Defame1297
38f1ba4e03
Claude Code's (and Copilot's) native plugin installer has zero awareness of .apm/ nesting -- it convention-scans only flat skills/, agents/, commands/, hooks.json at each plugin's root. Confirmed via strings on the installed claude binary and live installs of git@holocron/gitea@holocron/kyberforge@ holocron, all reporting Skills(0) Agents(0) Hooks(0) post ADR-0015's apm conversion. Root cause (apm_cli/core/plugin_manifest.py): apm's plugin.json compiler deliberately strips skills/agents/commands keys, assuming the host already auto-discovers those convention directories -- it has no model of .apm/ being host-visible at all. Separately, apm's own bundle exporter (apm_cli/bundle/plugin_exporter.py, behind `apm pack --format plugin`) implements the correct .apm/ -> flat mapping, but only ever targeted build/<name>-<version>/, a path nothing in marketplace.json's source: points at. scripts/sync-plugin-content.sh wraps that bundle exporter and copies its agents/, skills/, commands/, instructions/, extensions/, and merged hooks.json back into each plugin's own root as a second tracked compiled-output category -- same governance status as .claude-plugin/plugin.json: generated from .apm/, never hand-edited. tests/ subdirectories are excluded from the mirror (dev fixtures, not host-visible runtime content; several hardcode a relative repo-root walk-up sized for the .apm/-nested depth, which breaks when duplicated one level shallower). Applied for real across all 6 plugins and verified two ways: `claude plugin validate --strict` passes on every real plugin directory, and a live `claude --plugin-dir <path> -p "list skills/agents"` behavioral test confirms content is now actually discovered. Also, from the same issue #90 review round: - scripts/check-manifests.sh pointed at each plugin's root-level plugin.json (checking skills/hooks/mcpServers/agents pointer fields) -- that file was a stale near-duplicate of .claude-plugin/plugin.json nothing else read or wrote, now deleted across all 6 plugins. check-manifests.sh is rewritten to validate .claude-plugin/plugin.json instead, and drops the pointer-field checks entirely (nothing to check -- those fields are correctly absent by design). Content-presence drift is now check-plugin-content-sync's job, a new pre-push hook wired in .pre-commit-config.yaml. docs/adr/0017 records the root cause and decision in full, including two rejected alternatives (patching plugin.json's path fields directly -- apm's compiler strips them on every run; pointing marketplace.json at apm pack's build/ output -- a version-suffixed non-source directory nothing can install from without an extra build step). ADR-0015 and CONTEXT.md are updated to point at it. Refs: #90
55 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
55 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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source_keys:
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- agentskills-spec
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- agentskills-optimizing-descriptions
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---
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# Description Quality Reference
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Source: agentskills.io — optimizing-descriptions
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## How triggering works
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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.
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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.
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## What a good description does
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- **Imperative phrasing** — "Use when..." not "This skill does...". The agent is deciding whether to act.
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- **User intent, not mechanics** — describe what the user is trying to achieve, not how the skill works internally.
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- **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."
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- **Specificity over vagueness** — "parses and validates OpenAPI specs" beats "helps with APIs."
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- **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").
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- **Hard limit: 1024 characters** — descriptions grow during revision; check length before finalising.
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## Before / after
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```yaml
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# Weak
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description: Process CSV files.
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# Strong
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description: >
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Analyze CSV and tabular data files — compute summary statistics,
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add derived columns, generate charts, and clean messy data. Use when
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the user has a CSV, TSV, or Excel file and wants to explore, transform,
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or visualize the data, even if they don't explicitly mention "CSV" or
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"analysis."
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```
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The strong version names capabilities precisely and broadens applicability beyond explicit keyword matches.
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## Auditing guidance
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Flag as FAIL if:
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- Phrasing is descriptive ("This skill...") not imperative ("Use when...")
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- Capabilities are vague ("helps with APIs") — require precise verbs and nouns
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- No indirect trigger coverage when indirect cases clearly exist
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- No near-miss exclusions when a sibling skill could plausibly steal activations
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- Length exceeds 1024 characters
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Flag as SUGGESTION if:
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- Indirect trigger coverage exists but could be more specific
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- Near-miss exclusions are present but target weak near-misses only
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