Execute database migrations across ORMs and platforms with zero-downtime strategies, data transformation, and rollback procedures. Use when migrating databases, changing schemas, performing data transformations, or implementing zero-downtime deployment strategies.
80
71%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
92%
1.08xAverage score across 3 eval scenarios
Passed
No known issues
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./tests/ext_conformance/artifacts/agents-wshobson/framework-migration/skills/database-migration/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
92%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 a strong description that clearly articulates specific capabilities and includes an explicit 'Use when...' clause with relevant trigger terms. The main weakness is that its broad scope ('across ORMs and platforms') and some general terms like 'data transformations' could create overlap with other database or ETL-related skills. Overall, it follows best practices and would perform well in skill selection.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | Lists multiple specific concrete actions: 'Execute database migrations', 'zero-downtime strategies', 'data transformation', and 'rollback procedures'. Also mentions 'across ORMs and platforms' which adds specificity about scope. | 3 / 3 |
Completeness | Clearly answers both 'what' (execute database migrations with zero-downtime strategies, data transformation, rollback procedures across ORMs) and 'when' (explicit 'Use when...' clause covering migrating databases, changing schemas, performing data transformations, or implementing zero-downtime deployment strategies). | 3 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Includes strong natural keywords users would say: 'database migrations', 'schemas', 'data transformations', 'zero-downtime', 'rollback', 'ORMs', 'deployment strategies'. These cover common variations of how users would describe migration-related tasks. | 3 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | While 'database migrations' and 'zero-downtime' are fairly distinct, terms like 'data transformations' and 'changing schemas' could overlap with general database management or ETL-focused skills. The scope is broad ('across ORMs and platforms') which increases potential conflict with ORM-specific or platform-specific skills. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 11 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
50%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This skill provides comprehensive, executable database migration examples across multiple ORMs with good coverage of rollback and zero-downtime strategies. However, it is significantly too verbose — much of the content is repetitive boilerplate (three ORMs showing the same create-table pattern) and includes obvious best practices Claude already knows. The content would benefit greatly from being condensed into a focused overview with details pushed to the referenced files.
Suggestions
Reduce the ORM section to one primary example with brief syntax diffs for others, or move ORM-specific details to the referenced files (references/orm-switching.md) and keep only the pattern overview inline.
Remove the 'When to Use This Skill', 'Best Practices', and 'Common Pitfalls' sections — these contain generic advice Claude already knows (e.g., 'Test on staging first', 'Always backup before migration').
Add explicit validation checkpoints to multi-step workflows like the column rename and data transformation examples (e.g., 'Verify row counts match before dropping old column').
Consolidate the inline content to under 150 lines by leveraging the referenced files listed in Resources, making SKILL.md a true overview with navigation to detailed guides.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | The skill is extremely verbose at ~350+ lines, with significant redundancy. It shows three ORMs doing essentially the same thing (create users table), explains basic concepts Claude already knows, and includes boilerplate-heavy examples that could be condensed. The 'When to Use This Skill' section and 'Best Practices' list contain obvious advice like 'Test Migrations' and 'Backup First'. | 1 / 3 |
Actionability | The code examples are fully executable and copy-paste ready across Sequelize, TypeORM, and Prisma. Each migration includes concrete up/down functions with specific CLI commands for running and rolling back migrations. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The zero-downtime section outlines a clear 5-phase blue-green deployment strategy, and the checkpoint-based rollback includes verification. However, most multi-step processes lack explicit validation checkpoints — the renaming columns example has 3 steps but Steps 2 and 3 lack verification gates. The data transformation example processes records one-by-one with no batch validation or progress checking. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The Resources section references external files (orm-switching.md, schema-migration.md, etc.) which is good progressive disclosure, but the main body contains far too much inline content that should be split into those referenced files. The ORM-specific examples and cross-database migration details would be better as separate references, keeping the SKILL.md as a concise overview. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 8 / 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.
Validation — 11 / 11 Passed
Validation for skill structure
No warnings or errors.
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Table of Contents
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