Conciseness

Roughly 130 words cover a 7-step procedure with zero padding and no explanation of concepts Claude already knows; the single rationale clause ('a fix that only works outside production isn't a fix') is 10 words and earns its place. Fits the lean 5 anchor, not the 4 anchor's 'minor instances of over-explanation'.

Actionability

Steps are concrete and specific — 'apply on a copy first, check counts and checksums', 'rehearse reverting to the previous build in staging' — but lack executable mechanisms: no command or method for recording the deployed fingerprint or reading effective config. Fits 'mostly executable guidance with minor gaps' (4) rather than copy-paste-ready 5; per the instruction-only scoring note, the absence of code is not itself penalized.

Workflow Clarity

A clear 1-7 sequence with explicit validation checkpoints (confirm fingerprint matches head, counts/checksums on a migration copy, rollback rehearsal confirming app works and data stays readable, post-deploy config read), a named failure path ('BLOCKED with the risk named'), and an Exit criteria checklist. The destructive-operation cap of 3 does not apply because validation is explicit throughout; this matches the 5 anchor (checklist + validation + error path), exceeding the 4 anchor's 'most checkpoints'.

Progressive Disclosure

At ~19 lines with no bundle files and no need for external references, the body is well organized into '## Procedure' and '## Exit criteria' with the one external pointer (counterpart tester skill) clearly signaled. Per the rubric's guideline for short skills, this scores 5 on well-organized sections alone.

Specificity

Lists several concrete capabilities — 'migrations applied safely', 'a rehearsed rollback', 'matching fingerprints', 'never deploy to production without approval' — though some are compressed jargon rather than the fully itemized action coverage of the 5 anchor. Not 3, since well more than 1-2 concrete actions are named.

Completeness

Explicitly answers both 'what' (deploy with matching fingerprints, production config, safe migrations, rehearsed rollback) and 'when' with a concrete trigger clause: 'Use when a fix needs deploying for verification or release.' This matches the 5 anchor exactly; the when-clause is explicit and specific, so it is not the 4 anchor's 'could be more explicit'.

Trigger Term Quality

Natural terms users would say are present: 'deploy', 'verification', 'release', 'rollback', 'migrations', 'production'. A few natural variants are missing (e.g., 'ship', 'staging', 'promote'), so it fits the good-coverage-4 anchor rather than the synonym-complete 5 anchor, and clearly exceeds the sparse 3 anchor.

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

The niche is fairly distinct — verification-target deploys, fingerprint matching, rollback rehearsal — but a closely related generic deploy/release skill could still trigger on overlapping terms ('deploy', 'release'). Fits 'mostly distinct; minor overlap risk with closely related skills' rather than the minimal-conflict 5 anchor.