sequence-alignment

Perform sequence alignment via NCBI BLAST API supporting blastn, blastp, blastx, tblastn, and tblastx against major biological databases.

Quality

70%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

Pending

No eval scenarios have been run

Securityby

Advisory

Suggest reviewing before use

Optimize this skill with Tessl

npx tessl skill review --optimize ./scientific-skills/Data analysis/sequence-alignment/SKILL.md

Quality

Discovery

67%

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 technically precise description that clearly identifies the bioinformatics domain and specific BLAST capabilities. However, it lacks explicit trigger guidance ('Use when...') and could benefit from more natural user-facing keywords beyond technical jargon. The description is strong on specificity and distinctiveness but needs improvement in completeness and trigger term coverage.

Suggestions

Add a 'Use when...' clause with explicit triggers like 'Use when the user needs to compare DNA/protein sequences, find homologs, or search biological databases'

Include more natural language trigger terms users might say: 'protein search', 'DNA comparison', 'find similar sequences', 'homology search', 'sequence similarity'

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists specific concrete actions: 'sequence alignment' and explicitly names five BLAST program types (blastn, blastp, blastx, tblastn, tblastx) plus mentions 'major biological databases' as targets.	3 / 3
Completeness	Clearly answers 'what' (perform sequence alignment via BLAST API with specific programs), but lacks an explicit 'Use when...' clause to indicate when Claude should select this skill.	2 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Includes good technical terms like 'BLAST', 'NCBI', 'sequence alignment', and program names, but misses common user variations like 'protein search', 'nucleotide search', 'homology search', 'DNA sequence', or 'find similar sequences'.	2 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Highly distinctive with specific domain (bioinformatics), tool (NCBI BLAST API), and program types - unlikely to conflict with other skills due to its specialized niche.	3 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Implementation

72%

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

This skill provides strong actionable guidance with executable examples and clear parameter documentation. However, it suffers from verbosity in meta-sections (Output Requirements, Response Template, Risk Assessment) that describe general agent behaviors rather than BLAST-specific instructions. The workflow could benefit from explicit validation steps for API interactions.

Suggestions

Remove or significantly condense the 'Output Requirements', 'Response Template', and 'Risk Assessment' sections as they describe general Claude behaviors rather than skill-specific guidance

Add explicit validation steps to the workflow, such as checking API response status codes and verifying result XML structure before parsing

Consider moving the detailed parameter table and BLAST program reference to a separate reference file to keep the main skill leaner

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The skill includes useful content but has significant verbosity in sections like 'Output Requirements' and 'Response Template' that describe general Claude behaviors rather than skill-specific guidance. The risk assessment table and security notes add bulk without actionable value for this specific task.	2 / 3
Actionability	Provides fully executable command-line examples with clear parameter tables. The usage example is copy-paste ready, and the BLAST program reference table gives concrete guidance on which program to use for each scenario.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	The workflow section lists steps but lacks explicit validation checkpoints. For an API-dependent operation, there's no guidance on verifying successful submission, checking job status, or validating returned results before processing. The fallback template is good but validation gaps remain.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	Well-organized with clear sections, appropriate use of tables for reference material, and properly signaled external references to BLAST documentation and NCBI API guide. Content is appropriately structured for a skill of this complexity.	3 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Validation

90%

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 — 10 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	10 / 11 Passed

Repository: aipoch/medical-research-skills
Commit: ca9aaa4

Reviewed: 16 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.