Skill Review
Evaluate a candidate skill, instruction, or prompt for inclusion in Alex_ACT_Edition (the heir template). The Supervisor accepts only what passes all four gates below.
When to Use
- A PR opens against
Alex_ACT_Edition proposing a new skill/instruction/prompt
- A
.skill.review.md file lands in Alex_ACT_Supervisor/feedback/inbox/
- A heir's curation log proposes promoting a custom skill to the Edition template
- Triage routes a feedback item to "Edition fix"
The Four Gates
A submission must pass all four to be merged. Failure on any gate = rejection or revision.
Gate 1 — Spec Compliance
| Check |
Pass criterion |
| Frontmatter present |
YAML block with type, lifecycle, inheritance, description, application, applyTo, currency |
applyTo glob is non-empty |
At least one path pattern, no **/* unless explicitly justified |
inheritance set correctly |
inheritable for fleet-wide; custom for heir-only; master-only reserved for Supervisor/AlexMaster |
| File location matches type |
*.instructions.md in instructions/, SKILL.md in skills/<name>/, *.prompt.md in prompts/ |
| Markdown lints clean |
No broken links, no missing code-fence languages |
Gate 2 — Content Quality
| Check |
Pass criterion |
| Single responsibility |
The artifact does one thing; if title contains "and" or "+", split it |
| Behavioral, not encyclopedic |
Tells the agent what to do, not what a topic is |
| Has falsifiability or visible markers |
The reader can tell whether the artifact fired correctly |
| ≤ 300 lines (skills) / ≤ 200 lines (instructions) |
Longer = signal of overload; split or trim |
| No duplicated content from existing artifacts |
Grep for overlapping descriptions across .github/instructions/ |
Gate 3 — Scope Fit
| Check |
Pass criterion |
| ACT-Edition target |
Belongs in the heir template, not in AlexMaster or a different edition |
| Not framework-level |
Does not modify ACT manifesto, tenets, or claims registry — that's AlexMaster's territory |
| Not a one-off project script |
A skill must generalize to ≥2 projects; if only one heir would ever use it, it's custom, not inheritable |
| Doesn't duplicate Skill Mall content |
If the value is a marketplace listing, it goes in Alex_Skill_Mall, not the Edition |
Gate 4 — Safety
| Check |
Pass criterion |
| No destructive defaults |
Anything that deletes, force-pushes, or overwrites must require explicit user approval |
| No hardcoded credentials or PII |
Run pii-memory-filter mentally over the diff |
| No prompt-injection vectors |
If the artifact reads external content (URLs, files), it sanitizes or quotes it |
| Reversible |
A user can disable or remove the artifact without breaking the Edition |
Decision Matrix
| Gates passed |
Action |
| All 4 |
Accept — merge and add to next Edition release |
| 3 of 4 |
Request revision — leave a review comment naming the failed gate |
| 2 of 4 or fewer |
Reject — close the PR with a written rationale; add to decisions/ if the rejection sets precedent |
Output Template
When the review completes, write a verdict to feedback/inbox/<submission-id>.review.md:
# Review: <submission title>
**Submission**: <path or PR#>
**Reviewer**: Supervisor
**Date**: <ISO date>
**Verdict**: Accept | Request revision | Reject
## Gate Results
- Gate 1 (Spec): Pass / Fail — <details>
- Gate 2 (Quality): Pass / Fail — <details>
- Gate 3 (Scope): Pass / Fail — <details>
- Gate 4 (Safety): Pass / Fail — <details>
## Rationale
<2-3 sentence summary of the verdict>
## Required Changes (if revision)
- <bullet list of concrete asks>
## ACT Pass Trail
<paste the trimmed act-pass markers from the review>
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-pattern |
Correction |
| Approving because the submitter is confident |
Confidence ≠ quality. Run all four gates regardless of submitter |
| Rejecting without naming the gate |
Always cite the specific gate; vague rejections waste cycles |
| Accepting "trivial" submissions without review |
Trivial-looking submissions are where regressions hide |
Reviewing without an act-pass trail |
This is medium-stakes work — the trimmed pass is mandatory |
Related
brain-curation-rules — when this skill firesact-pass — required for every review/review-skill prompt — slash-command entry point
1---2name: skill-review-23description: Review submissions to Alex_ACT_Edition for ACT spec compliance, content quality, and scope fit4---56# Skill Review78Evaluate a candidate skill, instruction, or prompt for inclusion in `Alex_ACT_Edition` (the heir template). The Supervisor accepts only what passes all four gates below.910## When to Use1112- A PR opens against `Alex_ACT_Edition` proposing a new skill/instruction/prompt13- A `.skill.review.md` file lands in `Alex_ACT_Supervisor/feedback/inbox/`14- A heir's curation log proposes promoting a custom skill to the Edition template15- Triage routes a feedback item to "Edition fix"1617## The Four Gates1819A submission must pass **all four** to be merged. Failure on any gate = rejection or revision.2021### Gate 1 — Spec Compliance2223| Check | Pass criterion |24|---|---|25| Frontmatter present | YAML block with `type`, `lifecycle`, `inheritance`, `description`, `application`, `applyTo`, `currency` |26| `applyTo` glob is non-empty | At least one path pattern, no `**/*` unless explicitly justified |27| `inheritance` set correctly | `inheritable` for fleet-wide; `custom` for heir-only; `master-only` reserved for Supervisor/AlexMaster |28| File location matches type | `*.instructions.md` in `instructions/`, `SKILL.md` in `skills/<name>/`, `*.prompt.md` in `prompts/` |29| Markdown lints clean | No broken links, no missing code-fence languages |3031### Gate 2 — Content Quality3233| Check | Pass criterion |34|---|---|35| Single responsibility | The artifact does one thing; if title contains "and" or "+", split it |36| Behavioral, not encyclopedic | Tells the agent what to *do*, not what a topic *is* |37| Has falsifiability or visible markers | The reader can tell whether the artifact fired correctly |38| ≤ 300 lines (skills) / ≤ 200 lines (instructions) | Longer = signal of overload; split or trim |39| No duplicated content from existing artifacts | Grep for overlapping descriptions across `.github/instructions/` |4041### Gate 3 — Scope Fit4243| Check | Pass criterion |44|---|---|45| ACT-Edition target | Belongs in the heir template, not in AlexMaster or a different edition |46| Not framework-level | Does not modify ACT manifesto, tenets, or claims registry — that's AlexMaster's territory |47| Not a one-off project script | A skill must generalize to ≥2 projects; if only one heir would ever use it, it's `custom`, not `inheritable` |48| Doesn't duplicate Skill Mall content | If the value is a marketplace listing, it goes in `Alex_Skill_Mall`, not the Edition |4950### Gate 4 — Safety5152| Check | Pass criterion |53|---|---|54| No destructive defaults | Anything that deletes, force-pushes, or overwrites must require explicit user approval |55| No hardcoded credentials or PII | Run `pii-memory-filter` mentally over the diff |56| No prompt-injection vectors | If the artifact reads external content (URLs, files), it sanitizes or quotes it |57| Reversible | A user can disable or remove the artifact without breaking the Edition |5859## Decision Matrix6061| Gates passed | Action |62|---|---|63| All 4 | **Accept** — merge and add to next Edition release |64| 3 of 4 | **Request revision** — leave a review comment naming the failed gate |65| 2 of 4 or fewer | **Reject** — close the PR with a written rationale; add to `decisions/` if the rejection sets precedent |6667## Output Template6869When the review completes, write a verdict to `feedback/inbox/<submission-id>.review.md`:7071```markdown72# Review: <submission title>7374**Submission**: <path or PR#>75**Reviewer**: Supervisor76**Date**: <ISO date>77**Verdict**: Accept | Request revision | Reject7879## Gate Results8081- Gate 1 (Spec): Pass / Fail — <details>82- Gate 2 (Quality): Pass / Fail — <details>83- Gate 3 (Scope): Pass / Fail — <details>84- Gate 4 (Safety): Pass / Fail — <details>8586## Rationale8788<2-3 sentence summary of the verdict>8990## Required Changes (if revision)9192- <bullet list of concrete asks>9394## ACT Pass Trail9596<paste the trimmed act-pass markers from the review>97```9899## Anti-Patterns100101| Anti-pattern | Correction |102|---|---|103| Approving because the submitter is confident | Confidence ≠ quality. Run all four gates regardless of submitter |104| Rejecting without naming the gate | Always cite the specific gate; vague rejections waste cycles |105| Accepting "trivial" submissions without review | Trivial-looking submissions are where regressions hide |106| Reviewing without an `act-pass` trail | This is medium-stakes work — the trimmed pass is mandatory |107108## Related109110- `brain-curation-rules` — when this skill fires111- `act-pass` — required for every review112- `/review-skill` prompt — slash-command entry point
gabrielmoreira