Conciseness

Three sentences, zero padding, no explanation of concepts Claude already knows — every phrase ('do not treat the denial as final', the exact paths, endpoints, timeout, and the `policy_reloaded: true` flag) carries operational information. This matches anchor 5: lean, assumes competence, every token earns its place.

Actionability

Concrete, specific guidance: exact file path ('/etc/openshell/skills/policy_advisor.md'), exact endpoints ('http://policy.local/v1/policy/current', 'http://policy.local/v1/proposals', '/v1/proposals/{chunk_id}/wait?timeout=300'), and an exact retry flag ('policy_reloaded: true'). Not a 5 because the request mechanics are unspecified — no HTTP method, no proposal body format, and no statement of where `chunk_id` comes from (presumably the submit response or the referenced advisor doc).

Workflow Clarity

The sequence is unambiguous and correctly ordered: read the advisor doc → inspect current policy → submit narrowest proposal → wait on the proposal → 'retry only after approval'. The approval gate is an explicit checkpoint, but it's a single happy path with no feedback loop for rejection, timeout expiry, or re-denial after retry, so anchor 4 ('clear sequence with most checkpoints present; minor validation gaps') fits better than anchor 5.

Progressive Disclosure

The skill is under 50 lines, single-purpose, has no bundle directories to organize, and its one reference ('/etc/openshell/skills/policy_advisor.md') is clearly signaled and exactly one level deep. Per the simple-skill scoring note, a short, well-organized body with no external-reference needs earns a 5.

Specificity

The description names the domain ('OpenShell sandbox') and trigger conditions ('returns policy_denied', 'mentions policy.local', 'needs a narrow network policy proposal') but states no concrete capability actions — what the skill actually does is only implied by the word 'proposal'. It sits between anchor 2 (domain named, actions minimal) and anchor 4 (several specific actions listed), but closer to 3: domain plus an implied single action, not a list of concrete actions.

Completeness

The 'when' is explicit and concrete ('Use when an OpenShell sandbox returns policy_denied...'), but the 'what' is only weakly implied — the skill's actual capabilities (reading the policy, drafting and submitting a proposal, waiting for approval, retrying) never appear. This mirrors anchor 3's shape (one half clear, the other missing/weak) rather than anchor 4, which requires both present.

Trigger Term Quality

Natural trigger terms are well covered: the exact error string 'policy_denied', the hostname 'policy.local', and 'network policy proposal' are the phrases a user or transcript would actually contain in this niche. Not a 5 because common user-side variations like 'request blocked', 'network denied', or 'allowlist/whitelist' are absent.

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

The OpenShell/policy_denied/policy.local niche is highly distinct with trigger phrases that would not plausibly fire any other skill, matching anchor 5's 'clear niche with distinct triggers; minimal conflict risk'.