authoring-errors-and-warnings

Guides authoring of MSBuild errors, warnings, and diagnostic messages. Consult when adding new MSBxxxx codes, writing or modifying user-facing diagnostic text, deciding between error/warning/message severity, working with Strings.resx resource files, formatting paths in error output, or evaluating whether a new warning could break WarnAsError builds.

Quality

96%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Quality

Content

92%

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

The body is an excellent, concise, actionable reference with clear sequenced workflows and validation checkpoints, scoring top marks on conciseness, actionability, and workflow clarity. Progressive disclosure is slightly limited because the skill relies on external repository documentation rather than bundled reference files alongside SKILL.md.

Suggestions

Add a bundled references/ file (e.g. references/error-code-ranges.md) for the code-range table and assignment detail so the skill is self-contained at one level of depth rather than relying on external ../../../documentation paths.

Verify the external links (../../../documentation/assigning-msb-error-code.md, ../changewaves/SKILL.md) resolve from the skill's install location, since broken out-of-bundle references reduce reliability.

Consider moving the BAD/GOOD error-message examples into a short references file if the SKILL.md grows, to keep the overview lean while preserving the worked examples.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	Lean and efficient throughout: it opens with one framing line, then immediately delivers rules, decision frameworks, code tables, and checklists without padding or explaining concepts Claude already knows. Every section earns its place.	3 / 3
Actionability	Provides fully executable, copy-paste-ready guidance: concrete XML/C# code samples (Log.LogErrorWithCodeFromResources, ThrowInvalidProjectFile), a code-range table, a numbered assignment process, and a final checklist — all specific and ready to apply.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	Multi-step processes are clearly sequenced with explicit validation checkpoints: the error-code assignment process is numbered, the severity decision framework is a decision tree, and the final checklist enforces verification ('Test verifies the error is produced', 'Full build run to generate .xlf files').	3 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	Content is well-organized into sections and points to external docs (assigning-msb-error-code.md, Localization.md, changewaves skill), but no bundle files exist in references/scripts/assets and the external links point outside the skill with no in-bundle detail files, so it is not a complete one-level-deep in-bundle reference structure.	2 / 3
	Total	11 / 12 Passed

Description

100%

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 strong, well-scoped description with explicit 'what' and 'when' guidance, concrete actions, natural trigger terms, and a distinct MSBuild-specific niche. It fully satisfies the top anchor for every dimension.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists many concrete actions — 'adding new MSBxxxx codes, writing or modifying user-facing diagnostic text, deciding between error/warning/message severity, working with Strings.resx resource files, formatting paths in error output' — matching the 'multiple specific concrete actions' anchor.	3 / 3
Completeness	Explicitly answers both what ('Guides authoring of MSBuild errors, warnings, and diagnostic messages') and when ('Consult when adding new MSBxxxx codes...') via an explicit trigger clause, satisfying the top anchor.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Covers natural terms users would say when needing this skill: 'errors', 'warnings', 'diagnostic messages', 'Strings.resx', 'WarnAsError builds', and 'MSBxxxx codes', giving good natural-keyword coverage.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	The MSBuild-specific niche (MSBxxxx codes, Strings.resx, WarnAsError) is highly distinct and unlikely to trigger for unrelated skills.	3 / 3
	Total	12 / 12 Passed

Validation

87%

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 — 14 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning
relative_links	Relative link issues: 4 suspicious	Warning

	Total	14 / 16 Passed

Repository: dotnet/msbuild
Path: .github/skills/authoring-errors-and-warnings/SKILL.md
Commit: c88db8e

Reviewed: 5 days ago

Table of Contents

Discovery Implementation Validation

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