fda-database

Query openFDA API for drugs, devices, adverse events, recalls, regulatory submissions (510k, PMA), substance identification (UNII), for FDA regulatory data analysis and safety research.

Quality

77%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Low

Low-risk findings worth noting

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tessl review fix ./backend/cli/skills/databases/fda-database/SKILL.md

Quality

Content

72%

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

The body is highly actionable with strong progressive disclosure via verified reference files, but it is somewhat verbose with redundancy and lacks explicit validation checkpoints in its workflows.

Suggestions

Tighten the body by collapsing the 'When to Use This Skill' list into the Overview and moving the longer 'Common Query Patterns' functions into a reference file, reducing redundancy.

Add an explicit validate-checkpoint (e.g. check the response 'meta'/'error' before processing results) into the multi-step pattern examples to strengthen workflow clarity.

Trim explanatory phrasing in the Overview and Best Practices to better respect the token budget.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is mostly efficient with concrete code, but at ~500 lines it includes redundancy (the 'When to Use' list overlaps the Overview) and lengthy multi-function 'Common Query Patterns' examples that could live in references; it is tighter than the padded level-1 example but not the lean level-3 ideal.	2 / 3
Actionability	Provides numerous concrete, executable, copy-paste-ready code examples with specific method calls (fda.query_drug_events, fda.count_by_field, fda.query_all), matching the fully-executable level-3 anchor rather than the pseudocode level-2.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	Setup steps are numbered and error-handling/pagination patterns are shown, but there are no explicit validation checkpoints or validate->fix->retry feedback loops integrated into a sequenced workflow; this fits the level-2 'sequence present but checkpoints missing' anchor rather than level 3.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	The body is an overview that clearly signals one-level-deep references to real, verified bundle files ('See references/drugs.md for detailed documentation', plus an API Reference index), matching the level-3 clear-overview-with-well-signaled-references anchor rather than the monolithic or poorly-signaled lower levels.	3 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Description

82%

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 specific, action-oriented, and clearly distinct, with good natural trigger terms, but it lacks an explicit 'Use when...' trigger clause, leaving the 'when to use' guidance only implied.

Suggestions

Add an explicit trigger clause such as 'Use when researching FDA regulatory data, drug/device adverse events, recalls, or substance identifiers (UNII).' to reach full completeness.

Consider naming additional natural user phrasings (e.g. 'drug safety', 'FDA recalls') to strengthen trigger-term coverage.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple concrete actions ('Query openFDA API for drugs, devices, adverse events, recalls, regulatory submissions (510k, PMA), substance identification (UNII)'), matching the multiple-specific-actions anchor rather than the single-action level 2.	3 / 3
Completeness	Clearly states what the skill does, but the 'when' is only implied via the purpose clause 'for FDA regulatory data analysis and safety research' rather than an explicit 'Use when...' trigger, so per the guidelines completeness is capped at 2 rather than reaching the explicit-trigger level 3.	2 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Includes natural terms users would say ('drugs', 'devices', 'adverse events', 'recalls', 'FDA', 'regulatory') with good coverage, matching the level-3 anchor; not merely technical jargon.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Targets a clear niche (openFDA regulatory data) with distinct triggers unlikely to conflict with other skills, fitting the level-3 anchor; it is far more specific than the generic level-1/2 examples.	3 / 3
	Total	11 / 12 Passed

Validation

81%

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 — 13 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
skill_md_line_count	SKILL.md is long (518 lines); consider splitting into references/ and linking	Warning
metadata_version	'metadata.version' is missing	Warning
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	13 / 16 Passed

Repository: synthetic-sciences/openscience
Path: backend/cli/skills/databases/fda-database/SKILL.md
Commit: 52845c3

Reviewed: about 10 hours ago

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