gene-database

Query NCBI Gene via E-utilities/Datasets API. Search by symbol/ID, retrieve gene info (RefSeqs, GO, locations, phenotypes), batch lookups, for gene annotation and functional analysis.

Quality

77%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Passed

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Fix and improve this skill with Tessl

tessl review fix ./backend/cli/skills/databases/gene-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 well-structured and highly actionable with executable examples and clean progressive disclosure, but it includes some conceptual padding and lacks explicit validation/feedback checkpoints in its batch and API workflows.

Suggestions

Trim the Overview/Quick Start explanatory text and remove the redundant Resources listing to tighten conciseness toward 3.

Add explicit validation/retry feedback loops into the Batch Gene Lookups and Retrieve workflows (e.g., verify returned IDs, retry on 429 with backoff before proceeding) to raise workflow clarity.

Move detailed API endpoint/parameter material fully into the references and keep SKILL.md as a lean overview.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	Mostly efficient with concise CLI examples, but the Overview/Quick Start explain concepts Claude largely knows and the Resources section redundantly restates the script/reference listing, so it is not fully lean.	2 / 3
Actionability	Provides fully executable, copy-paste-ready CLI commands (e.g. `python scripts/query_gene.py --search "BRCA1" --organism "human"`) plus concrete query patterns referencing real scripts, matching the score-3 anchor.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	Workflows are sequenced with numbered steps, but batch/API operations lack explicit validation or feedback-loop checkpoints; per the guidelines missing feedback loops for batch operations caps workflow clarity at 2.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	SKILL.md is an overview that clearly signals one-level-deep references (`references/api_reference.md`, `references/common_workflows.md` — both verified present) plus three scripts, with a navigation hint; content is appropriately split.	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, distinctive, and rich in natural trigger terms, but it omits an explicit "Use when..." trigger clause, which caps its completeness at 2.

Suggestions

Add an explicit "Use when..." trigger clause (e.g., "Use when searching NCBI Gene by symbol/ID, retrieving RefSeqs/GO/phenotypes, or doing batch gene lookups") to raise completeness to 3.

Mention the specific input artifacts users would reference (gene symbols, Gene IDs, gene lists) to strengthen natural trigger coverage.

Keep the current API specificity — it is the strongest source of distinctiveness.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple specific concrete actions — "Search by symbol/ID", "retrieve gene info (RefSeqs, GO, locations, phenotypes)", "batch lookups" — matching the score-3 anchor rather than the single-domain score-2.	3 / 3
Completeness	Clearly answers "what" but lacks any "Use when..." trigger clause; per the judging guidelines a missing explicit trigger caps completeness at 2.	2 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Natural terms a gene-data user would say are well covered ("gene symbol", "gene ID", "batch lookups", "gene annotation", "functional analysis", "NCBI Gene"), exceeding the score-2 "some keywords" bar.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	"NCBI Gene via E-utilities/Datasets API" is a clear, API-specific niche with distinct triggers unlikely to conflict with other skills.	3 / 3
	Total	11 / 12 Passed

Validation

87%

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 — 14 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
metadata_version	'metadata.version' is missing	Warning
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	14 / 16 Passed

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

Reviewed: about 11 hours ago

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