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arena

Spawn N parallel candidates at the same task, pick a base, graft the strongest parts of the losers into it. Use for /arena, 'arena this', 'throw it in the arena', or when one attempt at a non-trivial artifact would lock in the wrong shape.

Quality

86%

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SecuritybySnyk

Passed

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SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

77%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.

A well-sequenced orchestration workflow with explicit validation, feedback loops, and failure handling, organized cleanly in a single short file. The main drag is token efficiency: the model-selection fallback logic in Phases A and C is convoluted run-on prose that could be compressed into a short decision table.

Suggestions

Rewrite the Phase A step 3 runner fallback chain as a compact decision table or ordered fallback list (configured entry -> family default -> closest valid slug -> drop seat) instead of nested run-on sentences.

Compress the Phase C judge-selection fallbacks similarly, keeping only the key rule (judge never from the parent's family) plus a short fallback order.

Add one minimal example of a Phase B spawn call (task + grounding path + output path + rationale request) to make the fan-out step copy-paste concrete.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The phase instructions are lean imperatives, but the runner and judge fallback chains ("If the Task tool rejects a configured entry, run that seat on its family's default... If dropped seats leave fewer than two runners, add runners until there are two...") are dense run-on conditional prose that could be a compact decision table — mostly efficient but clearly tighten-able.

3 / 5

Actionability

Concrete specifics abound: spawn all N in one message with run_in_background: true, per-candidate paths like /tmp/arena-<slug>/candidate-<n>/, exact model slugs, and a 3-6 criterion rubric. Minor gaps: no example spawn call or task-prompt template, and a few directives stay abstract ("pick the base a future maintainer can extend most easily").

4 / 5

Workflow Clarity

Phases A-F are explicitly sequenced with a per-phase todolist checkpoint up front, verification is a dedicated phase with feedback loops ("go back to Phase E", "Reframe and re-run"), and failure paths (dropouts, rejected judge slugs) are handled — matching the anchor for clear sequence, explicit validation, and error-recovery loops.

5 / 5

Progressive Disclosure

At roughly 43 lines with well-organized sections (Phase A-F, Outputs) and no bundle files, the skill qualifies for the simple-skill exception; its cross-references to other skills (poteto-mode, prove-it-works) are clearly signaled and one level deep.

5 / 5

Total

17

/

20

Passed

Description

87%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.

A strong description: concrete actions, explicit trigger phrases including colloquial invocations, and a clear when-to-use condition. Its only weakness is slight incompleteness in the action list (no mention of cross-judging or verification) and a few missing natural synonyms.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

"Spawn N parallel candidates at the same task, pick a base, graft the strongest parts of the losers into it" lists three concrete actions, but omits the cross-judging and verification steps, leaving minor gaps in coverage rather than the comprehensiveness of a 5.

4 / 5

Completeness

The what is explicit (spawn parallel candidates, pick a base, graft the strongest parts) and the when is an explicit "Use for..." clause with concrete trigger phrases and a situational condition, matching the anchor-5 pattern.

5 / 5

Trigger Term Quality

"Use for /arena, 'arena this', 'throw it in the arena'" plus the situational trigger "when one attempt at a non-trivial artifact would lock in the wrong shape" gives good natural-phrase coverage, though common synonyms like "compare attempts" or "run candidates" are absent.

4 / 5

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

The parallel-candidate/graft arena niche with distinct trigger phrases ("arena this", "throw it in the arena") is unlike any generic skill, so conflict risk is minimal.

5 / 5

Total

18

/

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

cursor/plugins

Path

pstack/skills/arena/SKILL.md

Reviewed

Table of Contents

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