powertoys-verification

Verify PowerToys behavior end-to-end with the winapp CLI across two scenarios: (A) a module's release checklist against the installed build; (B) PR validation — derive each PR's checklist from its description + diff, then drive it against the installed build (a merged/shipped PR, or a whole release/hotfix set) or by building + sideloading the module when the PR isn't in the build yet (unmerged or not-yet-released). Drive each item via UIA invoke / Named Events / settings.json edits / clipboard / GPO / SendInput, and emit a structured PASS / FAIL / BLOCKED verdict per item with evidence (FAIL distinguishes product defects from stale/ambiguous checklist items). Use when asked to verify a module checklist, validate a PR, sign off a release/hotfix's PRs, or QA installed/sideloaded PowerToys bits. Combines generic winapp ui mechanics (references/winapp-ui-testing.md) with PT-specific recipes, per-scenario playbooks (references/scenarios/), and the helper .ps1 files shipped with this skill.

Quality

90%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Medium

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Quality

Content

88%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.

A well-structured, highly actionable skill body with a clear sequenced workflow, explicit validation/feedback loops, and mostly clean progressive disclosure into verified reference files. The main drag on conciseness is the volume of inlined reference-style material that could live in separate files.

Suggestions

Move the 13-item Critical pitfalls table and the module-specific quick-reference one-liners into dedicated reference files (e.g. references/pitfalls.md and references/modules/) and link to them, leaving SKILL.md as a tighter overview/engine.

Trim repeated scenario/restatement prose in the 'Invocation & placeholders' and 'What NOT to do' sections that re-covers ground from the 'When to use' and 'Required reads' sections.

The inline Pitfall #12 module-owned-files table is valuable but long; consider linking to a references/shell-extensions.md and keeping only the decision rule inline.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is dense and largely avoids explaining concepts Claude already knows (no 'what is UIA' preamble), but at ~330 lines it carries some sections (the 13-item pitfalls table, the module quick-reference one-liners) that could be trimmed or pushed to references; efficient with minor over-explanation.	4 / 5
Actionability	Provides copy-paste-ready PowerShell snippets, exact file paths, named helper functions, and an explicit A/B confirmation procedure covering the common drive cases end-to-end.	5 / 5
Workflow Clarity	A clear Step 0→7 sequence with explicit validation checkpoints (environment probes, foreground guards, try/finally state restore, ≥2 entry-paths before BLOCKED) and feedback loops (re-validate, retry alternate techniques) appropriate for a destructive/batch settings-mutating skill.	5 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	SKILL.md acts as the shared engine with well-signaled one-level-deep references (references/scenarios/, references/winapp-ui-testing.md, references/modules/<module>.md, references/pre-flight.md, references/reporting-format.md — all verified to exist), though some inlined reference-like content (pitfalls table, module one-liners) keeps it just short of a clean overview-only split.	4 / 5
	Total	18 / 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 dense, highly specific description that covers both what the skill does and when to use it with concrete natural trigger phrases and distinct, low-conflict triggers. Third-person voice is maintained throughout, with no over-claims.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple concrete actions — 'derive each PR's checklist from its description + diff', 'Drive each item via UIA invoke / Named Events / settings.json edits / clipboard / GPO / SendInput', 'emit a structured PASS / FAIL / BLOCKED verdict per item with evidence' — giving comprehensive coverage of what the skill does.	5 / 5
Completeness	Explicitly answers both what ('Verify PowerToys behavior end-to-end... emit a structured PASS / FAIL / BLOCKED verdict per item with evidence') and when ('Use when asked to verify a module checklist, validate a PR, sign off a release/hotfix's PRs, or QA installed/sideloaded PowerToys bits') with concrete trigger phrases.	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Natural trigger phrases are present ('verify a module checklist', 'validate a PR', 'sign off a release/hotfix's PRs', 'QA installed/sideloaded PowerToys bits') but a few natural synonyms a user might say (e.g. 'test PowerToys', 'regression check') are missing, so it sits just below comprehensive.	4 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Occupies a clear, narrow niche (PowerToys behavior verification via the winapp CLI across two named scenarios) with distinct triggers and minimal overlap with other skills.	5 / 5
	Total	19 / 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
referenced_paths_exist	Referenced path issues: 14 deeper-than-1-level	Warning

	Total	15 / 16 Passed

Repository: microsoft/PowerToys
Path: .github/skills/powertoys-verification/SKILL.md
Commit: b9c82a4

Reviewed: ~15 hours ago

Table of Contents

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