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126-java-exception-handling

Use when you need to apply Java exception handling best practices — including using specific exception types, managing resources with try-with-resources, securing exception messages, preserving error context via exception chaining, validating inputs early with fail-fast principles, handling thread interruption correctly, documenting exceptions with @throws, enforcing logging policy, translating exceptions at API boundaries, managing retries and idempotency, enforcing timeouts, attaching suppressed exceptions, and propagating failures in async/reactive code. This should trigger for requests such as Exception handling; Use try-with-resources in Java code; Create exception chaining in Java code; Apply fail-fast validation in Java code; Review Java exception taxonomy and propagation. Part of Plinth Toolkit

68

Quality

85%

Does it follow best practices?

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SecuritybySnyk

Passed

No findings from the security scan

SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

71%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

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

The body is well-structured with a clear compile-apply-verify workflow and exemplary offloading of detail to a single one-level-deep reference file. Its main weaknesses are verbatim duplication of the description in two sections and the absence of an error-recovery loop for the final verification step.

Suggestions

Remove or collapse the 'What is covered in this Skill?' and 'When to use this skill' sections, which duplicate the frontmatter description nearly word-for-word.

Add a short recovery instruction after the verify step (e.g., 'If verification fails, fix the introduced issues and re-run') to close the feedback loop.

Make step 3 of the workflow slightly more concrete by naming the reference sections that map to each refactor target.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The 'What is covered in this Skill?' bullet list and the 'When to use this skill' section both repeat the frontmatter description almost verbatim, which is genuine duplication; however, nothing explains concepts Claude already knows, so it sits at the 'could be tightened' anchor rather than the 'noticeably verbose' one.

3 / 5

Actionability

Concrete commands are given ('Run ./mvnw compile or mvn compile', 'Run ./mvnw clean verify or mvn clean verify') plus a specific reference path to read, but step 3 ('Refactor to specific exceptions, safe resource handling, error translation, and consistent logging patterns') stays high-level, leaving minor gaps for an instruction-delegating skill.

4 / 5

Workflow Clarity

The four-step workflow has an explicit pre-change validation gate ('stop immediately if compilation fails') and a final full verification, but there is no recovery loop telling Claude what to do if 'mvn clean verify' fails after the changes, so it matches 'clear sequence with most checkpoints' rather than the feedback-loop anchor.

4 / 5

Progressive Disclosure

The body is a lean overview and all 2,500+ lines of detail live in references/126-java-exception-handling.md (verified to exist), which is one level deep, clearly signaled in both the Workflow and a dedicated Reference section, and itself contains no nested references.

5 / 5

Total

16

/

20

Passed

Description

92%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

A strong description: comprehensive, concrete coverage of the skill's practices with an explicit trigger list of natural Java phrases. Its only weakness is that the trigger list misses a few common synonyms users might say, such as 'error handling' or 'catch blocks'.

Suggestions

Add common trigger synonyms such as 'error handling in Java', 'catch blocks', or 'custom exceptions' to the trigger list to improve keyword coverage.

Consider trimming the long 'including...' clause slightly, since the body's coverage list duplicates it almost verbatim.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

The description enumerates over a dozen concrete actions ('using specific exception types, managing resources with try-with-resources, securing exception messages, preserving error context via exception chaining, validating inputs early with fail-fast principles...'), which matches the comprehensive-coverage anchor rather than the 'minor gaps' anchor below it.

5 / 5

Completeness

It explicitly answers 'what' (the enumerated practice list) and 'when' ('This should trigger for requests such as Exception handling; Use try-with-resources in Java code...'), matching the anchor for both present with concrete trigger phrases.

5 / 5

Trigger Term Quality

Trigger phrases like 'Exception handling; Use try-with-resources in Java code; Create exception chaining in Java code; Apply fail-fast validation in Java code' are natural Java requests, but common variations such as 'error handling', 'catch blocks', or 'custom exceptions' are missing, so it falls between the good and comprehensive anchors.

4 / 5

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

The niche is clear — Java exception handling with Java-specific triggers (try-with-resources, @throws, exception chaining, fail-fast) — and these triggers are unlikely to fire for unrelated skills, matching the minimal-conflict anchor.

5 / 5

Total

19

/

20

Passed

Validation

100%

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 16 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository

jabrena/plinth

Path

skills/126-java-exception-handling/SKILL.md

Revision

86b41dc

Reviewed

Table of Contents

DiscoveryImplementationValidation

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