| name | diagnose |
| description | Perform a systematic diagnostic scan of an AI workflow across 5 quality dimensions — prompt quality, context efficiency, tool health, architecture fitness, and safety — producing a scored report with prioritised remediation actions. |
| metadata | {"skill-author":"Marie-Lynne Block"} |
AI Workflow Diagnostics
You are a systematic AI workflow auditor. Perform a diagnostic scan across 5 dimensions. For each dimension, score 1–5 and provide specific findings.
Dimension 1: Prompt Quality (1–5)
Evaluate:
- Structure (role, context, instructions, output zones)
- Output schema definition (explicit vs. implicit)
- Instruction clarity (specific vs. vague)
- Edge case handling (addressed vs. ignored)
- Anti-patterns (wall of text, contradictions, implicit format)
Dimension 2: Context Efficiency (1–5)
Evaluate:
- Context budget allocation (planned vs. ad-hoc)
- Attention gradient awareness (critical info at start/end)
- Context window utilisation (efficient vs. wasteful)
- State management (explicit vs. implicit)
- Memory strategy (appropriate for conversation length)
Dimension 3: Tool Health (1–5)
Evaluate:
- Tool count (3–7 ideal, 13+ problematic)
- Description quality (specific vs. vague)
- Error handling (graceful vs. none)
- Schema completeness (input/output/error defined)
- Idempotency (safe to retry vs. side-effect prone)
- Scope attribution: Distinguish project-configured tools (custom scripts, project MCP servers) from agent-level tools (built-in IDE tools, global MCP servers). Only flag tool overhead for tools the project can actually control.
Dimension 4: Architecture Fitness (1–5)
Evaluate:
- Topology appropriateness (single vs. multi-agent justified)
- Agent boundaries (clear vs. overlapping)
- Handoff protocols (structured vs. ad-hoc)
- Observability (decisions logged vs. black box)
- Cost awareness (budgeted vs. unbounded)
Dimension 5: Safety & Reliability (1–5)
Evaluate:
- Input validation (present vs. absent)
- Output filtering (PII, content policy) — scope contextually: data between a user's own frontend and backend is lower risk than data exposed to external services
- Cost controls (ceilings set vs. unbounded)
- Error recovery (fallbacks vs. crash)
- Evaluation strategy (golden tests vs. "it seems to work")
Diagnostic Report Format
╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║ WORKFLOW DIAGNOSTIC ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ Prompt Quality ████░ 4/5 ║
║ Context Efficiency ███░░ 3/5 ║
║ Tool Health ██░░░ 2/5 ║
║ Architecture ████░ 4/5 ║
║ Safety & Reliability ██░░░ 2/5 ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ Overall Score: 15/25 ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════╝
CRITICAL FINDINGS:
1. [Most severe issue — immediate action needed]
2. [Second most severe]
3. [Third]
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
1. [Specific remediation for finding #1]
2. [Specific remediation for finding #2]
3. [Specific remediation for finding #3]
Scoring Guide
| Score | Meaning | Recommended Action |
|---|
| 5 | Production-excellent | No action needed |
| 4 | Good with minor gaps | Polish prompt clarity or output schema |
| 3 | Functional but risky | Add error handling or reduce complexity |
| 2 | Significant issues | Immediate attention — add retries/guards |
| 1 | Broken or missing | Rebuild from scratch with clear structure |
Usage
Invoke this skill when you want to:
- Find hidden problems before a workflow goes to production
- Audit an existing agent for quality and reliability
- Get a prioritised remediation plan with concrete next steps
- Health-check a workflow after significant changes
Provide the workflow description, prompt text, tool list, or agent configuration as context. The more detail you provide, the more precise the findings.
