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shweshi/istio-upgrade-skill

Use when the user asks about upgrading Istio, checking Istio version compatibility, planning an Istio migration, performing pre-upgrade checks, preparing for a version bump, or creating an Istio upgrade plan. Checks CRD compatibility and storage version changes, validates sidecar proxy version skew against control-plane skew limits, reviews EnvoyFilter deprecated xDS API usage and Wasm ABI compatibility, analyzes east-west gateway upgrade ordering in multi-cluster environments, assesses federation controller compatibility and trust bundle exchange, identifies breaking changes across all intermediate Istio releases, and produces a scored upgrade readiness assessment with a go/no-go recommendation and rollback strategy.

84

1.18x
Quality

97%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

96%

1.18x

Average score across 1 eval scenario

SecuritybySnyk

Advisory

Suggest reviewing before use

Overview
Quality
Evals
Security
Files

Quality

Content

92%

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

This is a high-quality, production-grade skill that provides a comprehensive Istio upgrade assessment workflow. Its strengths are exceptional actionability with concrete commands at every step, clear severity classification rules, and a well-sequenced multi-step workflow with validation checkpoints and rollback procedures. The only weakness is that the six referenced bundle files are not provided, making it impossible to verify the progressive disclosure structure is complete.

Suggestions

Provide the referenced bundle files (references/PROXY_COMPATIBILITY.md, references/CRD_ANALYSIS.md, etc.) so the progressive disclosure structure is complete and verifiable.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The skill is lean and efficient throughout. It assumes Claude's competence with Istio, Kubernetes, and shell commands without explaining what they are. Every section delivers actionable commands and classification rules without padding. The severity format and output template are compact and purposeful.

3 / 3

Actionability

Every step includes concrete, copy-paste-ready bash commands for gathering cluster state. Classification rules are specific (e.g., 'skew >= N+2 -> HIGH RISK; skew > N+3 -> CRITICAL'). The output template is fully structured. The upgrade order and rollback procedure are explicit step-by-step instructions.

3 / 3

Workflow Clarity

The 10-step analysis workflow is clearly sequenced with explicit validation checkpoints (e.g., Step 3 proxy-status, Step 9 istioctl analyze). The canary upgrade order includes validation gates between steps (validate new istiod, validate federation, validate traffic before proceeding). Rollback procedure is explicit with a clear feedback loop. The severity classification system provides decision gates (CRITICAL = blocked).

3 / 3

Progressive Disclosure

The skill references six separate files in a `references/` directory (PROXY_COMPATIBILITY.md, CRD_ANALYSIS.md, ENVOYFILTER_ANALYSIS.md, etc.) with clear one-level-deep navigation and well-signaled links. However, no bundle files were provided, so we cannot verify these references actually exist or contain appropriate content. The main SKILL.md itself is well-structured as an overview, but the missing bundle files prevent a score of 3.

2 / 3

Total

11

/

12

Passed

Description

100%

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

This is an excellent skill description that thoroughly covers both what the skill does and when it should be used. It provides highly specific, concrete actions in the Istio upgrade domain with rich natural trigger terms. The description is well-structured with the 'Use when' clause leading, followed by detailed capability enumeration, making it easy for Claude to select appropriately.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

The description lists numerous specific concrete actions: checking CRD compatibility, validating sidecar proxy version skew, reviewing EnvoyFilter deprecated xDS API usage, analyzing east-west gateway upgrade ordering, assessing federation controller compatibility, identifying breaking changes, and producing a scored upgrade readiness assessment with go/no-go recommendation and rollback strategy.

3 / 3

Completeness

The description clearly answers both 'what' (checks CRD compatibility, validates version skew, reviews EnvoyFilter usage, analyzes gateway ordering, produces readiness assessment, etc.) and 'when' with an explicit 'Use when...' clause listing six specific trigger scenarios.

3 / 3

Trigger Term Quality

Excellent coverage of natural trigger terms users would say: 'upgrading Istio', 'Istio version compatibility', 'Istio migration', 'pre-upgrade checks', 'version bump', 'Istio upgrade plan'. These are terms a user would naturally use when seeking help with Istio upgrades.

3 / 3

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

Highly distinctive with a very clear niche: Istio upgrade planning and readiness assessment. The specificity of terms like 'Istio', 'CRD compatibility', 'sidecar proxy version skew', 'EnvoyFilter', 'xDS API', and 'east-west gateway' make it extremely unlikely to conflict with other skills.

3 / 3

Total

12

/

12

Passed

Validation

100%

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation11 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Reviewed

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