Conciseness

Three lean paragraphs (~13 lines) covering no-op guard, procedure, and conflict resolution with zero padding — no concept Claude already knows is explained, and every sentence instructs. Matches the 'lean and efficient; assumes Claude's competence; every token earns its place' anchor; nothing to trim.

Actionability

The guidance is fully executable for an instruction-only skill: it gives the exact tree layout ('`<topic>/<rule-name>.md`'), concrete actions (browse the tree, read a rule's file, meet every governing rule), the re-browse trigger, and a concrete conflict procedure referencing real rule fields ('Not-when and Cross-ref') with an explicit precedence rule (correctness/debuggability outranks style). Per the scoring notes, absence of code is not penalized when guidance is this actionable.

Workflow Clarity

This is a simple single-purpose skill under 50 lines, and the single action is unambiguous: a guard branch ('If the repo has no `.claude/sound/` directory... do nothing'), a pre-write browse, a re-browse checkpoint when work reaches an unplanned surface, and a conflict-resolution path. Not a destructive or batch operation, so no validation feedback loop is required; the re-browse trigger serves as the checkpoint. The simple-skill exception applies cleanly.

Progressive Disclosure

The skill is under 50 lines with no need for external references — the rule files live in the repo being edited, not in the skill bundle, so the `<topic>/<rule-name>.md` layout is itself the disclosure mechanism. Per the judging guidelines, a sub-50-line skill with no need for external references scores 5 with well-organized sections, which this has.

Specificity

The description names the domain ('sound taste rules', 'a `.claude/sound/` directory') and two concrete usage actions ('before writing or editing code', 'again when the work reaches a surface it was not planned to touch'), but it never states what the skill actually does — the browse-tree/read-rules/apply-rules behavior is only implied. Not 4 because there is no list of several specific capability actions; not 2 because the actions given are concrete and precisely conditioned.

Completeness

The 'when' is explicit and specific ('Use in a repo that has sound taste rules installed (a `.claude/sound/` directory), before writing or editing code — at the start of a coding task, and again when the work reaches a surface it was not planned to touch'), satisfying the 'Use when...' requirement. The 'what' is only implied (consult the repo's taste rules) rather than stated. Not 5 because it lacks an explicit statement of what the skill does; not 3 because the 'when' is explicit and concrete, not weakly implied.

Trigger Term Quality

Some relevant natural keywords are present ('writing or editing code', 'coding task', the `.claude/sound/` path), but coverage lacks common variations and synonyms a user might say — 'taste', 'style rules', 'conventions', 'standards', 'sound rules'. Matches the 'some relevant keywords but missing common variations or synonyms' anchor; not 4 because there are noticeable natural-term gaps beyond the single directory path.

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

The trigger is gated on a highly specific condition — the presence of a `.claude/sound/` directory — which creates a clear niche with minimal conflict risk against other skills. Re-checked against the score-4 anchor ('minor overlap risk with closely related skills'): the directory gate is essentially unique to this skill's ecosystem, so no meaningful overlap remains.