Project Guidelines Skill (Example)
33
17%
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 ./skills/cc-skill-project-guidelines-example/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
0%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 description is essentially a placeholder label with no functional content. It fails on every dimension: it provides no concrete actions, no trigger terms, no 'when to use' guidance, and no distinguishing characteristics. It would be unusable for skill selection in a multi-skill environment.
Suggestions
Replace the placeholder with a concrete description of what the skill does, e.g., 'Enforces project-specific coding standards, naming conventions, and directory structure rules when generating or reviewing code.'
Add an explicit 'Use when...' clause with trigger terms, e.g., 'Use when the user asks about project conventions, coding standards, style guidelines, or repository structure.'
Include specific file types, tools, or domains to make the skill distinctive and reduce conflict risk with other skills.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | The description 'Project Guidelines Skill (Example)' provides no concrete actions whatsoever. It names a vague domain ('Project Guidelines') but describes nothing about what the skill actually does. | 1 / 3 |
Completeness | Neither 'what does this do' nor 'when should Claude use it' is answered. There is no 'Use when...' clause or any equivalent guidance for skill selection. | 1 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | There are no natural keywords a user would say. 'Project Guidelines' is generic and '(Example)' suggests this is a placeholder rather than a real description. No actionable trigger terms are present. | 1 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | The description is extremely generic and could conflict with any skill related to projects, guidelines, standards, or documentation. There is nothing to distinguish it from other skills. | 1 / 3 |
Total | 4 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
35%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This skill is a verbose example/template that contains mostly generic full-stack patterns Claude already knows (standard FastAPI responses, React hooks, fetch wrappers, pytest fixtures). While the code examples are executable and the structure is logical, the content doesn't respect token budget—it reads more like a project README than a skill teaching Claude something it couldn't infer. The deployment workflow lacks validation feedback loops, and the large amount of inline content should be split into referenced files.
Suggestions
Drastically reduce inline code examples to only project-specific patterns Claude wouldn't already know (e.g., the specific ApiResponse convention, the specific Claude tool-calling pattern used in this project). Remove generic patterns like standard fetch wrappers and React Testing Library boilerplate.
Add validation and feedback loops to the deployment workflow: e.g., 'After deploy, run smoke test: curl https://api.example.com/health. If unhealthy, rollback with gcloud run services update-traffic --to-revisions=PREVIOUS'.
Move detailed code patterns, test structures, and file structure into separate referenced files (e.g., CODE_PATTERNS.md, TESTING.md) and keep SKILL.md as a concise overview with clear navigation links.
Remove the meta-commentary about this being an example/template and the 'When to Use' section explaining what project skills contain—this is self-referential content that wastes tokens.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | Extremely verbose for a template/example skill. The introductory meta-commentary ('This is an example of a project-specific skill'), the 'When to Use' section explaining what project skills contain, the ASCII architecture diagram, and the extensive code examples (custom hooks, full API wrappers, full test structures) are all things Claude already knows how to produce. Much of this is boilerplate that doesn't teach Claude anything new—it's a generic full-stack project description rather than project-specific knowledge Claude couldn't infer. | 1 / 3 |
Actionability | The code examples are executable and concrete (API response pattern, Claude integration, test fixtures, deployment commands), which is good. However, since this is labeled as an example template rather than a real project skill, much of the 'actionable' content is generic patterns Claude already knows (standard FastAPI responses, standard React Testing Library usage, standard fetch wrappers). The deployment commands are specific but minimal. | 2 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The deployment workflow has a checklist and commands, but lacks validation checkpoints and feedback loops. There's no 'if build fails, do X' guidance, no verification step after deployment (e.g., smoke test the deployed service), and the pre-deployment checklist is just a static list without sequencing or error recovery. For a deployment workflow involving destructive/production operations, this caps at 2. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The skill references related files at the bottom (coding-standards.md, backend-patterns.md, etc.), which is good. However, the main file is a monolithic wall of content (~250+ lines) with extensive inline code examples that could be split into referenced files. The architecture diagram, full code patterns, and complete test examples could all live in separate referenced documents, keeping SKILL.md as a concise overview. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 7 / 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 |
|---|---|---|
frontmatter_unknown_keys | Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata | Warning |
Total | 10 / 11 Passed | |
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Table of Contents
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