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bash-defensive-patterns

Master defensive Bash programming techniques for production-grade scripts. Use when writing robust shell scripts, CI/CD pipelines, or system utilities requiring fault tolerance and safety.

Quality

67%

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Passed

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tessl review fix ./plugins/shell-scripting/skills/bash-defensive-patterns/SKILL.md
SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

53%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 a lean overview that correctly defers 553 lines of worked examples to a single one-level-deep reference file — a good progressive-disclosure structure. However, it duplicates the frontmatter description in a padded 'When to Use' section, offers no executable skeleton in the body itself, and describes its own navigation ('navigation tier above') confusingly.

Suggestions

Delete the intro paragraph and the 'When to Use This Skill' bullet list, which restate the frontmatter description almost verbatim.

Add one small copy-paste-ready skeleton to the body (e.g., strict mode + ERR trap + mktemp/cleanup trap) so core guidance is executable without opening references/details.md.

Rewrite the details.md pointer with a concrete trigger — e.g., 'Read references/details.md for worked examples of any pattern below' — and place the section after the Best Practices Summary it points to.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The body is short, but the intro paragraph ("Comprehensive guidance for writing production-ready Bash scripts...") and the entire 8-bullet "When to Use This Skill" section duplicate the frontmatter description's 'Use when' clause. This is more than minor over-explanation (anchor 4), fitting anchor 3: 'mostly efficient but includes some unnecessary explanation or could be tightened'.

3 / 5

Actionability

The Best Practices Summary names real commands and flags ("set -Eeuo pipefail", '"$variable"', "command -v", "mktemp, cleanup with trap") but contains no complete executable example, and several items are pure directions ("Design for idempotency - Scripts should be safe to rerun", "Test error paths"). This matches anchor 3 ('some concrete guidance but incomplete... missing key details'), not 4, which expects mostly executable guidance.

3 / 5

Workflow Clarity

There is no sequenced workflow for applying the patterns (the 14 items are unordered tips), and the single navigation decision is described confusingly: "Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient" — the pointer section appears before the Best Practices Summary it apparently refers to. Fits anchor 3 (gaps and implicit checkpoints); not 4 because the deep-dive trigger and usage flow are unclear.

3 / 5

Progressive Disclosure

The bundle structure is real and well used: references/details.md exists (553 lines of worked examples) and the body keeps only summary content with a dedicated section pointing to it ("Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md"). One level deep and appropriately split, matching anchor 4; not 5 because the pointer's trigger wording ('navigation tier above') and its placement before the summary tier are minor navigation gaps.

4 / 5

Total

13

/

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.

A well-formed description with an explicit 'Use when' clause and good natural trigger terms. Its main weakness is that the 'what' stays at the level of 'master defensive Bash programming techniques' without naming any concrete techniques, leaving it generic on capability specifics.

Suggestions

Replace the generic 'Master defensive Bash programming techniques' with named capabilities, e.g. 'Apply strict mode (set -Eeuo pipefail), error traps, input validation, and safe temp-file handling in Bash scripts'.

Add common user phrasings such as 'bash script fails', 'error handling in shell scripts', or 'hardening a script' to broaden trigger coverage.

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

"Master defensive Bash programming techniques for production-grade scripts" names the domain but the action is generic — no concrete techniques are listed (no strict mode, error trapping, quoting, or temp-file handling). This matches anchor 2 ('Names the domain but actions are minimal or generic'); it falls short of 3 because there are no 1-2 named concrete actions, only the abstract 'master techniques'.

2 / 5

Completeness

Both parts are explicit: the what ("Master defensive Bash programming techniques for production-grade scripts") and a clear when ("Use when writing robust shell scripts, CI/CD pipelines, or system utilities requiring fault tolerance and safety"). It fits anchor 4 ('both present, when could be more specific') rather than 5 because the 'what' names no concrete capabilities to pair with the trigger phrases.

4 / 5

Trigger Term Quality

Natural phrases users would say are present: "robust shell scripts", "CI/CD pipelines", "system utilities", "fault tolerance", "Bash". Good coverage matching anchor 4, but not 5 because common variations like "bash script fails", "error handling", or "shell scripting" are missing.

4 / 5

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

The defensive-Bash/production-scripts niche ("production-grade scripts", "CI/CD pipelines", "fault tolerance and safety") is mostly distinct with only minor overlap risk against general scripting or CI skills. Matches anchor 4; not 5 because the triggers don't sharply separate it from a generic 'write bash scripts' skill.

4 / 5

Total

14

/

20

Passed

Validation

100%

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

wshobson/agents

Path

plugins/shell-scripting/skills/bash-defensive-patterns/SKILL.md

Reviewed

Table of Contents

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