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

100%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.

The body is a tight, highly actionable reference: concrete code, a severity decision tree, code-range tables, and an explicit checklist with validation. References are one level deep and clearly signaled, and the WarnAsError/ChangeWave gating reflects real-world feedback loops.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	Lean and efficient: assumes Claude's competence, delivers rules, code, and a decision tree with no padding or explanation of concepts Claude already knows.	5 / 5
Actionability	Provides copy-paste-ready resource XML, C# logging calls, concrete code-range tables, and a clear assignment process covering the common cases.	5 / 5
Workflow Clarity	Clear sequenced assignment process with explicit validation (search the repo to confirm the code is unused) and a final checklist with a 'test verifies the error is produced' feedback checkpoint.	5 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	Well-organized sections with one-level-deep, clearly signaled references (assigning-msb-error-code.md, Localization.md, changewaves skill) and a summary checklist; no bundle files exist so structure is appropriate.	5 / 5
	Total	20 / 20 Passed

Description

92%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.

The description is specific, third-person, and explicitly pairs a clear 'what' with a concrete 'when' clause listing natural trigger conditions. It is one of the stronger descriptions, narrowly missing full trigger-term marks only for lacking a couple of enumerated synonyms.

Suggestions

Add a few raw user-facing synonyms (e.g., 'MSBuild error codes', 'build warnings') to widen natural trigger coverage.

Consider naming the file extension or artifact (e.g., '.resx') alongside 'Strings.resx' to catch extension-based lookups.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple concrete actions — adding MSBxxxx codes, writing diagnostic text, deciding severity, working with Strings.resx, formatting paths, evaluating WarnAsError impact — giving comprehensive coverage.	5 / 5
Completeness	Explicitly answers both 'what' ('Guides authoring of MSBuild errors, warnings, and diagnostic messages') and 'when' ('Consult when adding new MSBxxxx codes...') with concrete trigger phrases.	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Strong, natural 'Consult when...' phrasing with relevant MSBuild-specific triggers, though a few user-said synonyms (e.g., raw 'error code', 'warning') are implicit rather than enumerated.	4 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Clear MSBuild diagnostic-authoring niche with distinctive triggers (MSBxxxx codes, Strings.resx, WarnAsError) that minimize overlap with other skills.	5 / 5
	Total	19 / 20 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: b75ae9e

Reviewed: 1 day ago

Table of Contents

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