distributed-tracing

Implement distributed tracing with Jaeger and Tempo to track requests across microservices and identify performance bottlenecks. Use when debugging microservices, analyzing request flows, or implementing observability for distributed systems.

Quality

—

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

—

No eval scenarios have been run

Securityby

Advisory

Suggest reviewing before use

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 a token-efficient overview with good progressive disclosure (one real, clearly signaled reference) and concise best-practice guidance. It is weakened by deferring most executable instrumentation guidance to the reference file and by lacking an explicit end-to-end implementation workflow with validation checkpoints.

Suggestions

Add a short numbered implementation workflow with validation checkpoints (e.g. deploy collector -> instrument service -> verify a trace appears -> check sampling overhead) so the body conveys the end-to-end sequence.

Include at least one minimal executable instrumentation snippet (e.g. a basic OpenTelemetry tracer setup) in the body so core guidance is actionable without opening the reference.

Fix the broken deeper references in references/details.md (it points to references/jaeger-setup.md, references/instrumentation.md, and assets/jaeger-config.yaml.template, none of which exist in the bundle).

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is lean — short Purpose/When-to-Use lists, terse numbered best practices with concrete thresholds ("1-10%", "<1% CPU impact"), and a single compact code block — with no padding explaining what tracing/spans are, matching the assumes-competence anchor.	3 / 3
Actionability	It offers one executable snippet (trace_id logging) and specific best-practice thresholds, but the core instrumentation/setup guidance is deferred to references/details.md rather than present as copy-paste-ready code, so the body's executable guidance is incomplete.	2 / 3
Workflow Clarity	Sections are organized and troubleshooting gives ordered checklists ("Check collector endpoint", "Verify network connectivity"), but there is no explicit multi-step implementation workflow with validation checkpoints in the body, leaving the sequence implicit.	2 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	The body is a clear overview that defers detail to a single well-signaled one-level reference ("Detailed pattern documentation lives in `references/details.md`. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient"), and that referenced file exists, fitting the clear-navigation anchor.	3 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Description

85%

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 strong: it states a specific capability with named tools, an explicit "Use when" trigger clause, and a clear niche distinct from sibling observability skills. Its main weakness is trigger-term breadth, which leans technical and omits everyday phrasings a user might actually say.

Suggestions

Broaden the "Use when" triggers with natural phrasings users actually say, e.g. "Use when tracing a request across services, investigating slow or failing requests, or setting up Jaeger/Tempo instrumentation".

Add concrete trigger keywords like "trace", "spans", "Jaeger", and "Tempo" so the description matches how users phrase tracing requests.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Names concrete tools ("Jaeger and Tempo") and multiple concrete actions ("track requests across microservices and identify performance bottlenecks"), matching the multi-action anchor rather than the single-action level 2.	3 / 3
Completeness	It explicitly answers both what ("Implement distributed tracing with Jaeger and Tempo...") and when ("Use when debugging microservices, analyzing request flows, or implementing observability..."), satisfying the explicit-trigger bar that would otherwise cap this at 2.	3 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	The "Use when debugging microservices, analyzing request flows, or implementing observability" clause supplies relevant triggers, but they are fairly technical and omit common variations (e.g. "trace a request", "Jaeger", "Tempo", "slow request"), so coverage is partial rather than comprehensive.	2 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	The named-tool niche ("distributed tracing with Jaeger and Tempo") and request-flow focus make it unlikely to trigger for the related metrics/dashboards/SLO skills, fitting the clear-niche anchor.	3 / 3
	Total	11 / 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: wshobson/agents
Commit: 5cc2549

Reviewed: 6 days ago

Table of Contents

Discovery Implementation Validation

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