skill-maintenance

name	skill-maintenance
description	Use when creating, updating, auditing, or validating Agent Skills. Provides validation scripts and guidance for keeping skills accurate and compliant with the Agent Skills specification.

Skill Maintenance

When to use: When creating new skills, updating outdated skills, or auditing skill quality.

---

Validation Script

Purpose: Check skills for format compliance and invalid references.

Usage:

# Validate all skills
python scripts/validate_skills.py

# Validate one skill
python scripts/validate_skills.py layer-helpers

# JSON output
python scripts/validate_skills.py --format=json

# Also check if code references exist
python scripts/validate_skills.py --check-refs

Checks performed:

• YAML frontmatter starts with ---
• Required fields: name, description
• name matches directory name, lowercase with hyphens
• name ≤ 64 chars, no consecutive hyphens
• description ≤ 1024 chars, non-empty
• Line count ≤ 500 (warning if exceeded)
• Code references exist (with --check-refs)

---

Creating a New Skill

1. Create directory: .github/skills/<skill-name>/
2. Create SKILL.md with frontmatter:

---
name: skill-name
description: Use when [trigger conditions]. Provides [capabilities].
---

# Skill Title

**When to use:** [Clear trigger description]

---

## Section 1

Instructions...

---

## Validation Checklist

- [ ] Check 1 **→ Consequence**
- [ ] Check 2 **→ Consequence**

3. Validate: python scripts/validate_skills.py skill-name

---

Updating an Existing Skill

When: Architecture changed, code moved, or skill guidance is stale.

Process:

1. Identify what changed — code location, API, or rules
2. Read the current skill — understand existing structure
3. Update ONLY affected sections — don't reformat unrelated content
4. Validate: python scripts/validate_skills.py <skill-name> --check-refs
5. Test: Does the skill trigger correctly? Are examples still valid?

Rules:

• Keep changes minimal and precise
• Don't add historical context or migration notes
• Update validation checklists if rules changed
• Maintain existing tone and verbosity

---

Skill Format Requirements

Frontmatter (Required)

Field	Required	Constraints
name	Yes	1-64 chars, lowercase alphanumeric + hyphens, must match directory
description	Yes	1-1024 chars, describe WHAT and WHEN

Name Rules

• Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens only
• No leading/trailing hyphens
• No consecutive hyphens (--)
• Must match parent directory name exactly

Description Guidelines

Good:

description: Use when creating or modifying code in nomarr/helpers/. Helpers are pure utilities with NO nomarr.* imports.

Poor:

description: Helper layer rules.

Body Guidelines

• Keep under 500 lines (move details to references/)
• Use clear section headers with --- separators
• Include code examples for patterns
• End with a Validation Checklist
• Reference files with relative paths

---

Checking Reference Validity

Code references in skills can become stale when code moves.

# Find invalid references
python scripts/validate_skills.py --check-refs

# Check specific skill
python scripts/validate_skills.py layer-components --check-refs

Fix invalid references:

1. Identify the new location of the referenced code
2. Update the reference in the skill
3. Re-run validation to confirm

---

Periodic Audit Workflow

Run monthly or after major refactors:

# 1. Validate all skills
python scripts/validate_skills.py --check-refs

# 2. Review any invalid references
# 3. Update stale skills
# 4. Re-validate
python scripts/validate_skills.py

---

Skill Locations

Nomarr skills are organized by purpose:

Skill	Purpose
layer-*	Architecture layer guidance
code-discovery	Codebase exploration tools
code-generation	Boilerplate generation
quality-analysis	QC and linting tools
skill-maintenance	This skill (meta)

---

Validation Checklist

Before committing skill changes, verify:

• Does frontmatter have name and description? → Required
• Does name match directory name? → Required
• Is name lowercase with hyphens only? → Required
• Does description explain WHAT and WHEN? → Required
• Are code references still valid? → Run --check-refs
• Is the skill under 500 lines? → Move to references/ if not
• Does skill end with a validation checklist? → Recommended