# Add Checkpoints

> Use when adding assessment checkpoints to a skill, evaluating checkpoint suitability, or generating checkpoint YAML from skill requirements. Activate on 'add checkpoints', 'generate checkpoints', or checkpoint schema tasks.

- Skill: `netresearch/add-checkpoints` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add netresearch/add-checkpoints`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/netresearch/add-checkpoints/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- License: (MIT AND CC-BY-SA-4.0). See LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-CC-BY-SA-4.0
- Author: netresearch (https://skillmd.com/u/netresearch)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/netresearch/add-checkpoints

---


# Add Checkpoints to a Skill

Analyze a skill and generate appropriate `checkpoints.yaml` for the automated-assessment framework.

## Command

```
/add-checkpoints                    # Analyze current skill directory
/add-checkpoints typo3-docs         # Analyze a specific installed skill
/add-checkpoints --dry-run          # Show what would be generated, don't write
```

## Workflow

1. **Locate the skill** — find SKILL.md, references/, scripts/, assets/
2. **Analyze suitability** — determine if checkpoints make sense (see criteria below)
3. **Extract requirements** — parse SKILL.md for verifiable rules and patterns
4. **Generate checkpoints** — create `checkpoints.yaml` with mechanical checks and LLM reviews
5. **Add preconditions** — determine which project types this skill applies to
6. **Validate** — `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/automated-assessment/scripts/validate-checkpoints.sh`, then `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/automated-assessment/scripts/run-checkpoints.sh` on a sample project. Treat its warnings as findings: they name the defect classes below. A `blocked` result means the runner refused the command — the checkpoint never ran, so it is a defect in your YAML, not in the sample project.
7. **Report** — explain what was generated and why, or why checkpoints don't fit

## Suitability Criteria

A skill is **suitable** for checkpoints if it defines:
- File structure requirements (directories, config files, manifests)
- Content patterns (must contain X, must not contain Y)
- Naming conventions (prefixes, suffixes, case rules)
- Tool configurations (PHPStan level, linter rules, CI steps)
- Metadata standards (license, author, version format)

A skill is **NOT suitable** if it only provides:
- Conceptual guidance without verifiable outputs
- Interactive workflows with no persistent artifacts
- Runtime behavior patterns (performance, caching strategies)

Report suitability with reasoning.

## Checkpoint Generation Rules

### Mechanical Checks

Extract from SKILL.md patterns like:
- "must exist" / "required" → `file_exists`
- "must not" / "never" / "avoid" → `file_not_exists` or `not_contains`
- "must contain" / "should have" → `contains` or `regex`
- Version/format constraints → `json_path` or `command`

### Preconditions

Derive from the skill's scope:
- TYPO3 extensions → `file_exists: ext_emconf.php`
- Docker projects → `file_exists: Dockerfile`
- Go projects → `file_exists: go.mod`
- Skill repos → `file_exists: .claude-plugin/plugin.json`
- Universal (any project) → no preconditions

### ID Convention

Use the skill's established prefix from `../automated-assessment/references/migration-guide.md`, or derive a 2-letter prefix from the skill name.

### Severity Assignment

- `error`: "must", "required", "never" → blocks release
- `warning`: "should", "recommended" → suggestion
- `info`: "consider", "nice to have" → optional

### The three defect classes — check every generated checkpoint against them

A checkpoint that reports something untrue is worse than no checkpoint. Three
shapes do that, all found in the shipped estate, none of them visibly wrong in
the YAML. Full evidence and correct spellings:
`../automated-assessment/references/checkpoints-schema.md`
→ "Three defect classes that make a checkpoint misreport".

1. **Vendor leakage** — a `find`, `file_exists` glob or precondition with no
   exclusion for `vendor/`, `node_modules/`, `.Build/`. The runner's
   auto-exclude covers ONLY glob targets of content checks; everywhere else the
   exclusion is yours to write. One leaking precondition ran all 14
   typo3-ckeditor5 checks against an extension with no RTE code.
2. **Skill-relative script path** — `bash scripts/check-foo.sh`. A checkpoint
   runs from the repository under test, where the skill's `scripts/` does not
   exist, and the allowlist rejects path-prefixed commands anyway. Inline the
   logic (`php -r '...'` for anything non-trivial); keep the shipped script as
   the human entry point.
3. **Pipe-into-head exit trap** — `... | head -1 && echo ... && exit 1 || exit 0`
   reports a failure on every project, because `head` exits 0 on empty input.
   Let the exit status come from the match (`grep -q`, or `regex_not` with no
   command at all).

### Calibration Anchor

Each checkpoint records its predicted defect class and retirement condition as YAML comments. Caps at `info` if missing. See `automated-assessment/references/calibration.md`.

### LLM Reviews

Only for what no command can decide. A prompt opening a line with a command
belongs in `mechanical`; keep both halves only with `# mechanical-counterpart: <ID>`.

- Code quality judgments → `domain: code-quality`
- Documentation completeness → `domain: documentation`
- Architecture decisions → `domain: architecture`

## Output

Generates `checkpoints.yaml` in the skill's directory (schema: `../automated-assessment/references/checkpoints-schema.md`), plus a copy in the assets directory.

## References

- Schema: `../automated-assessment/references/checkpoints-schema.md`
- Migration guide: `../automated-assessment/references/migration-guide.md`
- Existing checkpoints: `assets/*-checkpoints.yaml` (as examples)