Quality Checklist (Production Gate)
Use this checklist to decide whether a Skill is shippable. It is intentionally biased toward reliability and maintainability over "more content".
Scoring
Score each item:
- 2 = fully satisfied
- 1 = partially satisfied / needs work
- 0 = missing
Suggested ship threshold:
- Total score >= 24 (out of 32)
- No "critical" item below 2
A. Activation Reliability (Critical)
- Frontmatter
name matches ^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$ and matches directory name (2)
- Frontmatter
description is decidable ("what + when") with concrete keywords (2)
## When to Use This Skill lists concrete tasks/inputs/goals (2)
## Not For / Boundaries exists and meaningfully prevents misfires (2)
B. Usability (Critical)
## Quick Reference is short and directly usable (no doc dumps) (2)
- Quick Reference patterns are formatted for copy/paste (2)
## Examples contains >= 3 reproducible examples (2)
- Examples include acceptance criteria / expected output (2)
C. Evidence & Correctness
## Maintenance lists sources (docs/repos/specs) and last-updated date (2)
- Uncertain external details include a verification path (2)
- Terminology is consistent (one concept, one name) (2)
- No contradictions between Quick Reference and Examples (2)
D. Structure & Maintainability
- Long-form content lives in
references/ with references/index.md navigation (2)
- Reference files are split by topic (not one giant file) (2)
- The skill reads like an operator manual (task -> steps -> acceptance) (2)
- Optional: scripts/assets are minimal and clearly scoped (2)
Common Reasons to Fail the Gate
- Vague activation ("helps with X") with no boundaries
- Quick Reference contains pasted documentation instead of patterns
- Examples are not reproducible (no inputs, no steps, no expected output)
- No sources and no update date (cannot be trusted or maintained)