tools-only Audit Calibration — Known False-Positive Patterns
Load before running the 7-dimension structural audit. Each entry describes a rule that is correct in principle but frequently misapplied to look-alike situations that should not trigger the rule.
D2 / allowed-tools absent
allowed-tools absent entirely means unrestricted by default — this is NOT a violation
at any severity. The field is an optional restriction mechanism, not a required declaration.
Only flag when a skill has an existing allowed-tools list that omits a tool the skill
actively uses — a partial restriction creates the problem; absent restriction does not.
Flag this: Skill has allowed-tools: [Read, Write] but calls AskUserQuestion
→ major violation (restricted list is incomplete).
Do not flag this: Skill has no allowed-tools field but calls AskUserQuestion
→ no violation; the tool is available by default.
D5 / Orientation content vs routing guidance
Flag as a routing-guidance violation only when the body contains a "When to Use This Skill" section or explicit language telling the user when to trigger the skill. Content that explains domain concepts needed during execution — so the skill can make accurate decisions — is functional orientation, not routing guidance.
Rate functional orientation as verbosity (minor) only if it exceeds 4–5 lines without adding decision value that the skill body requires.
Flag this: Body has ## When to Use This Skill — use this when you want to create a new skill → major violation (routing guidance in always-loaded body, never read by the
routing decision).
Do not flag this: Body has Agents vs Skills — know the difference before generating: Agents run in isolated context, Skills inject inline → functional orientation that helps
the skill produce accurate output; not routing guidance.
D4 / Task/Skill invocation prose
Natural language inside a fenced block describing how to call Claude's own tools is the
idiomatic skill instruction format — Use Task tool with subagent_type=X: "..." is how
skills correctly instruct Claude. Do not flag this as a vague script reference.
Only flag D4 prose as a violation when it refers to user-facing scripts or deterministic CLI operations (validate.py, init.sh, etc.) without specifying which file, the trigger condition, and the exact invocation command.
Flag this: Body says "run the validation script if needed" with no path, trigger, or invocation → major violation (deterministic script reference is vague).
Do not flag this: Body has a code block:
Use Task tool with subagent_type=claude-code-guide: "List current frontmatter options"
→ idiomatic instruction to Claude to use a built-in tool; not a script reference.
D2 / context: fork for interactive skills
Do not flag context: fork absent as major for skills that have interactive elements:
AskUserQuestion calls, "Proceed?" confirmation prompts, or interview phases in Phase 1.
These depend on conversation thread continuity — a forked skill cannot surface interactive
prompts back to the user.
Only recommend context: fork when the skill is non-interactive AND produces substantial
output that would pollute the main context (e.g., a batch analysis skill that generates a
large report with no mid-workflow user decisions).
Flag this: Skill is a read-only research tool with no user interactions that returns a 200-line formatted report → major gap (context: fork would keep main thread clean).
Do not flag this: Skill has "Before writing: Proceed? [y/n]" prompts in Phase 3 → fork would break the confirmation flow; omitting context: fork is correct here.