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code-explainer

Explains code snippets in plain English, breaking down what the code does step by step. Perfect for learning, code reviews, or documentation.

59

Quality

67%

Does it follow best practices?

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SecuritybySnyk

Passed

No findings from the security scan

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tessl review fix ./skills/code-explainer/SKILL.md
SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

85%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.

The content is well-structured, actionable, and concise for a simple single-purpose skill, with executable examples and a clear output format. Minor over-explanation of basic programming concepts and the small example set are the only things keeping conciseness and actionability from a perfect score.

Suggestions

Trim explanations of concepts Claude already knows (e.g., defining recursion and base case) to tighten conciseness toward a score-5.

Drop redundant Behavior Guidelines that restate the skill's purpose ('Always be educational and helpful', 'Keep explanations concise but complete').

Add one or two non-Python examples (e.g., JavaScript, SQL) to broaden actionability across 'all common programming languages' as claimed.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The body is mostly lean with executable examples and a clear output format, but includes minor over-explanation of concepts Claude already knows (recursion, base case) and redundant Behavior Guidelines ('Always be educational and helpful'). It is more efficient than the score-3 anchor but not fully stripped to the score-5 ideal.

4 / 5

Actionability

Two complete, executable Python examples with concrete step-by-step output and a structured output format give mostly executable guidance. It falls short of score-5 only because coverage of common cases is limited to two Python examples rather than a broad set.

4 / 5

Workflow Clarity

This is a simple single-purpose skill (under 50 lines, one task) with an unambiguous four-step instruction list and an explicit output format, so the simple-skill exception applies and workflow clarity is fully clear. There are no destructive or batch operations that would require validation checkpoints.

5 / 5

Progressive Disclosure

The skill is under 50 lines with no need for external references, and content is well-organized into clearly headed sections (Instructions, Output Format, Examples, Behavior Guidelines). The simple-skill exception allows a score of 5 with just well-organized sections and no bundle files are present or needed.

5 / 5

Total

18

/

20

Passed

Description

50%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.

The description is clear and reasonably specific about a single task, but it lacks an explicit 'Use when...' trigger clause and comprehensive trigger-term coverage, which the rubric caps at 3 for completeness. It is competent but not optimized for discoverability or distinctiveness.

Suggestions

Add an explicit trigger clause, e.g. 'Use when a user asks to explain, walk through, or understand a code snippet.'

Expand trigger terms to include natural phrasings users say: 'explain this code', 'what does this do', 'walk me through this function'.

Sharpen distinctiveness by scoping to explanation/teaching specifically (not editing or writing code), reducing overlap with general coding skills.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

Names the domain (code snippets) and one concrete action ('Explains... breaking down what the code does step by step'), but does not enumerate multiple distinct actions. It is clearly more concrete than the vague score-2 anchor yet lacks the comprehensive action list of score-4/5.

3 / 5

Completeness

It gives a clear 'what' (explains code step by step) but only a weakly implied 'when' via 'Perfect for...', with no explicit 'Use when...' clause. The rubric caps completeness at 3 when explicit trigger guidance is absent.

3 / 5

Trigger Term Quality

'learning, code reviews, or documentation' are natural user-facing phrases, but common invocation synonyms ('explain this code', 'what does this do') are missing. Coverage is relevant but incomplete, fitting the score-3 anchor better than score-4.

3 / 5

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

Code explanation is a recognizable niche but overlaps broadly with general coding, review, and documentation skills, so conflict risk remains. It is more specific than the generic score-2 anchor but not the distinct, trigger-tight fit of score-4/5.

3 / 5

Total

12

/

20

Passed

Validation

100%

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation16 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository
microsoft/waza
Reviewed

Table of Contents

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