aws-ami-builder

Build Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) with Packer using the amazon-ebs builder. Use when creating custom AMIs for EC2 instances.

1.23x

Quality

70%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

100%

1.23x

Average score across 3 eval scenarios

Securityby

Advisory

Suggest reviewing before use

Optimize this skill with Tessl

npx tessl skill review --optimize ./packer/builders/skills/aws-ami-builder/SKILL.md

Quality

Discovery

75%

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 well-structured with a clear 'what' and 'when' clause, and targets a distinct niche (Packer AMI building). However, it could benefit from listing more specific actions beyond just 'build' and including additional trigger terms that users might naturally use when requesting this type of work.

Suggestions

Add more specific actions such as 'create Packer templates, configure provisioners, validate and build AMIs' to improve specificity.

Include additional trigger terms like 'golden image', 'machine image', '.pkr.hcl', 'image pipeline', or 'bake AMI' to capture more natural user language variations.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Names the domain (AMIs with Packer) and one specific builder type (amazon-ebs), but doesn't list multiple concrete actions beyond 'build'. Could mention provisioning steps, validation, template creation, etc.	2 / 3
Completeness	Clearly answers both 'what' (build AMIs with Packer using amazon-ebs builder) and 'when' (Use when creating custom AMIs for EC2 instances) with an explicit trigger clause.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Includes good keywords like 'AMI', 'Packer', 'amazon-ebs', 'EC2', but misses common variations users might say such as 'machine image', 'HCL template', '.pkr.hcl', 'image pipeline', 'golden image', or 'bake AMI'.	2 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Very specific niche combining Packer + AMI + amazon-ebs builder. Unlikely to conflict with other skills given the narrow technology focus on Packer-based AMI creation.	3 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Implementation

64%

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

This is a solid, actionable skill with complete, executable Packer templates and useful AMI filter examples. Its main weaknesses are some redundancy (duplicated AMI filter blocks), a lack of explicit workflow sequencing with validation/error-recovery checkpoints for a costly multi-step process, and content that could benefit from being split into overview vs. detailed reference files.

Suggestions

Remove the duplicated Ubuntu 22.04 source_ami_filter block—keep it only in the basic template or only in the 'Common Source AMI Filters' section with a cross-reference.

Add an explicit numbered workflow with validation checkpoints (e.g., 1. packer init → 2. packer validate → check output → 3. packer build → verify AMI in console) and error recovery guidance for build failures.

Move the 'Common Source AMI Filters' and 'Multi-Region AMI' sections to a separate reference file and link from the main skill to reduce inline content length.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The content is mostly efficient but includes some redundancy—the Ubuntu 22.04 source_ami_filter is shown in full twice (once in the basic template and again in the 'Common Source AMI Filters' section). The authentication section explains standard AWS credential resolution which Claude already knows. The cost note is useful but borderline.	2 / 3
Actionability	The skill provides fully executable HCL templates and bash commands that are copy-paste ready. The basic template is complete and runnable, AMI filters are concrete with specific owner IDs, and build commands cover the full init/validate/build workflow.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	The build commands section lists init, validate, and build steps but doesn't enforce a clear sequence with validation checkpoints. There's no explicit feedback loop for handling validation failures or build errors, and for an operation that incurs AWS costs and takes 10-30 minutes, a clearer workflow with error recovery guidance would be expected.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	The content is reasonably structured with clear sections, but it's somewhat monolithic—the multi-region example, common AMI filters, and authentication details could be referenced as separate files. The external references at the bottom are good, but the inline content is heavy for a SKILL.md overview.	2 / 3
	Total	9 / 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: hashicorp/agent-skills
Commit: de4323a

Reviewed: 1 day ago

Table of Contents

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