Name: create-environment
Rating: 68.8 (1 reviews)
Author: harness

create-environment

Generate Harness Environment YAML for deployment targets and create via MCP. Supports PreProduction and Production types with environment variables, manifest overrides, and multi-environment setup (dev, staging, prod). Use when asked to create an environment, set up staging, configure production, define deployment targets, or manage environment overrides. Trigger phrases: create environment, deployment environment, setup dev, setup staging, setup production, environment variables, environment overrides.

Quality

82%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

—

No eval scenarios have been run

Securityby

Passed

No known issues

Quality

Content

64%

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

This skill provides solid, actionable YAML templates and MCP tool usage for creating Harness environments. Its main weaknesses are the lack of validation/verification steps in the workflow (e.g., confirming creation succeeded via harness_list) and some mild verbosity in sections like Performance Notes and Examples that could be tightened. The core content is well-structured and immediately usable.

Suggestions

Add an explicit verification step after creation (e.g., 'Call harness_list to confirm the environment was created successfully') to close the feedback loop.

Remove or condense the 'Examples' section — the bullet points are vague and don't add actionable value beyond what the YAML examples already demonstrate.

Merge 'Performance Notes' and 'Troubleshooting' into a single concise 'Notes' section to reduce redundancy.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	Generally efficient but includes some unnecessary sections like 'Examples' with vague bullet points that don't add value, and 'Performance Notes' that partially restate obvious things. The multi-environment setup section is somewhat redundant given the main structure already shows the pattern.	2 / 3
Actionability	Provides complete, copy-paste ready YAML structures, concrete MCP tool calls with specific parameters, and covers all variable types (String, Number, Secret). The examples are fully formed and executable.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	The 4-step instruction sequence is clear, but there are no validation checkpoints — no step to verify the environment was created successfully, no feedback loop for handling errors beyond a brief troubleshooting note about DUPLICATE_IDENTIFIER. For a creation operation via MCP, a verify/list step after creation would strengthen the workflow.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	Content is reasonably well-structured with clear section headers, but everything is inline in a single file. The multi-environment setup and overrides content could be split into referenced files for a cleaner overview. However, given no bundle files exist, the inline approach is acceptable though slightly long.	2 / 3
	Total	9 / 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 skill description that clearly defines its scope (Harness Environment YAML generation), lists concrete capabilities, and provides explicit trigger guidance with both a 'Use when' clause and enumerated trigger phrases. The description is well-structured, uses third person voice, and is distinctive enough to avoid conflicts with other deployment or environment-related skills.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple specific concrete actions: 'Generate Harness Environment YAML', 'create via MCP', 'Supports PreProduction and Production types with environment variables, manifest overrides, and multi-environment setup (dev, staging, prod)'. These are detailed, concrete capabilities.	3 / 3
Completeness	Clearly answers both 'what' (generate Harness Environment YAML with support for PreProduction/Production types, env vars, manifest overrides, multi-environment setup) and 'when' (explicit 'Use when...' clause plus a dedicated 'Trigger phrases' section).	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Excellent coverage of natural trigger terms including 'create environment', 'deployment environment', 'setup dev', 'setup staging', 'setup production', 'environment variables', 'environment overrides'. These are terms users would naturally use when requesting this functionality.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Highly distinctive due to the specific mention of 'Harness Environment YAML', 'MCP', 'PreProduction and Production types', and 'manifest overrides'. This is clearly scoped to Harness CI/CD environment configuration and unlikely to conflict with generic environment or deployment skills.	3 / 3
	Total	12 / 12 Passed

Validation

100%

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 — 11 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository: harness/harness-ai
Commit: fc23d5d

Reviewed: 17 days ago

Table of Contents

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