vcp-screener

Screen S&P 500 stocks for Mark Minervini's Volatility Contraction Pattern (VCP) and detect historical VCPs in a single ticker's price path. Identifies Stage 2 uptrend stocks forming tight bases with contracting volatility near breakout pivot points; in historical single-ticker mode walks a multi-year history and emits every VCP that formed with forward-outcome stats (breakout / stop-hit / timeout). Use when user requests VCP screening, Minervini-style setups, tight base patterns, volatility contraction breakout candidates, Stage 2 momentum stock scanning, or historical VCP pattern study on a specific ticker (e.g. FIX, TSLA).

Quality

86%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Quality

Content

72%

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

A well-structured, highly actionable skill body with real bundle references and clear mode-specific guidance. Its main gaps are a missing verification checkpoint for the batch screening operation and minor verbosity from a duplicated intro line and an oversized inline tuning table.

Suggestions

Add an explicit validation/verification checkpoint after screening (e.g. confirm the JSON report is non-empty, check FMP API call counts against the daily quota, and handle empty-result / low-credibility cases before presenting) to lift workflow clarity.

Remove the duplicated intro line under the H1 (it restates the frontmatter description) and consider moving the advanced-tuning parameter table into a reference file to tighten conciseness.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	Mostly efficient — it does not over-explain concepts Claude knows and leans on commands/tables — but the duplicated intro line under the H1 restate the description and the large inline advanced-tuning parameter table could be tightened or moved to a reference file, so it is not fully lean.	2 / 3
Actionability	Provides copy-paste-ready executable commands with real flags for default, custom, full-S&P 500, strict, and historical modes plus concrete parameter tables — fully actionable rather than descriptive.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	The four numbered steps give a clear sequence, but a batch API-driven operation has no explicit validation/verification checkpoint (e.g. confirm report non-empty, check API call success, handle empty results), so it is capped at 2 per the batch-operations guideline.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	References (vcp_methodology.md, scoring_system.md, fmp_api_endpoints.md) are real files, one level deep, clearly signaled in Step 2 and Resources, with methodology/scoring appropriately split out rather than inlined.	3 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Description

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.

A strong, specific description with concrete actions, broad natural trigger terms, and an explicit use-when clause in third person. It cleanly answers both what the skill does and when to invoke it with minimal conflict risk.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple concrete actions in third person ('Screen S&P 500 stocks', 'detect historical VCPs', 'Identifies Stage 2 uptrend stocks forming tight bases', 'walks a multi-year history and emits every VCP that formed with forward-outcome stats'), matching the top anchor rather than the single-action level 2.	3 / 3
Completeness	Explicitly answers both what (screen/detect VCPs) and when via an explicit 'Use when user requests...' clause, so it clears the cap that would apply if the trigger guidance were missing.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	Covers natural user phrasing — 'VCP screening', 'Minervini-style setups', 'tight base patterns', 'volatility contraction breakout candidates', 'Stage 2 momentum stock scanning', 'historical VCP pattern study on a specific ticker (e.g. FIX, TSLA)' — with good variation rather than just one keyword.	3 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Occupies a clear niche (Minervini VCP screener with historical single-ticker mode) with distinct triggers unlikely to fire for unrelated skills.	3 / 3
	Total	12 / 12 Passed

Validation

100%

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 — 16 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository: tradermonty/claude-trading-skills
Path: skills/vcp-screener/SKILL.md
Commit: 62a1635

Reviewed: 5 days ago

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