Conciseness

Largely efficient: it assumes Claude's competence (no explanation of what subagents or web research are) and the depth tables and dispatch example earn their tokens. However, the 'Purpose' bullet list substantially duplicates the 'When to Use' section, and the 'Context Compaction' section restates the rationale already given in step 6 — more than minor trimming opportunities, but not the padding of anchor 3.

Actionability

Fully executable guidance throughout: concrete tool calls ('Task tool calls with run_in_background: true', 'TaskOutput block: false', 'AskUserQuestion', '/clear', '/draft'), a literal example dispatch block for a realistic feature, exact artifact path pattern 'docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-{topic}-research.md', and named subagent types. Specific examples cover the common cases; nothing remains pseudocode.

Workflow Clarity

Six clearly sequenced steps with explicit checkpoints: step 3 defines thin-result handling ('note the gap — do NOT dispatch a follow-up agent'), step 5 is marked REQUIRED and contains a feedback loop ('If the user requests edits → update the artifact in place... Repeat until the user approves'), and step 6 mandates stopping with clear prohibitions. Not destructive/batch work, so no validation cap applies.

Progressive Disclosure

The body is a proper overview with both detailed materials externalized one level deep via clearly signaled links: 'see [agent prompts](references/agent-prompts.md) for full templates' and 'Use the [research artifact template](references/template.md)' — both verified to exist and contain exactly the promised content. No monolithic inline content that belongs in a separate file.

Specificity

Multiple concrete actions in third-person voice: 'Explore a codebase', 'research external patterns', 'Spawns parallel subagents for codebase investigation and web research', 'synthesizes findings into a compact artifact (~200 lines)'. Coverage is comprehensive across the skill's behavior. Not a 4 because no meaningful action gaps remain; not below 5 since all key capabilities are explicitly named.

Completeness

Explicitly answers both questions: 'what' is the subagent orchestration and artifact synthesis, and 'when' via a concrete 'Use when starting a non-trivial feature, investigating unfamiliar code, or evaluating libraries and architectural approaches' clause. Matches the anchor-5 example structure exactly; anchor 4 would require a weaker or less specific 'when'.

Trigger Term Quality

Good natural phrases users would say: 'starting a non-trivial feature', 'investigating unfamiliar code', 'evaluating libraries and architectural approaches'. Missing common synonyms such as 'research', 'spike', 'explore before planning', or mentions of planning artifacts that users might naturally use. Fits anchor 4 (good coverage, a few natural terms missing) rather than 5 (comprehensive synonyms/extensions) or 3 (missing common variations).

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

The research-before-planning framing with a dated artifact is a distinct niche, but 'Explore a codebase' and 'investigating unfamiliar code' overlap with the built-in Explore agent and generic code-investigation skills. Mostly distinct with minor overlap risk against closely related skills — anchor 4, not 5 (overlap exists) and not 3 (the multi-phase workflow and artifact output are clearly differentiated).