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pdf-text-extraction-fallback

Extract text from PDFs using pdftotext when read_file returns binary data

55

Quality

69%

Does it follow best practices?

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SecuritybySnyk

Low

Low-risk findings worth noting

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tessl review fix ./benchmarks/gdpval/skills/pdf-text-extraction-fallback/SKILL.md
SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

61%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 well-structured and mostly actionable with executable commands, but it suffers from redundant code repetition and placeholder error handling that weakens the validation feedback loop. It is a competent simple-skill reference that would benefit from tightening.

Suggestions

Replace the 'pass' stub in Step 4 with a concrete feedback loop: detect 'pdftotext not found', install poppler-utils, then retry.

De-duplicate the pdftotext invocation—define the command once and reference it from the Example Workflow and Alternative sections.

Define or inline the 'looks_like_binary(content)' check so the Example Workflow is fully executable rather than relying on pseudocode.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

Mostly efficient with concrete code, but the pdftotext command is repeated across Step 3, Step 4, the Example Workflow, and the Alternative section, which could be consolidated.

3 / 5

Actionability

Provides copy-paste-ready shell commands and install instructions, with only a minor gap: the undefined 'looks_like_binary(content)' helper in the Example Workflow is pseudocode.

4 / 5

Workflow Clarity

A clear four-step sequence exists, but the error-handling step is a placeholder ('pass') with only comment-level hints about installing poppler-utils, leaving validation feedback loops implicit.

3 / 5

Progressive Disclosure

Well-organized with clear section headers (When to Use, Steps, Example Workflow, Installation Notes, Alternative, Best Practices) and appropriately self-contained for a simple skill, though it exceeds 50 lines.

4 / 5

Total

14

/

20

Passed

Description

62%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 clear and operationally specific, naming the tool, action, and a concrete trigger condition. It is strongest on completeness and distinctiveness but weaker on natural trigger-term coverage, leaning on technical jargon over user-facing phrasing.

Suggestions

Add a user-facing 'Use when...' clause with natural triggers (e.g., 'Use when a PDF returns garbled or binary content, or when the user asks to extract text from a PDF').

Include natural synonyms and the file extension, e.g. 'PDF files, PDFs, .pdf'.

Broaden the action list slightly (e.g. mention page-break preservation or output-to-file) to lift specificity beyond a single action.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

Names the domain (PDFs) and one concrete action (extract text) plus the specific tool (pdftotext), but coverage is limited to a single action rather than comprehensive.

3 / 5

Completeness

Explicitly states both what it does ('Extract text from PDFs using pdftotext') and when to use it ('when read_file returns binary data'), though the trigger is an operational condition rather than user-facing phrasing.

4 / 5

Trigger Term Quality

Contains natural terms ('Extract text from PDFs') but is dominated by technical jargon ('pdftotext', 'read_file', 'binary data') and lacks synonyms and the '.pdf' extension.

3 / 5

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

The fallback trigger (read_file returning binary data) carves a distinct niche, with only minor overlap risk against a general PDF-extraction skill.

4 / 5

Total

14

/

20

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 — 16 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository
HKUDS/OpenSpace
Reviewed

Table of Contents

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