actian
Actian integration. Manage data, records, and automate workflows. Use when the user wants to interact with Actian data.
58
67%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
—
No eval scenarios have been run
Advisory
Suggest reviewing before use
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./skills/actian/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
57%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 benefits from naming the specific platform (Actian) and including an explicit 'Use when' clause, but the capabilities listed are extremely vague and generic. It reads more like a tagline than a functional description, failing to convey what specific operations or integrations the skill actually supports.
Suggestions
Replace vague actions with specific concrete capabilities, e.g., 'Query Actian databases, insert/update records, execute stored procedures, and schedule ETL workflows.'
Add Actian-specific trigger terms and product names users might mention, such as 'Actian Vector', 'Actian Zen', 'Ingres', 'PSQL', or specific Actian API operations.
Expand the 'Use when' clause with more specific trigger scenarios, e.g., 'Use when the user mentions Actian, Ingres, Actian Vector, or needs to query/manage an Actian database.'
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | The actions listed ('manage data, records, and automate workflows') are extremely vague and generic. There are no concrete, specific actions like 'query tables', 'insert records', 'run ETL pipelines', etc. These phrases could apply to virtually any database or integration tool. | 1 / 3 |
Completeness | The description does answer both 'what' (manage data, records, automate workflows) and 'when' (Use when the user wants to interact with Actian data) with an explicit trigger clause. While the content is vague, the structural completeness requirement is met. | 3 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | The term 'Actian' is a specific and useful trigger keyword that users would naturally mention. However, beyond that, the terms 'data', 'records', and 'workflows' are overly generic and lack natural variations or specific Actian-related terms (e.g., 'Actian Vector', 'Actian Zen', 'Ingres', 'PSQL'). | 2 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | The 'Actian' brand name provides some distinctiveness, but 'manage data, records, and automate workflows' is so generic it could overlap with any database, CRM, or integration skill. The Actian-specific trigger helps but the rest of the description creates potential conflict with other data management skills. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 8 / 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 functional integration skill with strong actionability and clear workflow sequencing for the connection lifecycle. Its main weaknesses are some unnecessary introductory content, an unexplained overview section that adds no value, and a monolithic structure that could benefit from splitting detailed reference material into separate files. The CLI-driven approach with concrete commands makes it highly usable despite these issues.
Suggestions
Remove or flesh out the 'Actian Overview' bullet list (Data Source, Data Set, Integration Template, Integration Job) — currently it's unexplained and adds no actionable value.
Remove the introductory sentence explaining what Actian is, as Claude already knows this and it wastes tokens.
Consider extracting the proxy request flags table and connection state machine details into separate reference files to keep the main skill leaner.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | The content includes some unnecessary explanation (e.g., 'Actian is a database management and analytics platform. It's used by data engineers and analysts...') and the overview section with bullet points (Data Source, Data Set, Integration Template, Integration Job) is vague filler. However, most of the CLI commands and workflow steps are reasonably lean. | 2 / 3 |
Actionability | The skill provides concrete, copy-paste-ready CLI commands for every step: installation, authentication, connection setup, action discovery, action execution, and proxy requests. The flag reference table for proxy requests is specific and useful. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The multi-step connection workflow is clearly sequenced with explicit state checks (READY, BUILDING, CLIENT_ACTION_REQUIRED, error states) and feedback loops (poll until ready, handle client actions, then proceed). The progression from install → authenticate → connect → discover actions → run actions is well-structured with validation at each stage. | 3 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The content is a single monolithic file with no references to supporting documents, which is acceptable given no bundle files exist. However, the proxy request options table and the detailed connection state machine could be split into reference files for a cleaner overview. The Actian Overview section with unexplained bullet points adds confusion rather than structure. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 10 / 12 Passed |
Validation
90%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
- membranedev/application-skills
- Commit
f484c82
- Reviewed
Table of Contents
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