rate-limit-middleware
Rate Limit Middleware - Auto-activating skill for Backend Development. Triggers on: rate limit middleware, rate limit middleware Part of the Backend Development skill category.
33
3%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
85%
1.08xAverage score across 3 eval scenarios
Passed
No known issues
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./planned-skills/generated/06-backend-dev/rate-limit-middleware/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
7%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 description is extremely thin and template-like, providing almost no useful information beyond the skill's name. It lacks concrete actions, meaningful trigger terms, and explicit guidance on when Claude should select this skill. The duplicate trigger term suggests auto-generated content with no human refinement.
Suggestions
Add specific concrete actions the skill performs, e.g., 'Implements rate limiting middleware with configurable request thresholds, sliding window algorithms, IP-based and token-based throttling, and custom 429 response handling.'
Add a 'Use when...' clause with natural trigger terms like 'rate limiting', 'throttling requests', 'API abuse prevention', 'too many requests', '429 status', 'request quotas', or 'DDoS protection'.
Remove the duplicate trigger term and expand with varied natural language phrases users would actually say, such as 'limit API calls', 'prevent request flooding', or 'add throttling to endpoints'.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | The description only names the concept 'Rate Limit Middleware' without describing any concrete actions. There are no specific capabilities listed such as 'configure request limits', 'set throttling rules', or 'implement token bucket algorithms'. | 1 / 3 |
Completeness | The description fails to answer 'what does this do' beyond naming the topic, and the 'when' guidance is limited to a redundant trigger phrase. There is no explicit 'Use when...' clause with meaningful trigger scenarios. | 1 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | The trigger terms are just 'rate limit middleware' repeated twice. Missing natural variations users would say like 'throttling', 'request limiting', 'API rate limiting', 'too many requests', '429 errors', or 'request throttle'. | 1 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | The term 'rate limit middleware' is somewhat specific to a particular backend concern, which provides some distinctiveness. However, the vague 'Backend Development' category and lack of specificity could cause overlap with general backend or middleware skills. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 5 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
0%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This skill is entirely a meta-description shell with no actual instructional content. It describes what it would do ('provides step-by-step guidance', 'generates production-ready code') without ever doing any of it. There is no actionable information about rate limiting algorithms, middleware implementations, code examples, or configuration patterns.
Suggestions
Add concrete, executable code examples for rate limit middleware in at least one language (e.g., Express.js middleware with token bucket or sliding window algorithm)
Include specific implementation patterns: token bucket, sliding window, fixed window—with trade-offs and when to use each
Add a clear workflow for implementing rate limiting: choose algorithm → configure limits → add middleware → test with load → monitor in production, with validation steps
Replace all meta-description sections ('When to Use', 'Capabilities', 'Example Triggers') with actual technical content—the skill should teach, not describe itself
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | The content is entirely filler and meta-description. It explains what the skill does ('provides automated assistance', 'activates automatically') without providing any actual technical content. Every section describes rather than instructs, wasting tokens on information Claude doesn't need. | 1 / 3 |
Actionability | There is zero concrete guidance—no code examples, no specific commands, no algorithms, no library recommendations, no configuration snippets. The skill describes itself rather than teaching Claude how to implement rate limit middleware. | 1 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | No workflow, steps, or process is defined. The skill mentions 'step-by-step guidance' as a capability but never actually provides any steps. There are no validation checkpoints or sequenced instructions. | 1 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The content is a flat, monolithic description with no references to detailed materials, no links to implementation guides, and no structured navigation to deeper content. The sections are all meta-information with no substantive content to organize. | 1 / 3 |
Total | 4 / 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
3076d78
- Reviewed
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