Defame1297
83277f4e5c
Add references/description-quality.md and references/body-discipline.md to skill-audit — condensed, rubric-focused extracts from the agentskills.io specification docs. Both files are loaded conditionally via progressive disclosure triggers added to Step 3 (Description and Body discipline dimensions), so the agent consults the spec source when a finding is borderline rather than relying solely on inline heuristics developed during the skill-write authoring cycle. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
49 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
49 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
# Description Quality Reference
|
|
|
|
Source: agentskills.io — optimizing-descriptions
|
|
|
|
## How triggering works
|
|
|
|
At startup, agents load only the `name` and `description` of each skill. When a user's task matches a description, the agent reads the full `SKILL.md` into context. **The description carries the entire triggering burden** — the body is never seen until after triggering.
|
|
|
|
Agents typically consult skills only for tasks requiring knowledge beyond their defaults. Specialized knowledge — unfamiliar APIs, domain-specific workflows, uncommon formats — is where description wording makes the difference.
|
|
|
|
## What a good description does
|
|
|
|
- **Imperative phrasing** — "Use when..." not "This skill does...". The agent is deciding whether to act.
|
|
- **User intent, not mechanics** — describe what the user is trying to achieve, not how the skill works internally.
|
|
- **Err toward being pushy** — explicitly name contexts where the skill applies, including cases where the user doesn't name the domain: "even if they don't mention X explicitly."
|
|
- **Specificity over vagueness** — "parses and validates OpenAPI specs" beats "helps with APIs."
|
|
- **Near-miss exclusions** — add "Do not use when..." only if a near-miss skill exists that could steal activations. Use strong near-misses (queries that share keywords but need something different), not weak ones ("write a fibonacci function").
|
|
- **Hard limit: 1024 characters** — descriptions grow during revision; check length before finalising.
|
|
|
|
## Before / after
|
|
|
|
```yaml
|
|
# Weak
|
|
description: Process CSV files.
|
|
|
|
# Strong
|
|
description: >
|
|
Analyze CSV and tabular data files — compute summary statistics,
|
|
add derived columns, generate charts, and clean messy data. Use when
|
|
the user has a CSV, TSV, or Excel file and wants to explore, transform,
|
|
or visualize the data, even if they don't explicitly mention "CSV" or
|
|
"analysis."
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The strong version names capabilities precisely and broadens applicability beyond explicit keyword matches.
|
|
|
|
## Auditing guidance
|
|
|
|
Flag as FAIL if:
|
|
- Phrasing is descriptive ("This skill...") not imperative ("Use when...")
|
|
- Capabilities are vague ("helps with APIs") — require precise verbs and nouns
|
|
- No indirect trigger coverage when indirect cases clearly exist
|
|
- No near-miss exclusions when a sibling skill could plausibly steal activations
|
|
- Length exceeds 1024 characters
|
|
|
|
Flag as SUGGESTION if:
|
|
- Indirect trigger coverage exists but could be more specific
|
|
- Near-miss exclusions are present but target weak near-misses only
|