A lightweight RFC process for solo developers working with AI agents. Prevents premature complexity by forcing problem-first thinking before jumping to solutions. Use when the user is considering introducing new tools, libraries, architectural patterns, or infrastructure. When they're weighing a significant technical decision. Triggers on phrases like "should I add X", "I'm thinking about introducing Y", "is this overkill", "do I need X", "is X worth it", "/rfc", or when the user is about to adopt a tool/pattern without first articulating the problem it solves.
Overall
score
90%
Does it follow best practices?
Validation for skill structure
Activation
90%This is a strong skill description with excellent trigger term coverage and completeness. It clearly defines when to use the skill with natural language triggers and specific scenarios. The main weakness is that the 'what' could be more concrete about the specific actions or outputs the skill produces beyond 'forcing problem-first thinking'.
Suggestions
Add 2-3 concrete actions the skill performs, such as 'generates RFC documents', 'evaluates trade-offs', or 'produces decision records' to improve specificity.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | Names the domain (RFC process for solo developers with AI agents) and describes the core action (prevents premature complexity, forces problem-first thinking), but doesn't list multiple concrete actions like 'create RFC document', 'evaluate trade-offs', or 'document decisions'. | 2 / 3 |
Completeness | Clearly answers both what (lightweight RFC process that prevents premature complexity via problem-first thinking) and when (explicit 'Use when' clause with specific scenarios and trigger phrases). The 'Triggers on phrases like...' section provides explicit guidance. | 3 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Excellent coverage of natural trigger phrases users would actually say: 'should I add X', 'I'm thinking about introducing Y', 'is this overkill', 'do I need X', 'is X worth it', '/rfc'. These are realistic, conversational phrases. | 3 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | Clear niche targeting technical decision-making for solo developers with AI agents. The specific trigger phrases ('is this overkill', 'do I need X', '/rfc') and focus on tool/library/architecture decisions make it unlikely to conflict with general coding or documentation skills. | 3 / 3 |
Total | 11 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
85%This is a well-crafted skill with excellent workflow clarity and actionability. The four-stage process is clearly defined with specific outputs and checkpoints. Minor verbosity in explanatory text could be trimmed, but overall the skill effectively teaches a structured decision-making process without over-explaining concepts Claude already understands.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | The content is mostly efficient but includes some unnecessary elaboration. Phrases like 'This is the core anti-premature-complexity mechanism' and explanatory sentences about why stages exist could be trimmed. The challenge questions are useful but slightly verbose. | 2 / 3 |
Actionability | Provides concrete, specific guidance at each stage with exact questions to ask, specific outputs to produce, clear file paths for saving documents, and references to a template. The workflow is immediately executable. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | Four stages are clearly sequenced with explicit goals for each stage. The instruction 'Do not skip stages. Each stage produces a specific output before moving on' establishes clear checkpoints. User confirmation is required before proceeding to documentation. | 3 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | Well-structured with clear sections for each stage. Appropriately references external template file (references/rfc-template.md) rather than inlining it. Content is organized for easy navigation without being monolithic. | 3 / 3 |
Total | 11 / 12 Passed |
Validation
100%Validation — 11 / 11 Passed
Validation for skill structure
No warnings or errors.
Install with Tessl CLI
npx tessl i nickrowlandocom/solo-rfcReviewed
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