cross-repo-release-preflight

Fail fast when a release workflow depends on credentials or access to a second repository.

Quality

41%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

Pending

No eval scenarios have been run

Securityby

Passed

No known issues

Optimize this skill with Tessl

npx tessl skill review --optimize ./.squad/skills/cross-repo-release-preflight/SKILL.md

Quality

Discovery

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 identifies a narrow, specific scenario (failing fast when release workflows depend on external credentials or repository access) but lacks a 'Use when...' clause, limiting Claude's ability to know when to select it. It also underutilizes natural trigger terms that users would commonly use when encountering this type of problem.

Suggestions

Add an explicit 'Use when...' clause, e.g., 'Use when a CI/CD pipeline, GitHub Actions workflow, or release process fails due to missing credentials, tokens, or cross-repository access.'

Include more natural trigger terms users might say, such as 'CI/CD', 'GitHub Actions', 'deploy', 'access token', 'permissions error', 'cross-repo dependency'.

Expand the 'what' portion to list additional concrete actions beyond 'fail fast', such as 'validates credential availability, checks repository access permissions, and surfaces clear error messages before the workflow proceeds.'

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	The description names a specific domain (release workflows) and a concrete action ('fail fast'), but it only describes one narrow behavior rather than listing multiple concrete actions or capabilities.	2 / 3
Completeness	The description answers 'what' (fail fast on credential/access dependencies) but completely lacks a 'Use when...' clause or any explicit trigger guidance for when Claude should select this skill. Per the rubric, a missing 'Use when...' clause caps completeness at 2, and the 'what' itself is also quite narrow, so this scores a 1.	1 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Includes some relevant terms like 'release workflow', 'credentials', and 'second repository', but misses common user variations such as 'CI/CD', 'deploy', 'access token', 'permissions', 'cross-repo', or 'GitHub Actions'. Users may not naturally phrase their request using these exact terms.	2 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	The description is fairly niche (release workflows + credentials + second repository), which reduces conflict risk, but the lack of explicit triggers and the somewhat vague 'fail fast' phrasing could cause confusion with other CI/CD or validation-related skills.	2 / 3
	Total	7 / 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.

This skill provides a solid conceptual framework for cross-repo release credential validation with good pattern/anti-pattern structure and real-world examples. However, it lacks executable code (no YAML workflow snippets, no shell commands) which significantly limits actionability, and the workflow sequence is implicit rather than explicitly ordered with validation checkpoints. The content would benefit greatly from at least one concrete, copy-paste-ready GitHub Actions job definition showing the preflight pattern.

Suggestions

Add a concrete, executable GitHub Actions YAML snippet showing a preflight job that validates a secret exists and tests repo reachability (e.g., using `gh api` or `git ls-remote`).

Restructure the Patterns section into a numbered workflow sequence with explicit validation checkpoints and error recovery steps, rather than an unordered bullet list.

Include a minimal example of the version guard logic (e.g., a shell script snippet that compares manifest version against the tag input and exits on mismatch).

Add a link or reference to a template workflow file for the `workflow_dispatch` replay path so users can adapt it directly.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The content is reasonably efficient and doesn't over-explain basic concepts, but some bullet points are somewhat verbose and could be tightened. Phrases like 'Add a dedicated preflight job before the first cross-repo checkout' are clear but a few points repeat similar ideas with slight variation.	2 / 3
Actionability	The skill provides specific patterns and anti-patterns with concrete examples referencing real workflow files and repos, but lacks any executable code snippets—no YAML workflow examples, no shell commands for secret validation, no copy-paste ready GitHub Actions job definitions. The guidance is directional rather than executable.	2 / 3
Workflow Clarity	The patterns section implicitly describes a sequence (preflight → validate secret → validate reachability → sync gate → publish), but it's presented as an unordered bullet list rather than a clear numbered workflow. Validation checkpoints are mentioned (secret exists, repo reachable, version guards) but not sequenced into an explicit feedback loop with error recovery steps.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	The content is well-organized into Context, Patterns, Examples, and Anti-Patterns sections, which is good structure. However, it references external files like `publish-plugins.yml` and `docs/RELEASE-STRATEGY.md` as examples without linking to them or providing templates, and the content could benefit from pointing to a detailed reference for the actual workflow YAML implementation.	2 / 3
	Total	8 / 12 Passed

Validation

90%

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 — 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

Repository: sbroenne/mcp-server-excel
Commit: 468809e

Reviewed: 2 days ago

Table of Contents

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