Analyze Microsoft Outlook PST and OST files for email forensic evidence including message content, headers, attachments, deleted items, and metadata using libpff, pst-utils, and forensic email analysis tools for legal investigations and incident response.
72
66%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
Pending
No eval scenarios have been run
Advisory
Suggest reviewing before use
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./skills/analyzing-outlook-pst-for-email-forensics/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
82%Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.
This is a strong, specific description that clearly identifies the domain (Outlook PST/OST forensic analysis), concrete capabilities (message content, headers, attachments, deleted items, metadata extraction), specific tools, and use cases. Its main weakness is the lack of an explicit 'Use when...' clause, which would help Claude know precisely when to select this skill. The description is well-written in third person and avoids vague language.
Suggestions
Add an explicit 'Use when...' clause, e.g., 'Use when the user needs to examine PST or OST files, investigate email communications for legal or security purposes, or recover deleted Outlook emails.'
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | Lists multiple specific concrete actions and artifacts: 'message content, headers, attachments, deleted items, and metadata' along with specific tools ('libpff, pst-utils, and forensic email analysis tools') and use cases ('legal investigations and incident response'). | 3 / 3 |
Completeness | The 'what' is very well covered (analyze PST/OST files for forensic evidence including specific data types). However, there is no explicit 'Use when...' clause or equivalent trigger guidance — the when is only implied through the mention of 'legal investigations and incident response'. Per rubric guidelines, missing explicit trigger guidance caps this at 2. | 2 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Excellent coverage of natural terms users would say: 'PST', 'OST', 'Outlook', 'email forensic', 'headers', 'attachments', 'deleted items', 'metadata', 'legal investigations', 'incident response'. These are terms a forensic analyst or investigator would naturally use. | 3 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | Highly distinctive niche: Microsoft Outlook PST/OST forensic analysis with specific tools (libpff, pst-utils). This is unlikely to conflict with general email skills, document analysis skills, or other forensic skills due to the very specific file formats and tooling mentioned. | 3 / 3 |
Total | 11 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
50%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
The skill provides genuinely actionable, executable code and commands for PST forensic analysis, which is its primary strength. However, it is significantly over-verbose: the overview explains concepts Claude already knows, the Python class could be much more concise, and the fabricated example output consumes substantial tokens without adding proportional value. The lack of an explicit forensic workflow with validation checkpoints (hash verification, chain of custody steps) is a notable gap for a forensics-focused skill.
Suggestions
Remove the explanatory overview paragraph about PST/OST file formats and MAPI—Claude already knows this. Replace with a 1-line purpose statement.
Add an explicit numbered forensic workflow with validation checkpoints: hash the PST before analysis, verify export completeness, validate chain of custody documentation.
Trim the Python class to essential methods or move the full implementation to a separate referenced file, keeping only a concise usage example in SKILL.md.
Significantly reduce the example output section—show one representative snippet (5-10 lines) rather than a full fabricated investigation narrative.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | The overview paragraph explains what PST/OST files are, MAPI, Unicode vs ANSI formats, and page sizes—all information Claude already knows. The 'When to Use' section is generic boilerplate. The Python class is extremely verbose (~120 lines) when a focused snippet would suffice. The example output section is massive and largely fabricated narrative rather than actionable guidance. | 1 / 3 |
Actionability | The skill provides fully executable code: concrete pffexport commands with flags, a complete Python class using pypff with proper imports and a main() entry point, and a clear email header reference table. The code is copy-paste ready and covers extraction, attachment saving, and report generation. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | While the skill shows individual tools and code, there's no explicit sequenced workflow tying the steps together (e.g., acquire → verify integrity → export → analyze → report). There are no validation checkpoints such as hash verification of the PST before analysis, or integrity checks after extraction—important for forensic work where chain of custody matters. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The content is largely monolithic—a massive Python class and lengthy example output are inline rather than referenced. The References section links to external resources but there's no internal file structure (e.g., separate files for the Python analyzer, header analysis guide, or example outputs). The email header table and file locations table are well-structured, but the overall document is too long for a SKILL.md overview. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 8 / 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 | |
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Table of Contents
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