ahrefs

Query Ahrefs SEO data via their MCP server — keyword research, site explorer, SERP analysis, competitor research, backlink analysis, and Brand Radar AI visibility. Use when researching keywords, analyzing competitors, checking backlinks, auditing sites, or any SEO data task. Triggers on 'keyword research', 'check backlinks', 'competitor analysis', 'ahrefs', 'search volume', 'keyword difficulty', 'domain rating', 'SERP analysis', 'SEO data', 'brand radar', or any request needing search engine optimization data.

Quality

81%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Quality

Content

72%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.

Highly actionable and token-efficient reference with excellent executable examples and tool tables. Its main gaps are the absence of validation/feedback loops in batch workflows and a monolithic single-file structure that would benefit from splitting the tool reference into a bundled file.

Suggestions

Add an explicit validate/retry checkpoint to batch workflows (e.g., call `doc` and check `apiUsageCosts` before proceeding past the first row of results).

Move the per-tool reference tables (Keywords Explorer, Site Explorer, etc.) into a `references/tools.md` and link from SKILL.md to enable progressive disclosure.

De-duplicate the overview-empty-results gotcha and the 'call doc first' instruction to tighten the body.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	Dense, table-and-code-driven content that assumes Claude knows MCP/JSON-RPC and avoids concept padding, but repeats a few items (the overview-empty-results gotcha appears twice; 'call doc first' stated three times), keeping it just below the lean-5 anchor.	4 / 5
Actionability	Copy-paste-ready curl and JSON-RPC blocks, tool tables with required params, and four concrete recipes (keyword research, competitor analysis, batch compare, budget check) fully cover the common cases.	5 / 5
Workflow Clarity	Recipes use numbered sequences, but there are no validation/feedback checkpoints (e.g., verify results before spending more units, retry on schema errors); because batch-analysis is a batch operation, the missing validation caps this at 3 per the rubric.	3 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	Well-sectioned, but at ~250 lines everything is inlined in SKILL.md with no bundle files and no external references; the large tool-category tables are content that could live in a separate reference file, and the skill exceeds the 50-line simple-skill exception.	3 / 5
	Total	15 / 20 Passed

Description

91%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, well-structured description that clearly states capabilities, provides explicit 'Use when' guidance, and enumerates natural trigger terms. Its only weak spot is the slightly over-broad 'any SEO data task' phrasing, which invites overlap with other SEO tools.

Suggestions

Narrow the catch-all 'or any SEO data task' to Ahrefs-specific scopes to reduce overlap with other SEO skills.

Lead capability areas with verbs (e.g., 'Research keywords, explore domains, analyze SERPs') to match the action-phrase form of the top specificity anchor.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists six concrete capability areas ('keyword research, site explorer, SERP analysis, competitor research, backlink analysis, and Brand Radar AI visibility') under the lead verb 'Query', giving broad coverage, though most are noun phrases rather than verb actions — a minor gap versus the 5 anchor.	4 / 5
Completeness	Explicitly answers both what ('Query Ahrefs SEO data via their MCP server — ...') and when ('Use when researching keywords... Triggers on [list]') with concrete trigger phrases, matching the top anchor.	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Comprehensive natural trigger coverage including both user phrases ('check backlinks', 'keyword research', 'competitor analysis') and product-specific terms ('ahrefs', 'domain rating', 'brand radar'), matching the comprehensive-synonyms anchor.	5 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Ahrefs branding and product-specific triggers ('ahrefs', 'Brand Radar') carve a clear niche, but 'any SEO data task' and the bare 'SEO data' trigger overlap with other SEO skills (Semrush, GSC), giving minor overlap risk rather than minimal.	4 / 5
	Total	18 / 20 Passed

Validation

93%

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 — 15 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

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

	Total	15 / 16 Passed

Repository: joelhooks/joelclaw
Path: skills/ahrefs/SKILL.md
Commit: 7094ced

Reviewed: 3 days ago

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