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instruments-profiling

Instruments/xctrace profiling: macOS/iOS traces, binaries, args, exports.

64

Quality

76%

Does it follow best practices?

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SecuritybySnyk

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tessl review fix ./skills/instruments-profiling/SKILL.md
SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

88%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 is an exemplary lean, command-first skill: every workflow is executable, the wrong-binary gotcha is surfaced early with concrete verification steps, and error recovery is built in. The only gaps are the hand-wavy post-processing step and a monolithic single-file structure that is slightly over the compact-skill line.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

Every section is a lean bullet of commands, flags, or gotchas — 'xcrun xctrace record --template 'Time Profiler' --time-limit 60s ... --launch -- /path/To/App.app' — with zero padding and no explanation of what Instruments or profiling is. It assumes Claude's competence throughout; not anchor 4 because there is essentially nothing to trim.

5 / 5

Actionability

Nearly all guidance is copy-paste ready: concrete record/attach commands, flag-by-flag argument explanations, a working --toc and XPath export command, and a 'ps -p <pid>' verification command. It falls short of anchor 5 only because the final aggregation step — 'Post-process in a script (Python/Rust) to aggregate stacks' — is a hint with no concrete example, leaving a minor gap in a core deliverable.

4 / 5

Workflow Clarity

The flow (list templates → record via launch or attach → verify the right binary → export → aggregate) is clearly sequenced, with explicit validation steps ('Verify with ps -p <pid> -o comm=', 'After launch, confirm the process path'), a dedicated 'Gotchas & Fixes' section providing error-recovery feedback loops, and a final 'Verification Checklist'. This matches anchor 5 rather than 4 because checkpoints, recovery paths, and a checklist are all present.

5 / 5

Progressive Disclosure

No bundle files exist (references/, scripts/, assets/ are all absent), and the ~85-line body is organized into well-labeled sections with no buried or nested references — good structure, appropriately placed content. It is below anchor 5 because the under-50-lines exception doesn't apply and slightly bloatable sections (UI workflow, iOS notes, post-processing) sit inline in a single file with no external reference to offload them.

4 / 5

Total

18

/

20

Passed

Description

65%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.

The description is a terse, distinctive keyword summary of a genuine niche, but it omits any 'Use when...' trigger guidance and reads as a noun list rather than action statements. Rewriting it as a sentence with concrete verbs and an explicit trigger clause would lift completeness and specificity.

Suggestions

Add an explicit trigger clause, e.g. 'Use when the user wants to profile or debug performance of a native macOS/iOS app, capture stack samples, or mentions Instruments, xctrace, or Time Profiler.'

Rewrite the capability list as full third-person actions with verbs, e.g. 'Records Time Profiler traces, launches or attaches to binaries, and exports stack samples for aggregation.'

Include natural trigger synonyms users actually say — 'performance', 'slow app', 'stack traces', 'hot path' — so the skill fires on phrasing that never mentions xctrace.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

The description lists concrete capability nouns — "traces, binaries, args, exports" — but uses no verbs/actions, reading as a keyword inventory rather than named actions like 'records', 'attaches', or 'exports stacks'. This matches anchor 3 (names the domain and a couple of concrete items, not comprehensive); it is above anchor 2 because the items are specific to the domain, but below anchor 4 because there are no explicit actions and coverage of the skill's actual capabilities (record, attach, export XML) is only implied.

3 / 5

Completeness

The 'what' is clear (Instruments/xctrace profiling of macOS/iOS traces, binaries, args, exports), but there is no 'Use when...' clause or equivalent trigger guidance, which caps completeness at 3 per the rubric guideline. It is not a 2 because the 'what' is concrete and specific, not vague; it is not a 4 because the 'when' is entirely absent rather than merely under-specified.

3 / 5

Trigger Term Quality

"Instruments", "xctrace", "profiling", "traces", and "macOS/iOS" are natural terms a user with this need would say, giving good keyword coverage. A few natural trigger phrases are missing — "performance", "slow", "Time Profiler", "stack traces" — so it falls just below anchor 5's comprehensive synonym coverage but clearly above anchor 3's partial coverage.

4 / 5

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

"Instruments/xctrace profiling" carves out a clear niche with distinct triggers — few skills would compete for these terms. Anchors 4 and below describe overlap risk with related skills; here the tool-specific naming makes conflict minimal.

5 / 5

Total

15

/

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

metadata_version

'metadata.version' is missing

Warning

Total

15

/

16

Passed

Repository
steipete/agent-scripts
Reviewed

Table of Contents

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