managing-database-migrations
Process use when you need to work with database migrations. This skill provides schema migration management with comprehensive guidance and automation. Trigger with phrases like "create migration", "run migrations", or "manage schema versions".
85
83%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
Pending
No eval scenarios have been run
Passed
No known issues
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.
The description adequately covers when to use the skill with explicit trigger phrases and identifies the domain clearly. However, it lacks specificity in concrete actions—it says 'comprehensive guidance and automation' without detailing what specific migration operations it supports. The opening 'Process use when' is awkward phrasing that could be cleaner.
Suggestions
List specific concrete actions the skill performs, e.g., 'Creates migration files, runs pending migrations, rolls back changes, checks migration status, and resolves conflicts.'
Clean up the awkward opening 'Process use when you need to' to a more standard third-person form like 'Manages database migrations including...'
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | Names the domain (database migrations/schema migration management) and mentions 'guidance and automation' but doesn't list specific concrete actions like creating migration files, rolling back, checking status, or resolving conflicts. | 2 / 3 |
Completeness | Explicitly answers both 'what' (schema migration management with guidance and automation) and 'when' (trigger phrases like 'create migration', 'run migrations', 'manage schema versions'). The 'Use when' equivalent is clearly present. | 3 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Includes natural trigger phrases users would say: 'create migration', 'run migrations', 'manage schema versions', and 'database migrations'. These are terms users would naturally use when needing this skill. | 3 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | Database migrations is a clear, distinct niche. The trigger terms ('create migration', 'run migrations', 'manage schema versions') are specific enough to avoid conflicts with general database or code skills. | 3 / 3 |
Total | 11 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
77%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This is a comprehensive and highly actionable database migration skill with excellent workflow clarity, explicit validation steps, and concrete examples across multiple frameworks. Its main weakness is that it tries to cover too much in a single file—framework-specific details, large table strategies, and zero-downtime patterns could be progressively disclosed via separate files. Some explanatory text could also be trimmed to better respect Claude's existing knowledge.
Suggestions
Split framework-specific guidance (Flyway, Alembic, Prisma, Knex) into a separate FRAMEWORKS.md reference file to reduce the main skill's token footprint.
Move the zero-downtime migration pattern (step 7) and large table migration guidance (step 8) into an ADVANCED.md file, referenced from the main skill with clear signposting.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | The content is reasonably well-structured but includes some verbose explanations that Claude would already know (e.g., explaining what expand-contract pattern is, explaining what online DDL tools do). Several sections could be tightened—for instance, the error handling table and examples section, while useful, are somewhat wordy. | 2 / 3 |
Actionability | The skill provides concrete, executable commands throughout: specific CLI commands for each framework, actual SQL statements for migrations, specific tool names for large table operations, and detailed examples with real SQL syntax. The guidance is copy-paste ready across multiple frameworks. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The 10-step workflow is clearly sequenced with explicit validation checkpoints: step 1 captures baseline state, step 6 includes a full validation cycle (UP → test → DOWN → re-UP for idempotency), and step 7 outlines the expand-contract pattern with distinct phases. Error recovery is addressed in both the error handling table and the rollback design guidance. | 3 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The content is a single monolithic file with no references to external files for detailed topics. The error handling table, examples, and resources sections are well-organized internally, but topics like zero-downtime migrations, large table migrations, and framework-specific guidance could be split into separate referenced files to keep the main skill leaner. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 10 / 12 Passed |
Validation
81%Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.
Validation — 9 / 11 Passed
Validation for skill structure
| Criteria | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|
allowed_tools_field | 'allowed-tools' contains unusual tool name(s) | Warning |
frontmatter_unknown_keys | Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata | Warning |
Total | 9 / 11 Passed | |
- Commit
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- Reviewed
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