prepare-release

Prepare a new release for the C# MCP SDK. Assesses Semantic Versioning level (PATCH/MINOR/MAJOR), bumps the version, runs ApiCompat and ApiDiff, reviews documentation, updates changelogs, drafts release notes, and creates a pull request with all release artifacts. Use when asked to prepare a release, start a release, create a release PR, or assess what the next release should be.

Quality

90%

Does it follow best practices?

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Adds up to 20 points to the overall score

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Securityby

Low

Low-risk findings worth noting

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 thorough, highly actionable release-preparation playbook with strong sequencing and validation feedback loops appropriate to its destructive/batch nature. The main gap is two cross-skill reference paths that are not present in the skill's own bundle.

Suggestions

Resolve or inline the cross-skill references (../shared-resources/release-branches.md, ../bump-version/references/semver-assessment.md) so the skill is self-contained, or note explicitly that they live in a sibling skill bundle.

The PR Description Template and Release Notes Template overlap substantially; consider consolidating the shared sections to reduce duplication and token cost.

The Edge Cases list is long and somewhat repetitive of guidance already embedded in the step bodies; pruning near-duplicates (e.g., baseline/suppression entries that restate Step 7) would tighten conciseness.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body largely assumes Claude's competence (no explanations of SemVer, PRs, or libraries) and earns most of its length by documenting a genuinely fragile batch operation, though a few passages of edge-case enumeration and template duplication could be tightened further.	4 / 5
Actionability	Concrete, executable commands appear throughout (git fetch, gh api, git merge-base --is-ancestor, dotnet pack, gh pr checks --watch, gh run view --log-failed) with complete syntax and placeholders, covering the common cases copy-paste ready.	5 / 5
Workflow Clarity	Steps 0-13 are clearly sequenced with explicit validation checkpoints and feedback loops — the Step 2 ancestry check, Step 7 ApiCompat validate-fix-revalidate cycle, and Step 13 CI monitor-to-completion with diagnosis on failure — exactly the pattern the top anchor describes for a destructive/batch operation.	5 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	Structure is well-organized with clearly signaled one-level-deep references to real bundle files (references/categorization.md, references/apicompat-apidiff.md, references/readme-content.md, references/readme-snippets.md), but two cross-skill references (../shared-resources/release-branches.md and ../bump-version/references/semver-assessment.md) do not resolve within this skill's bundle.	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 strong, specific description that enumerates concrete release-preparation actions and pairs them with explicit, natural trigger phrases. Third-person voice is used consistently with no first/second-person drift.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	The description lists multiple concrete actions — 'Assesses Semantic Versioning level (PATCH/MINOR/MAJOR), bumps the version, runs ApiCompat and ApiDiff, reviews documentation, updates changelogs, drafts release notes, and creates a pull request' — giving comprehensive coverage of the skill's capabilities.	5 / 5
Completeness	It explicitly answers both 'what' (the enumerated release actions) and 'when' via the explicit 'Use when ...' clause with concrete trigger phrases, matching the top anchor.	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Natural trigger phrases are present ('prepare a release, start a release, create a release PR, or assess what the next release should be') and would be said by users, but coverage stops short of broader synonyms; it does not quite reach the comprehensive-with-synonyms bar of a 5.	4 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	It is scoped to the C# MCP SDK release workflow with distinct triggers and is explicitly separated from the publish-release skill, giving it a clear niche with minimal conflict risk.	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
relative_links	Relative link issues: 6 suspicious	Warning

	Total	15 / 16 Passed

Repository: modelcontextprotocol/csharp-sdk
Path: .github/skills/prepare-release/SKILL.md
Commit: 609499b

Reviewed: 5 days ago

Table of Contents

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