reference-list-builder

Format professional references properly and prepare reference materials

Quality

30%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Fix and improve this skill with Tessl

tessl review fix ./skills/reference-list-builder/SKILL.md

Quality

Content

27%

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

This skill is significantly over-engineered for what is essentially a formatting and advisory task. The vast majority of content is general career coaching knowledge that Claude already possesses (reference hierarchy, common interview questions, etiquette around thanking references). The templates are the strongest element, but they're buried in excessive explanatory text that wastes context window tokens.

Suggestions

Cut the content by 60-70%: remove sections like 'Who Makes a Good Reference,' 'What Reference Checkers Ask,' and 'Handling Special Situations'—Claude already knows this career advice. Focus on the formatting templates and output structure.

Split into multiple files: move templates (briefing email, permission script, thank-you) into a TEMPLATES.md file and special situations into a separate reference, keeping SKILL.md as a concise overview with links.

Add a clear workflow for Claude: define a step-by-step process like '1. Ask user for role details → 2. Ask about available references → 3. Format list using template → 4. Generate briefing materials' with explicit decision points.

Add a validation step: include a checklist Claude should verify before presenting the final reference list (e.g., confirm all required fields are populated, at least one supervisor included, contact info format is consistent).

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	Extremely verbose at ~300+ lines. Much of the content is general career advice Claude already knows (what makes a good reference, common reference check questions, reference hierarchy). The skill explains obvious concepts like 'don't use people who barely know you' and 'thank your references.' This could be condensed to roughly 1/4 the length.	1 / 3
Actionability	Provides concrete templates (briefing email, permission script, formatted reference list) which are useful and copy-paste ready. However, much of the content is advisory rather than instructional—it describes strategy and tips rather than giving Claude executable steps for actually building a reference list from user input.	2 / 3
Workflow Clarity	There is a clear 3-step preparation process (Ask Permission → Brief References → Follow Up) and a timeline section. However, the overall workflow for Claude to follow when a user asks for help is not clearly sequenced—the skill reads more like a reference manual than a step-by-step process. No validation checkpoints exist for verifying completeness or accuracy of the output.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	Monolithic wall of text with no references to external files and no bundle structure. All content—strategy advice, templates, special situations, common questions, checklists—is crammed into a single file. The special situations, reference checker questions, and detailed templates could easily be split into separate referenced files.	1 / 3
	Total	6 / 12 Passed

Description

32%

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 too brief and vague to effectively guide skill selection. It identifies the domain of professional references but fails to list specific actions (e.g., creating reference lists, formatting contact details, generating reference sheets) and entirely omits a 'Use when...' clause that would help Claude know when to select this skill.

Suggestions

Add a 'Use when...' clause with trigger terms like 'reference list', 'job references', 'reference sheet', 'recommendation contacts', or 'reference page for job application'.

List specific concrete actions such as 'Creates formatted reference lists with contact details, prepares reference sheets for job applications, organizes professional and character references'.

Include file format or output context details to distinguish from other formatting skills, e.g., 'for job applications, interviews, or career documents'.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Names the domain ('professional references') and two actions ('format' and 'prepare reference materials'), but lacks concrete specifics about what formatting entails or what reference materials include.	2 / 3
Completeness	Provides a weak 'what' (format and prepare references) but completely lacks any 'when' clause or explicit trigger guidance. Per the rubric, a missing 'Use when...' clause caps completeness at 2, and the 'what' is also quite thin, warranting a 1.	1 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Includes 'professional references' and 'reference materials' which are relevant keywords, but misses common variations users might say like 'reference list', 'reference sheet', 'job references', 'recommendation contacts', or 'reference page'.	2 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	The term 'professional references' provides some specificity, but 'format' and 'prepare reference materials' are broad enough to potentially overlap with resume/CV formatting skills or general document formatting skills.	2 / 3
	Total	7 / 12 Passed

Validation

100%

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 — 11 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository: paramchoudhary/resumeskills
Path: skills/reference-list-builder/SKILL.md
Commit: 74ae19e

Reviewed: about 13 hours ago

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