This skill should be used when the user asks to "create an agent", "add an agent", "write a subagent", "agent frontmatter", "when to use description", "agent examples", "agent tools", "agent colors", "autonomous agent", or needs guidance on agent structure, system prompts, triggering conditions, or agent development best practices for Claude Code plugins.
62
53%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
—
No eval scenarios have been run
Passed
No known issues
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./plugins/plugin-dev/skills/agent-development/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
72%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 excels at trigger term coverage and distinctiveness, providing numerous natural phrases users would say when needing agent development help. However, it is heavily weighted toward 'when to use' at the expense of clearly describing 'what it does' — the concrete capabilities and outputs are underspecified. The description reads more like a trigger list than a balanced capability + trigger description.
Suggestions
Add explicit capability statements before the trigger list, e.g., 'Generates agent YAML frontmatter, configures system prompts, sets up tool permissions, and scaffolds agent file structure for Claude Code plugins.'
Restructure to lead with concrete actions (what it does) followed by a 'Use when...' clause, rather than starting with 'This skill should be used when...'
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | The description mentions some actions like creating agents, writing subagents, and guidance on agent structure/system prompts/triggering conditions, but it doesn't list concrete specific actions the skill performs (e.g., 'generates agent YAML frontmatter', 'configures tool permissions'). It's more focused on when to trigger than what it concretely does. | 2 / 3 |
Completeness | The 'when' is very well covered with explicit trigger phrases and conditions. However, the 'what does this do' is weak — it says 'guidance on agent structure, system prompts, triggering conditions, or agent development best practices' but doesn't clearly describe the concrete outputs or actions the skill performs. The what is implied rather than explicitly stated. | 2 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Excellent coverage of natural trigger terms users would say: 'create an agent', 'add an agent', 'write a subagent', 'agent frontmatter', 'agent tools', 'agent colors', 'autonomous agent'. These are realistic phrases users would naturally use when needing this skill. | 3 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | The description is clearly scoped to Claude Code plugin agent development, with very specific trigger terms like 'agent frontmatter', 'subagent', and 'Claude Code plugins'. This is a distinct niche unlikely to conflict with other skills. | 3 / 3 |
Total | 10 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
35%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This skill is comprehensive in coverage but severely undermined by verbosity and repetition — the same concepts (trigger scenarios, 'When to invoke' pattern, description format) are restated 4-5 times across sections. The content provides useful templates and structure but lacks fully worked, realistic examples that would make it truly actionable. The referenced bundle files don't exist, weakening the progressive disclosure strategy.
Suggestions
Cut content by ~50%: eliminate repeated guidance about trigger scenarios/description format (appears in Frontmatter Fields, Creating Agents, Quick Reference, Best Practices, and Implementation Workflow), and remove explanations of basic concepts Claude already knows.
Add one complete, realistic agent example (e.g., a code-reviewer agent with real system prompt, real trigger scenarios, real tool selection) instead of multiple template-level examples with placeholders.
Add a concrete validation feedback loop: show example validation output, common errors, and fix-then-revalidate steps rather than just naming the script.
Either provide the referenced bundle files (references/, examples/, scripts/) or move the most critical reference content inline and remove dead references.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | Extremely verbose at ~300+ lines. Explains many concepts Claude already knows (what second person is, what YAML frontmatter is, basic file organization). Extensive repetition — the description format, 'When to invoke' pattern, and trigger scenario guidance are repeated 5+ times across different sections. The DO/DON'T lists, validation rules, and best practices sections heavily overlap each other. | 1 / 3 |
Actionability | Provides concrete templates and format examples (frontmatter structure, system prompt template, minimal agent example), but much of the content is template-level with placeholders like '[condition]' and '[Step 1]' rather than fully worked real-world examples. The AI-assisted generation method returns JSON but the conversion step is hand-waved. No complete, realistic agent example is provided inline. | 2 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The Implementation Workflow section provides a 9-step sequence and mentions validation scripts, but validation is only referenced by name ('scripts/validate-agent.sh') without showing what validation output looks like or how to handle failures. No explicit feedback loop for fixing validation errors. Testing steps are listed but lack concrete commands or expected outputs. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | References to external files (references/, examples/, scripts/) are well-signaled with clear descriptions, which is good structure. However, no bundle files are provided, so all those references are dead links. The SKILL.md itself is monolithic — much of the inline content (validation rules, color guidelines, tool sets, system prompt templates) could be in referenced files, reducing the main file's bulk significantly. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 7 / 12 Passed |
Validation
90%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 | |
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Table of Contents
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