Rate Skill

Overview

Audit SKILL.md files against quality standards from generate-skill best practices. Provides letter grade (A-F) and actionable recommendations.

Core principle: Measure skill quality objectively to improve activation reliability and context efficiency.

When to Use

Always use when:

Reviewing skills before publishing
Validating skill structure and formatting
Checking if skill meets quality standards
User asks to "rate", "grade", or "review" a skill

Useful for:

Skill authors validating their work
Maintainers reviewing PRs with new skills
Quality audits of skill repositories
Before submitting skills to marketplaces

Avoid when:

Evaluating non-skill documentation
Reviewing code (not skill definitions)
General code quality auditing

How It Works

Read specified SKILL.md file
Evaluate against quality criteria
Calculate scores per category
Generate letter grade (A-F)
Output findings with priorities
Provide actionable recommendations

Quality Criteria

Category	Weight	Criteria
Length	20%	Under 500 lines (or progressive disclosure)
Conciseness	20%	Clear, scannable, no fluff
Repetitiveness	15%	No redundant content
Structure	15%	Required sections present and ordered
Triggers	15%	3-5+ specific activation phrases
Examples	10%	Good/Bad code comparisons
Troubleshooting	5%	Common issues addressed

Length (20%)

Scores: A: <500 or progressive disclosure | B: 500-600 | C: 600-800 | D: 800-1000 | F: >1000

Checks: Line count, reference/ directory, progressive disclosure links

Conciseness (20%)

Scores: A: High info density, scannable | B: Mostly concise | C: Some wordiness | D: Verbose | F: Excessive

Red flags: Long paragraphs (>5 sentences), redundant explanations, flowery language

Repetitiveness (15%)

Scores: A: Zero redundancy | B: 1-2 overlaps | C: 3-4 overlaps | D: 5+ overlaps | F: Heavy redundancy

Common: Format in section AND example, repeated "use when", duplicate trigger phrases

Structure (15%)

Scores: A: All required sections | B: Missing 1 optional | C: Missing 2-3 | D: Missing required | F: Severely lacking

Required: Frontmatter, Overview, When to Use, Main content, Examples (Good/Bad), Troubleshooting, Integration

Triggers (15%)

Scores: A: 5+ specific | B: 3-4 good | C: 2 phrases | D: 1 vague | F: None

Quality: User language ("when asked to X"), specific situations, multiple contexts, concrete not abstract

Examples (10%)

Scores: A: 3+ with Good/Bad | B: 2 with comparisons | C: 1 comparison | D: No comparisons | F: None

Quality: Uses tags, includes explanations, real scenarios, syntax highlighting

Troubleshooting (5%)

Scores: A: 5+ pairs | B: 3-4 pairs | C: 1-2 basic | D: Vague | F: None

Quality: Clear problem, cause identified, solution with code, explanation

Output Format

# Skill Rating: [Letter Grade]

## Summary
- **File:** path/to/SKILL.md
- **Lines:** XXX lines
- **Overall Grade:** [A/B/C/D/F] ([Score]/100)
- **Status:** [Production Ready / Needs Work / Not Ready]

## Category Scores

| Category | Score | Grade | Status |
|----------|-------|-------|--------|
| Length | XX/20 | [A-F] | [✅/⚠️/❌] |
| Conciseness | XX/20 | [A-F] | [✅/⚠️/❌] |
| Repetitiveness | XX/15 | [A-F] | [✅/⚠️/❌] |
| Structure | XX/15 | [A-F] | [✅/⚠️/❌] |
| Triggers | XX/15 | [A-F] | [✅/⚠️/❌] |
| Examples | XX/10 | [A-F] | [✅/⚠️/❌] |
| Troubleshooting | XX/5 | [A-F] | [✅/⚠️/❌] |

## Findings by Priority

### ❌ Critical Issues (Fix Before Publishing)
1. [Issue description]
   - Impact: [Why this matters]
   - Fix: [Specific action to take]

### ⚠️ Important Issues (Should Fix)
1. [Issue description]
   - Impact: [Why this matters]
   - Fix: [Specific action to take]

### 📋 Nice to Have
1. [Suggestion]
   - Benefit: [Why this helps]

## Strengths
- [What this skill does well]
- [Another strength]

## Priority Action Items
1. [Priority 1 action]
2. [Priority 2 action]
3. [Priority 3 action]

## Estimated Improvements
- Fix critical issues: +[X] points
- Address important issues: +[X] points
- Potential grade: [Current] → [Target]

Usage

Basic rating:

/rate-skill skills/example-skill/SKILL.md

Rate after changes:

# Make improvements
[edit SKILL.md]

# Re-rate
/rate-skill skills/example-skill/SKILL.md

Compare before/after:

# Rate original
/rate-skill skills/track-session/SKILL.md

# Make improvements
[condense, remove redundancy]

# Rate again to see improvement
/rate-skill skills/track-session/SKILL.md

Grading Scale

Grade	Score	Meaning
A	90-100	Excellent - Production ready
B	80-89	Good - Minor improvements recommended
C	70-79	Acceptable - Needs work before publishing
D	60-69	Poor - Significant issues to address
F	0-59	Failing - Major overhaul needed

Status mapping:

A-B: Production Ready ✅
C: Needs Work ⚠️
D-F: Not Ready ❌

Examples

Example 1: Rating a High-Quality Skill

Input: /rate-skill skills/track-session/SKILL.md

Output:

# Skill Rating: A

## Summary
- **File:** skills/track-session/SKILL.md
- **Lines:** 489 lines
- **Overall Grade:** A (92/100)
- **Status:** Production Ready

## Category Scores

| Category | Score | Grade | Status |
|----------|-------|-------|--------|
| Length | 20/20 | A | Pass |
| Conciseness | 18/20 | A | Pass |
| Repetitiveness | 14/15 | A | Pass |
| Structure | 15/15 | A | Pass |
| Triggers | 15/15 | A | Pass |
| Examples | 9/10 | A | Pass |
| Troubleshooting | 5/5 | A | Pass |

## Strengths
- Excellent progressive disclosure with reference/VERIFICATION.md
- 10+ diverse trigger phrases
- Strong examples with Good/Bad comparisons

## Priority Action Items
1. Consider adding one more example for edge cases (optional)

Note: High-scoring skills get a short report focused on strengths and optional improvements.

Example 2: Rating a Skill That Needs Work

Input: /rate-skill skills/problematic-skill/SKILL.md

Output:

# Skill Rating: C

## Summary
- **File:** skills/problematic-skill/SKILL.md
- **Lines:** 742 lines
- **Overall Grade:** C (74/100)
- **Status:** Needs Work

## Findings by Priority

### Critical Issues
1. **Length: 742 lines without progressive disclosure**
   - Impact: High context usage, harder to scan
   - Fix: Move detailed content to reference/ directory

2. **Only 2 trigger phrases in description**
   - Impact: Poor activation reliability
   - Fix: Add 3-5 specific user phrases and situations

### Important Issues
1. **Verbose mode descriptions (30+ lines each)**
   - Fix: Condense to 2-3 lines per mode

## Priority Action Items
1. Implement progressive disclosure (move 200+ lines to reference/)
2. Add 3+ trigger phrases to description
3. Condense verbose sections

## Estimated Improvements
- Fix critical issues: +12 points -> 86 (B)
- Potential grade: C -> A

Note: Lower-scoring skills get detailed findings with specific fixes and an improvement roadmap.

Troubleshooting

Problem: Can't find SKILL.md file

Cause: Path incorrect or file doesn't exist.

Solution:

# Verify file exists
ls skills/skill-name/SKILL.md

# Use correct path
/rate-skill skills/skill-name/SKILL.md

Problem: Rating seems too harsh

Cause: Standards are strict for good reason - quality matters for activation.

Solution:

Review specific findings
Compare to high-quality skills
Focus on critical issues first
Remember: B grade is still "good"

Problem: Grade improved but still low

Cause: Multiple categories need attention.

Solution:

Focus on highest-weight categories first (Length, Conciseness)
Fix critical issues before nice-to-haves
Re-rate after each major change
Use "Estimated Improvements" as roadmap

Problem: Don't know how to fix an issue

Cause: Fix recommendation unclear.

Solution:

Check generate-skill examples for patterns
Review high-rated skills for reference
Ask for specific help on that issue
Consult CLAUDE.md for SkillBox guidelines

Integration

This skill works with:

generate-skill - Use after generating to validate quality
Skill development workflow - Rate before committing/publishing
Quality control - Gate for accepting skills into repositories
Continuous improvement - Track quality metrics over time

Workflow:

# Create skill
/generate-skill new-feature

# Rate it
/rate-skill skills/new-feature/SKILL.md

# Fix issues
[make improvements]

# Re-rate
/rate-skill skills/new-feature/SKILL.md

# When A or B grade, publish
git add skills/new-feature/
git commit -m "Add new-feature skill"

Quality gates:

A-B: Merge to main ✅
C: Request changes ⚠️
D-F: Reject until improved ❌

References

Based on:

generate-skill best practices
SkillBox CLAUDE.md guidelines
obra/superpowers patterns
Vercel agent-skills standards

Related: