spike

Build small throwaway prototypes to validate feasibility, compare approaches, measure risks, and report an evidence-based verdict.

Quality

75%

Does it follow best practices?

Run evals on this skill

Adds up to 20 points to the overall score

View guide

Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Fix and improve this skill with Tessl

tessl review fix ./packages/ekko-agent/skills/spike/SKILL.md

Quality

Content

86%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

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

The body is a model of lean, well-structured instruction with concrete workspace guidance and a copy-ready verdict template. The only gap is the absence of an explicit error-recovery feedback loop, which is not critical for non-destructive spike work.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The ~37-line body is lean and efficient with no padding or explanation of concepts Claude already knows; every line (loop, workspace rules, verdict template) earns its place.	5 / 5
Actionability	Provides concrete guidance — specific workspace paths ('.tmp/spikes/<slug>', 'spikes/<NNN-slug>/'), concrete artifact types (CLI, HTML page, one endpoint, test), and a fill-in verdict template — though the loop steps remain somewhat abstract rather than fully executable.	4 / 5
Workflow Clarity	The five-step Loop is clearly sequenced with an edge-case checkpoint (step 4) and an outcome verdict (step 5), but there is no explicit validate-fix-retry feedback loop; acceptable since spikes are not destructive or batch operations.	4 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	The skill is under 50 lines with no need for external references and is well-organized into clearly signaled sections (Loop, Workspace, Verdict), satisfying the simple-skill exception for a top score.	5 / 5
	Total	18 / 20 Passed

Description

63%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

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 is specific and action-rich but lacks an explicit 'Use when' trigger clause, capping completeness and trigger-term quality. It is concise and clearly distinguishes the spike niche.

Suggestions

Add an explicit 'Use when the user says "spike this", "quick prototype", or "is this possible"' clause to the description to lift completeness and trigger-term coverage.

Include the natural term 'spike' and synonyms like 'quick prototype' directly in the description so the frontmatter alone surfaces the triggers.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple concrete actions — 'validate feasibility, compare approaches, measure risks, and report an evidence-based verdict' — giving comprehensive coverage of what the skill does.	5 / 5
Completeness	The 'what' is clear and concrete, but there is no 'Use when...' clause or equivalent explicit trigger guidance in the description, which per the judging guidelines caps completeness at 3.	3 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Contains relevant natural keywords ('throwaway prototypes', 'compare approaches', 'feasibility') but misses common user variations such as 'spike', 'quick prototype', or 'is this possible' that appear only in the body.	3 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	The throwaway-prototype / feasibility-spike niche is mostly distinct with minor overlap risk against general build or prototyping skills; the absence of explicit triggers keeps it just below a 5.	4 / 5
	Total	15 / 20 Passed

Validation

87%

Warnings & errors only

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

Validation — 14 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
metadata_version	'metadata.version' is missing	Warning
metadata_field	'metadata' should map string keys to string values	Warning

	Total	14 / 16 Passed

Repository: EKKOLearnAI/hermes-studio
Path: packages/ekko-agent/skills/spike/SKILL.md
Commit: 07ccb17

Reviewed: 5 days ago

Table of Contents

Discovery Implementation Validation

Is this your skill?

If you maintain this skill, you can claim it as your own. Once claimed, you can manage eval scenarios, bundle related skills, attach documentation or rules, and ensure cross-agent compatibility.