References
Assets
Report8 chapters · 46 min
Skills
Chapter 8 of 8
Review a proposed Agent Skill for structural validity and content quality before publishing.
3 minutes · 698 words · 12 sections
You are helping an SME review an Agent Skill before publishing. This is a multi-step process: determine environment, verify prerequisites, run structural validation, review content, optionally run LLM scoring, and interpret results. Follow every step in order.
Check for saved configuration:
cat ~/.config/skill-validator/review-state.yaml 2>/dev/nullIf the state file exists with prereqs_passed: true, offer:
Found saved settings — configured for [full/structural-only] reviews.
- Continue with saved settings — skip to Step 2
- Re-run prerequisite checks
- Change environment — switch between full and structural-only
Option 1: read llm_scoring from the file and skip to Step 2.
Options 2-3: continue below.
If no state file exists, or the user chose to re-check/change, ask:
LLM scoring evaluates content quality across multiple dimensions.
- Yes, run LLM scoring — full review with LLM scoring
- No, skip LLM scoring — structural validation only
Option 1: set LLM_SCORING=true.
Option 2: set LLM_SCORING=false. Run Step 1a only, then jump to Step 2.
skill-validator binaryskill-validator --versionIf not found, search common locations (/usr/local/bin, /opt/homebrew/bin,
~/go/bin). If found but not on PATH, tell the user. If not found anywhere,
follow references/install-skill-validator.md (opens in a new tab).
If --version is not at least v1.5.1, help the user upgrade with
brew upgrade skill-validator or
go install github.com/agent-ecosystem/skill-validator/cmd/skill-validator@latest.
Do NOT proceed until this succeeds.
claude CLI (LLM scoring only)If LLM_SCORING=true, verify the Claude CLI is available:
claude --versionIf not found, tell the user to install Claude Code:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bashThe user must authenticate by running claude interactively before continuing.
Do NOT proceed with LLM scoring until this succeeds.
Persist state so future runs skip this step. Replace <true or false> with
the actual LLM_SCORING value:
mkdir -p ~/.config/skill-validator
cat > ~/.config/skill-validator/review-state.yaml << 'EOF'
prereqs_passed: true
llm_scoring: <true or false>
EOFAsk the user for the path to the skill they want to review, unless they have
already provided it. Verify the path contains a SKILL.md file:
ls <path>/SKILL.mdIf SKILL.md does not exist at the given path, tell the user this is not a
valid skill directory and ask them to provide the correct path.
Run the full check suite:
skill-validator check <path>Capture the exit code:
| Exit code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Clean — no errors or warnings |
| 1 | Errors found — must fix before publishing |
| 2 | Warnings only — review but not blocking |
| 3 | CLI/usage error — check the command |
Exit 0: proceed. Exit 2: note warnings, proceed. Exit 1: list errors — these are blocking. The user must fix them before the skill can be published. Do NOT proceed to LLM scoring if exit code is 1.
Read the SKILL.md and any reference files, then evaluate each check below. Report which checks pass and which do not, with specific details on what is missing.
| Check | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Examples | Does the skill provide examples of expected inputs and outputs? |
| Edge cases | Does the skill document common edge cases or failure modes? |
| Scope-gating | Does the skill define when to stop/continue, prerequisites, and conditions for branching paths? |
| MongoDB data access | If the skill needs MongoDB contextual data, does it instruct agents to use the MCP server for auth and tool calls? Skip if not applicable. |
Flag any failing checks as areas the SME should address. These are not blocking but should be resolved before publishing for best results.
If LLM_SCORING=false, skip to Step 6.
If LLM_SCORING=true, follow the “Run LLM Scoring” and “Interpret LLM Scores”
sections of
references/llm-scoring.md (opens in a new tab).
If LLM_SCORING=true, follow the “Full Review Summary” section of
references/llm-scoring.md (opens in a new tab).
Include any failing content review checks from Step 4 in the action items.
If LLM_SCORING=false, present structural result, content review result,
areas to address, and a self-assessment checklist using the scoring dimensions
from assets/report.md (opens in a new tab). Note that LLM scoring was skipped;
advise re-running with LLM scoring enabled or self-assessing against the report
dimensions.
Structure the final summary with these sections in order:
novel_info
per file for SME verificationInstall this repository
npx skills add mongodb/agent-skills/plugin marketplace add mongodb/agent-skillsSkills install per repository, not per chapter — the CLI has no documented per-skill form, so we do not print one.
Review a proposed Agent Skill for structural validity and content quality before publishing. Runs the skill-validator CLI to check for structural issues, scores the skill with an LLM judge, and interprets results to advise SMEs on what to address. Use when a user wants to review, validate, or quality-check an Agent Skill.
The verbatim description from this skill’s front matter — the string an agent matches on to decide whether to load it.
tools/review-skill/SKILL.mdmain, last pushed 10 August 2026.SKILL.md, not by matching a directory convention. 2 distinct layouts observed: skills/*/SKILL.md, tools/*/SKILL.md.h1 and no skipped levels:.claude-plugin/marketplace.json by MongoDB, declaring 2 plugins. It is read for editorial metadata only — never as the skill index, which is always the repository tree./mongodb/agent-skills.md, and each chapter at its own .md URL.3 files · 13 KB
Everything this skill ships beside its prose. All of it is set here, as subchapters of chapter 8.
Documentation the agent loads on demand, rather than up front.
Templates, schemas and fixtures the skill draws on.