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vitess

Vitess best practices, query optimization, and connection troubleshooting for PlanetScale Vitess databases. Load when working with Vitess databases, sharding, VSchema configuration, keyspace management, or MySQL scaling issues.

85

1.16x
Quality

59%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

93%

1.16x

Average score across 8 eval scenarios

SecuritybySnyk

Passed

No known issues

Optimize this skill with Tessl

npx tessl skill review --optimize ./skills/vitess/SKILL.md
SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

29%

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

This skill reads more like a reference overview or README than an actionable skill. While it has excellent progressive disclosure with well-organized references to deeper materials, it critically lacks actionable guidance — no code examples, no connection snippets, no VSchema configuration examples, and no troubleshooting workflows. The content describes what Vitess can do rather than instructing Claude on how to do things with it.

Suggestions

Add concrete, executable examples: a VSchema JSON snippet for a common sharding pattern, a connection string example for PlanetScale, and a query optimization before/after example.

Add a troubleshooting workflow with clear steps: e.g., 'When a query is slow: 1. Run EXPLAIN on VTGate, 2. Check if query scatters across shards, 3. Add vindex column filter, 4. Verify single-shard routing.'

Add a quick-start section with a concrete VSchema configuration example showing how to shard a table, including the exact JSON and SQL commands needed.

Remove or condense the promotional PlanetScale paragraph and the Vitess origin story — Claude doesn't need to be sold on the product or told its history.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The content is mostly efficient but includes some unnecessary explanation. The opening paragraph explaining what Vitess is and its origin at YouTube is context Claude likely already knows. The PlanetScale promotional note with benchmarks link feels like padding. The key concepts table is useful but some entries (like VTGate) could be trimmed.

2 / 3

Actionability

The skill is almost entirely descriptive — it lists concepts, capabilities, and limitations but provides no concrete code, commands, connection strings, VSchema examples, or executable guidance. There are no copy-paste ready snippets for any of the tasks mentioned in the description (query optimization, connection troubleshooting, VSchema configuration).

1 / 3

Workflow Clarity

There are no workflows, step sequences, or validation checkpoints. For a skill covering sharding, VSchema configuration, and connection troubleshooting, there should be clear multi-step processes (e.g., how to configure sharding, how to troubleshoot connections, how to optimize queries). None are present.

1 / 3

Progressive Disclosure

The references table at the bottom provides clear, well-signaled one-level-deep references to specific topics (VSchema, Schema Changes, VReplication, Architecture, Query Serving) with descriptions of when to use each. The main file serves as an overview with appropriate pointers to detailed materials.

3 / 3

Total

7

/

12

Passed

Description

89%

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 solid skill description with excellent trigger terms and completeness, clearly targeting the Vitess/PlanetScale niche with explicit 'Load when' guidance. Its main weakness is that the capability descriptions are somewhat categorical ('best practices', 'query optimization') rather than listing specific concrete actions the skill enables.

Suggestions

Replace broad categories like 'best practices' and 'query optimization' with specific concrete actions, e.g., 'Configure VSchema routing rules, optimize cross-shard queries, debug connection pooling errors, set up keyspace sharding strategies'.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

Names the domain (Vitess/PlanetScale) and some action areas ('best practices', 'query optimization', 'connection troubleshooting'), but these are broad categories rather than multiple specific concrete actions like 'configure VSchema routing rules, optimize cross-shard queries, debug connection pooling errors'.

2 / 3

Completeness

Clearly answers both 'what' (best practices, query optimization, connection troubleshooting for PlanetScale Vitess databases) and 'when' with an explicit trigger clause ('Load when working with Vitess databases, sharding, VSchema configuration, keyspace management, or MySQL scaling issues').

3 / 3

Trigger Term Quality

Includes strong natural keywords users would actually say: 'Vitess', 'PlanetScale', 'sharding', 'VSchema', 'keyspace', 'MySQL scaling', 'query optimization', 'connection troubleshooting'. Good coverage of terms a developer working with this stack would use.

3 / 3

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

Highly distinctive with a clear niche targeting Vitess/PlanetScale specifically. The trigger terms like 'VSchema', 'keyspace management', and 'Vitess' are very specific and unlikely to conflict with general database or MySQL skills.

3 / 3

Total

11

/

12

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.

Validation11 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository
planetscale/database-skills
Reviewed

Table of Contents

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