples, or gotchas)
• Requirements were ambiguous but no clarification was sought

Fix: Add analysis step, define expected outcome, verify with linter/tests, restore any lost content.

Pre-check: Should this be a skill at all?

Before scoring the 5 Killers, ask: Does this belong as a skill?

If the skill fails this pre-check → recommend: migrate (rule/guideline), absorb (into existing skill), or delete.

Structural Validation (pre-review)

Before scoring the 5 Killers, verify structure:

Skills — required sections:

• When to use (with "Do not use when")
• Procedure (numbered steps OR ### sub-headings — NOT just a renamed heading with prose)
• Concrete validation step inside Procedure (must contain: verify, confirm, must pass, run test, etc.)
• Gotchas
• Do NOT

Linter: Run ./scripts-run src/scripts/skill_linter on any skill after review — must be 0 FAIL.

Rules — must be:

• Short and directive
• Always-applicable (no situational triggers)
• Not procedural (no numbered steps — that's a skill)

Condensation safety (if condensed version exists):

• Trigger clarity preserved
• Decision hints or equivalent present
• Concrete validation still present
• Gotchas/anti-failure protection retained

Merge/refactor safety (if reviewing a merge, refactor, or restructuring):

• Apply preservation-guard rule checklist
• Strongest validation, example, and anti-pattern must survive
• Scope must not broaden from merging unrelated concerns
• Strong language must not be weakened

Scope check:

• No overlap with existing skill or rule (name + description)
• Single workflow per file (multiple workflows → split)
• Update existing preferred over creating new file

Procedure: Review a skill

Single skill

1. Validate structure (required sections present)
2. Score each killer: ✅ Pass / ⚠️ Weak / ❌ Fail
3. Check condensation safety (if applicable)
4. Produce a verdict table + specific fix suggestions

Batch audit

1. Scan all skills in .augment/skills/
2. For each: check description format, line count, gotcha presence
3. Produce a summary table sorted by severity
4. Group fixes by type (e.g., "these 20 need description rewrites")

Output Format

| Skill | K1 Desc | K2 Over | K3 Obvious | K4 Gotcha | K5 Size | K6 Pointer | K7 Analysis | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| laravel-dto | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Fix description |

Output format

1. Review report with pass/fail per checklist item
2. Prioritized fix recommendations — ordered over the complete per-killer table above, never a subset of it. Priority is a sort, not a filter.

Gotcha

• Don't rewrite skills unnecessarily — only fix actual killer violations.
• A description that works (triggers correctly) is fine even if not perfect.
• Gotcha sections grow organically — seed them, don't force 10 entries.
• "Stating the obvious" is relative to the MODEL, not to junior developers. If the model consistently gets something wrong, it's NOT obvious — keep it.
• Skills under 50 lines rarely have Killer 5 problems — skip that check.
• Flag any "Related skills" section — the agent discovers skills via <available_skills> descriptions. Cross-links waste tokens and create maintenance burden. Recommend removal.

Do NOT

• Do NOT rewrite skills that pass all 7 killers — leave them alone.
• Do NOT add "Related skills" cross-links — the agent discovers via descriptions.
• Do NOT force Gotcha entries — seed naturally from real failures.