windows-builder

Build Windows images with Packer using WinRM communicator and PowerShell provisioners. Use when creating Windows AMIs, Azure images, or VMware templates.

1.47x

Quality

82%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

100%

1.47x

Average score across 3 eval scenarios

Securityby

Advisory

Suggest reviewing before use

Quality

Discovery

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-crafted skill description that concisely covers specific capabilities, includes natural trigger terms, and clearly delineates both what the skill does and when to use it. The technology-specific terms (Packer, WinRM, PowerShell, AMIs, Azure, VMware) make it highly distinctive and easy for Claude to match against user requests.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple specific concrete actions: 'Build Windows images with Packer', 'WinRM communicator', 'PowerShell provisioners', and specifies output types like 'Windows AMIs, Azure images, or VMware templates'.	3 / 3
Completeness	Clearly answers both what ('Build Windows images with Packer using WinRM communicator and PowerShell provisioners') and when ('Use when creating Windows AMIs, Azure images, or VMware templates') with an explicit 'Use when' clause.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Includes strong natural keywords users would say: 'Windows images', 'Packer', 'WinRM', 'PowerShell', 'AMIs', 'Azure images', 'VMware templates'. These cover the main terms someone working in this domain would use.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Highly distinctive niche combining Windows + Packer + WinRM + PowerShell provisioners. Unlikely to conflict with general infrastructure, Linux Packer builds, or other image-building skills due to the specific technology stack mentioned.	3 / 3
	Total	12 / 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 fully executable code examples covering multiple platforms and common scenarios. Its main weaknesses are the lack of explicit validation/verification steps for a process that's expensive and failure-prone, and the somewhat lengthy inline content that could benefit from better progressive disclosure. The troubleshooting section is practical and well-targeted.

Suggestions

Add an explicit build verification workflow: e.g., 'After build completes: 1. Verify image exists with `packer inspect`, 2. Check cloud console for orphaned resources, 3. Launch test instance from new image'

Consider moving the Azure example to a separate reference file and keeping only the AWS example inline, with a link like '**Azure**: See [AZURE-WINDOWS.md](AZURE-WINDOWS.md) for Azure-specific configuration'

Add a quick-start summary at the top showing the minimal viable Windows build (source + single provisioner + cleanup) before diving into platform-specific details

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The content is mostly efficient with concrete HCL examples, but includes some redundancy (e.g., full Azure example when the AWS example already demonstrates the pattern, inline comments that state the obvious like '# Install Chocolatey'). The cost/time warning is useful but some sections could be tightened.	2 / 3
Actionability	All code blocks are fully executable HCL and PowerShell — copy-paste ready with real resource types, specific AMI filters, concrete Chocolatey commands, and complete WinRM setup scripts. The troubleshooting section provides specific, actionable fixes.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	The build sections show a logical sequence (WinRM setup → provisioners → cleanup), but there's no explicit validation workflow. The note about failed builds leaving resources running is mentioned but no verification/cleanup validation step is provided. For a process that can fail expensively, missing a 'verify cleanup' checklist or feedback loop caps this at 2.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	The content has good section structure and external references at the bottom, but the full Azure and AWS examples inline make the document quite long. The Azure example could be referenced separately since it follows the same pattern as AWS. No clear quick-start vs. advanced split.	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

Discovery Implementation Validation

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