database-schema-design
Database schema design for PostgreSQL/MySQL with normalization, relationships, constraints. Use for new databases, schema reviews, migrations, or encountering missing PKs/FKs, wrong data types, premature denormalization, EAV anti-pattern.
79
75%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
Pending
No eval scenarios have been run
Passed
No known issues
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./plugins/database-schema-design/skills/database-schema-design/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
100%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 strong skill description that clearly communicates both what the skill does and when it should be used. It uses third-person voice, includes specific technical trigger terms that developers would naturally use, and identifies concrete anti-patterns as triggers. The explicit 'Use for...' clause with detailed scenarios makes it highly actionable for skill selection.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | Lists multiple specific concrete actions: schema design, normalization, relationships, constraints, schema reviews, migrations. Also names specific anti-patterns like missing PKs/FKs, wrong data types, premature denormalization, and EAV anti-pattern. | 3 / 3 |
Completeness | Clearly answers both what ('Database schema design for PostgreSQL/MySQL with normalization, relationships, constraints') and when ('Use for new databases, schema reviews, migrations, or encountering missing PKs/FKs, wrong data types, premature denormalization, EAV anti-pattern'). | 3 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Excellent coverage of natural terms users would say: 'database', 'schema', 'PostgreSQL', 'MySQL', 'normalization', 'migrations', 'PKs', 'FKs', 'data types', 'EAV'. These are terms developers naturally use when seeking database design help. | 3 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | Clearly scoped to database schema design with specific database engines (PostgreSQL/MySQL) and specific concerns (normalization, constraints, anti-patterns). Unlikely to conflict with general coding skills or other data-related skills. | 3 / 3 |
Total | 12 / 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.
The skill provides excellent actionable SQL examples with concrete before/after patterns, making it highly useful for schema design tasks. However, it is severely bloated with redundant content — the same rules are restated across multiple sections (tables, error catalog, checklist, known issues), and substantial reference material is inlined that should live in the referenced files. The lack of a validation/verification workflow for schema changes is a notable gap.
Suggestions
Reduce redundancy by removing the 'Known Issues Prevention' numbered list and 'Critical Rules' tables, keeping only the 'Top 7 Critical Errors' with code examples as the authoritative source — or better yet, move the detailed errors to references/error-catalog.md and keep only 2-3 examples inline.
Move the PostgreSQL/MySQL type reference and normalization quick reference to their respective reference files (data-types-guide.md, normalization-guide.md) since these are already referenced — keep only a 3-line summary in SKILL.md.
Add a validation workflow step: after creating/modifying a schema, run specific queries to verify constraints are enforced (e.g., test INSERT with invalid data, check index existence with pg_indexes, verify foreign key relationships).
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | Extremely verbose at ~350+ lines. Massive redundancy: the 'Critical Rules' tables, 'Top 7 Critical Errors', 'Known Issues Prevention' checklist, and 'Complete Setup Checklist' all repeat the same information (e.g., 'index foreign keys' appears 5+ times). The normalization quick reference explains concepts Claude already knows. Much of this could be in reference files rather than the main SKILL.md. | 1 / 3 |
Actionability | Provides fully executable SQL code throughout with concrete before/after examples, specific data types, complete CREATE TABLE statements with constraints, indexes, and triggers. The production example is copy-paste ready and demonstrates real transformations. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The Quick Start provides a 3-step sequence and the Setup Checklist is thorough, but there's no validation/verification workflow for schema changes. No feedback loop for testing that a schema is correct after creation (e.g., running validation queries, checking constraint enforcement). For database operations that can be destructive, this caps the score at 2. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | References to external files (templates/, references/) are well-signaled with clear 'When to Load References' section, which is good. However, the SKILL.md itself is a monolithic wall containing extensive content that should be in those reference files — the 7 critical errors section, the full type reference, and the normalization guide all belong in the referenced files rather than inline. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 8 / 12 Passed |
Validation
90%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 |
|---|---|---|
metadata_version | 'metadata.version' is missing | Warning |
Total | 10 / 11 Passed | |
- Repository
- secondsky/claude-skills
- Commit
88da5ff
- Reviewed
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