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mutation-testing

Finds weak or missing tests by analyzing if code changes would be caught. Use when verifying test effectiveness, strengthening test suites, or validating TDD workflows.

Quality

78%

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tessl review fix ./.agents/skills/mutation-testing/SKILL.md
SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

63%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.

The body delivers concrete, actionable mutation-testing guidance with a clear analysis workflow, but it is undermined by broken progressive disclosure (four referenced files do not exist in the bundle) and significant internal repetition across the Key Pattern, Strengthening, and Quick Reference sections. Tightening the repetition and shipping or removing the dangling references would materially improve it.

Suggestions

Create the four referenced bundle files (languages/javascript.md, languages/python.md, tools/stryker.md, tools/mutmut.md) or remove the links — currently all four references point to files that do not exist.

Consolidate the identity-value/boundary guidance that is repeated across the 'Key Pattern' examples, 'Strengthening Weak Tests', and 'Quick Reference' sections into a single authoritative section.

Merge the duplicated mutant-state categorization tables (Step 4 'Document Findings' and 'Mutant States') into one table, keeping the Timeout row from the latter.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The identity-value/boundary insight is repeated three times ("Key Pattern" blocks, "Strengthening Weak Tests", "Quick Reference") and the mutant-state categorization table appears twice (Step 4 "Document Findings" and "Mutant States"), so it could be tightened considerably. Not 2 because the core material is information-dense operator tables and patterns rather than padded prose explaining known concepts.

3 / 5

Actionability

Provides copy-paste-ready git diff commands ("git diff main...HEAD --name-only | grep -E '\.(ts|js|tsx|jsx)$'"), concrete operator mutation tables, explicit weak-vs-strong test comparisons, and a per-function checklist. Not 5 because the test examples are schematic rather than complete runnable files, and tool setup is delegated to files that are not in the bundle.

4 / 5

Workflow Clarity

The "Systematic Branch Analysis Process" gives a clear 4-step sequence (identify changed code → generate mental mutants → verify coverage via three explicit questions → document findings with a categorization table) plus a per-function checklist. Not 5 because there is no feedback/error-recovery loop after categorizing findings; not 3 because the verification questions in Step 3 and the checklists provide most checkpoints.

4 / 5

Progressive Disclosure

References are clearly signaled and one level deep ("See [languages/javascript.md](languages/javascript.md)", "See [tools/stryker.md](tools/stryker.md)"), but all four referenced files are absent from the bundle — navigation to the promised language-specific operators and tool guides is broken. Not 4 because dangling references mean the structure does not actually work; not 2 because the body itself is well-sectioned and the references are prominently signaled, not buried.

3 / 5

Total

14

/

20

Passed

Description

83%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 description with a clear what/when structure and concrete trigger phrases in third-person voice. Its main weaknesses are the omission of the skill's signature term "mutation testing" (the phrase a user is most likely to say) and actions stated at the outcome level rather than the technique level.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

Lists several concrete actions — "Finds weak or missing tests", "analyzing if code changes would be caught", "strengthening test suites" — but never names the core technique (mutation testing / mutants), leaving minor gaps in coverage. Not 3 because it goes beyond 1-2 actions; not 5 because the technique itself is unnamed and some phrases are outcome-level rather than concrete actions.

4 / 5

Completeness

Explicitly answers both: what it does ("Finds weak or missing tests by analyzing if code changes would be caught") and when to use it ("Use when verifying test effectiveness, strengthening test suites, or validating TDD workflows") with three concrete trigger phrases. Not 4 because the 'when' clause is already explicit and specific, matching the top anchor's structure.

5 / 5

Trigger Term Quality

Includes natural terms users would say — "tests", "test effectiveness", "test suites", "TDD" — matching good keyword coverage with a few natural terms missing. Not 5 because the primary user-facing terms "mutation testing", "coverage gaps", and tool names (Stryker, mutmut) are absent; not 3 because coverage extends beyond just "some relevant keywords".

4 / 5

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

Has a clear niche — assessing whether tests detect bugs — distinct from test-writing or code-review skills, with only minor overlap risk from phrases like "verifying test effectiveness". Not 5 because "strengthening test suites" could also trigger a generic test-authoring skill; not 3 because the detection-analysis framing is reasonably specific.

4 / 5

Total

17

/

20

Passed

Validation

93%

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

CriteriaDescriptionResult

relative_links

Relative link issues: 4 missing

Warning

Total

15

/

16

Passed

Repository

saski/arnesto

Path

.agents/skills/mutation-testing/SKILL.md

Reviewed

Table of Contents

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