step-functions

AWS Step Functions workflow orchestration with state machines. Use when designing workflows, implementing error handling, configuring parallel execution, integrating with AWS services, or debugging executions.

1.02x

Quality

77%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

94%

1.02x

Average score across 3 eval scenarios

Securityby

Passed

No known issues

Optimize this skill with Tessl

npx tessl skill review --optimize ./skills/step-functions/SKILL.md

Quality

Discovery

89%

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 identifies its domain (AWS Step Functions) and provides explicit trigger guidance. The 'Use when...' clause covers multiple relevant scenarios. The main weakness is that the capability description could be more specific about concrete actions rather than general categories like 'implementing error handling'.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Names the domain (AWS Step Functions, state machines) and mentions some actions (designing workflows, implementing error handling, configuring parallel execution), but these are somewhat general categories rather than highly specific concrete actions like 'create state machine definitions' or 'parse execution history logs'.	2 / 3
Completeness	Clearly answers both what (AWS Step Functions workflow orchestration with state machines) and when (explicit 'Use when...' clause covering designing workflows, error handling, parallel execution, AWS integration, and debugging). The trigger guidance is explicit and comprehensive.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Good coverage of natural terms users would say: 'Step Functions', 'workflow', 'state machines', 'error handling', 'parallel execution', 'AWS services', 'debugging executions'. These are terms users would naturally use when seeking help with this technology.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Clear niche targeting AWS Step Functions specifically. The combination of 'Step Functions', 'state machines', and 'workflow orchestration' creates distinct triggers unlikely to conflict with general AWS skills or other workflow tools.	3 / 3
	Total	11 / 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 reference skill with excellent actionable code examples covering all major Step Functions patterns. The main weaknesses are verbosity (could trim introductory content Claude knows) and lack of explicit workflow guidance for the development cycle (create -> validate -> deploy -> debug). The content would benefit from splitting advanced patterns into separate files.

Suggestions

Remove the introductory paragraph explaining what Step Functions is - Claude already knows this

Add an explicit workflow section showing the development cycle: write definition -> validate with CLI -> create/update -> test execution -> debug with history

Split advanced patterns (Parallel, Map, Error Handling) into a separate PATTERNS.md file and link from main skill

Add a validation checkpoint before create-state-machine showing how to catch ASL errors early

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The skill is reasonably efficient but includes some unnecessary explanatory content like 'AWS Step Functions is a serverless orchestration service that lets you build and run workflows' which Claude already knows. The tables and structure are good, but some sections could be tighter.	2 / 3
Actionability	Excellent executable examples throughout - complete JSON state machine definitions, working boto3 code, and specific CLI commands. All code is copy-paste ready with realistic ARNs and parameters.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	While individual patterns are well-documented, there's no clear end-to-end workflow for creating and deploying a state machine with validation checkpoints. The troubleshooting section helps but lacks explicit 'validate before deploy' steps or feedback loops for iterative development.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	Good internal structure with table of contents and clear sections, but the document is quite long (300+ lines) with all content inline. Advanced patterns like error handling and parallel execution could be split into separate reference files with links from the main skill.	2 / 3
	Total	9 / 12 Passed

Validation

90%

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 — 10 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	10 / 11 Passed

Repository: itsmostafa/aws-agent-skills
Commit: 5df6da7

Reviewed: 18 days ago

Table of Contents

Discovery Implementation Validation

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