Design a PostgreSQL-specific schema. Covers best-practices, data types, indexing, constraints, performance patterns, and advanced features
65
48%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
92%
1.27xAverage 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/database-design/skills/postgresql/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
32%Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.
The description identifies its domain (PostgreSQL schema design) and lists relevant topic areas, but it reads more like a table of contents than an actionable skill description. It lacks a 'Use when...' clause, which is critical for skill selection, and the listed capabilities are categories rather than concrete actions. Adding explicit trigger guidance and more specific action verbs would significantly improve it.
Suggestions
Add an explicit 'Use when...' clause, e.g., 'Use when the user asks to design, review, or optimize a PostgreSQL database schema, or mentions Postgres tables, migrations, or database modeling.'
Replace category listings with concrete actions, e.g., 'Designs normalized table structures, selects appropriate PostgreSQL data types, defines indexes and constraints, and applies performance optimization patterns.'
Include common user-facing trigger terms and variations such as 'Postgres', 'database design', 'SQL schema', 'tables', 'migrations', 'foreign keys', and '.sql files'.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | It names the domain (PostgreSQL schema design) and lists several areas it covers (data types, indexing, constraints, performance patterns, advanced features), but these are categories rather than concrete actions. It doesn't list specific actions like 'create migration scripts' or 'normalize tables'. | 2 / 3 |
Completeness | It describes what the skill covers but completely lacks a 'Use when...' clause or any explicit trigger guidance for when Claude should select this skill. Per the rubric, a missing 'Use when...' clause caps completeness at 2, and since the 'what' is also somewhat vague (listing categories rather than actions), this scores a 1. | 1 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Includes relevant keywords like 'PostgreSQL', 'schema', 'indexing', 'constraints', 'data types', and 'performance patterns' which users might mention. However, it misses common variations like 'database design', 'tables', 'SQL', 'migrations', 'foreign keys', 'primary keys', or 'Postgres'. | 2 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | The 'PostgreSQL-specific' qualifier helps distinguish it from general database or SQL skills, but terms like 'schema', 'indexing', 'constraints', and 'performance patterns' could overlap with general database design skills or other SQL-related skills. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 7 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
64%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This is a comprehensive, highly actionable PostgreSQL schema design reference with strong concrete examples and opinionated best practices. Its main weaknesses are length (could benefit from splitting into focused sub-files for progressive disclosure) and some verbosity in areas where Claude already has baseline knowledge (basic type descriptions, standard constraint behavior). The 'gotchas' and 'do not use' sections are particularly valuable as they encode non-obvious, PostgreSQL-specific decisions.
Suggestions
Split the monolithic content into sub-files (e.g., JSONB.md, PARTITIONING.md, DATA_TYPES.md, INDEXING.md) with the main SKILL.md serving as a concise overview with links, reducing token cost when only a subset of topics is needed.
Trim explanations of concepts Claude already knows (e.g., what MVCC is, what TOAST does, basic constraint semantics) to just the actionable PostgreSQL-specific implications.
Add explicit validation/verification steps to the 'Safe Schema Evolution' section (e.g., 'verify row counts after migration', 'check for invalid indexes after CONCURRENTLY').
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | The skill is dense and information-rich, but includes some areas where Claude's existing knowledge is restated (e.g., explaining what TOAST is, basic constraint semantics, what MVCC does). The data types section is quite exhaustive and could be trimmed—Claude already knows most PostgreSQL type semantics. However, the 'gotchas' and 'do not use' sections add genuine value by encoding opinionated decisions. | 2 / 3 |
Actionability | The skill provides concrete, executable SQL examples throughout—CREATE TABLE statements, CREATE INDEX commands, specific syntax for partitioning, JSONB indexing, generated columns, and upsert patterns. The examples section at the end gives copy-paste-ready schemas. Guidance is specific (e.g., 'use BIGINT GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY', 'add FK indexes manually') rather than vague. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The skill is primarily a reference/best-practices guide rather than a multi-step workflow, but the 'Safe Schema Evolution' section describes a sequence without explicit validation checkpoints (e.g., no 'verify the migration succeeded' step). The 'Insert-Heavy Workloads' section lists steps like 'drop index, load data, recreate indexes' without validation between steps. For a design reference skill this is acceptable, but the destructive operations (schema evolution, bulk loads) would benefit from explicit verification steps. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The content is a long monolithic document (~250+ lines) with no references to external files for detailed subsections. Topics like JSONB guidance, partitioning, and extensions could be split into separate reference files. The document is well-organized with clear headers, but the sheer volume in a single file hurts discoverability and token efficiency when only a subset of topics is relevant. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 9 / 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.
99da384
Table of Contents
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