- name
- scoring
- description
- 100-point NL artifact rubric: penalty tables per artifact type, calibration cases.
- version
- 0.4.0
# NLPM Quality Scoring Rubric
100-point quality scale for all NL programming artifacts. Apply penalties deterministically. Use calibration examples to anchor judgment on borderline cases.
---
## Scoring Formula
```
base_score = 100
adjustments = sum of all applicable penalties (all penalties are negative)
final_score = max(0, min(100, base_score + adjustments))
```
Penalties stack. The floor is 0; the ceiling is 100. No bonuses — the default assumption is that an artifact is well-formed, and quality is measured by what is missing or wrong.
---
## Penalty Tables
The tables in this file cover every artifact type a Claude Code project contains. Tables for the remaining artifact types live in `references/`, one file per group. When the artifact you are scoring is listed below, Read that file and apply its tables as if they appeared here — they carry the same weight, and a finding cited to one of their rows is a rubric finding.
| Artifact being scored | Read |
|---|---|
| Codex hook events; `.codex-plugin/plugin.json`; `.agents/plugins/marketplace.json`; `agents/openai.yaml`; `.codex/config.toml` | [`references/codex.md`](references/codex.md) |
| Antigravity / Gemini-lineage hook events; `gemini-extension.json`; `.gemini/commands/*.toml` | [`references/antigravity.md`](references/antigravity.md) |
| Memory files (`~/.claude/projects/*/memory/*.md`); agent workflow programs (project-root `program.md`-style files) | [`references/memory-and-workflow.md`](references/memory-and-workflow.md) |
The universal Hooks checks below apply to Codex and Antigravity hook configs too.
### Skills
| Rule | Check | Condition | Penalty |
|------|-------|-----------|---------|
| -- | `name` present | Missing | -25 |
| -- | `name` matches parent directory | Frontmatter `name:` value does not equal parent directory name (per `nlpm:conventions` §5 — open spec MUST) | -15 |
| R04 | `description` present | Missing | -25 |
| R04 | Trigger quality | Description is generic (≤1 specific phrase) | -15 |
| R04 | Description length | Description 500–800 chars | -5 |
| R04 | Description length | Description >800 chars | -10 |
| R05 | Body length | 400–500 lines | -5 |
| R05 | Body length | >500 lines | -10 |
| R06 | Code examples | Complex concepts with no examples | -5 |
| R06 | Code examples | No examples at all in a technical skill | -10 |
| R06 | `<example>` blocks | Zero `<example>` blocks on a user-invocable skill (`user-invocable` absent or `true`) | -10 |
| R07 | Scope note | No scope note / cross-references | -3 |
> **Scope-note discipline:** R07 means "scope note when related skills exist."
> Do NOT apply R07 to missing example blocks — that is the new R06 row above
> (penalty -10, not -15). The 2026-05-13 lijigang/ljg-skills audit applied
> R07 + −15 fourteen times for missing example blocks; both labels were
> wrong (R07 is not example-related, and -15 is the agents penalty, not
> the skills penalty). The validator at `auditor/scripts/validate-rule-ids.py`
> catches this kind of drift in CI.
> **`<example>`-block counting discipline** (added 2026-08-01, origin:
> xiaolai/cc-suite v1.3.1 remediation): an `<example>` block counts only when
> it sits outside fenced code blocks — in the body or in a frontmatter
> description block scalar. Tags inside a fenced template (` ```markdown … ``` `)
> are illustrative content, and prose that names the string `` `<example>` ``
> is a mention, not a block. A 2026-07-31 scoring pass credited a skill with
> example blocks that existed only inside a fenced template, hiding a real R06
> violation across 13 files. Verify by reading the file, not by grepping for
> the tag.
> **`name` matches parent directory** (added 2026-05-25, audit:
> google/skills): the open Agent Skills spec at agentskills.io makes this
> a MUST. Mismatch is deterministic, high-confidence, and reproducible by
> single-line diff (frontmatter `name:` vs `basename($(dirname FILE))`).
> Mark such findings `confidence: high` per the manifest-vs-disk-diff
> principle in `agents/scorer.md` step 6. Note: this penalty did not
> exist before 2026-05-25 — re-scoring past audits will yield slightly
> lower scores for any corpus containing this defect, but no contribute
> outcomes are retroactively affected since no PRs were ever opened
> against a name-mismatch finding under the prior rubric.
---
### Agents
| Rule | Check | Condition | Penalty |
|------|-------|-----------|---------|
| R09 | `description` present | Missing | -25 |
| R09 | `<example>` blocks | Zero `<example>` blocks in the description | -15 |
| R09 | Exclusion clause | Description names no situation the agent is not for (a "Not for …"/"Do not use …" sentence, or an example where the assistant declines or routes elsewhere) | -5 |
| R09 | Description length | Description value over 1,200 characters, examples included | -5 |
| R10 | `model` declared | Not declared | -5 |
| R10 | `model` appropriate | Wrong tier for task (e.g. opus for parsing) | -5 |
| R11 | `tools` declared | Not declared | -5 |
| R11 | Unused tools | Each tool declared but not used in body | -3 each |
| R12 | Output format | No output format spec in body | -10 |
| R11 | Write on read-only | Audit/review/scan agent declares Write or Edit | -10 |
> **R09 example budget** (changed in 1.4.0): one `<example>` block is full
> credit. An agent's `description` sits in the Agent tool's text on every turn
> and is the only thing Claude sees when choosing an agent, so examples stay in
> the description — moving them into the body hides them from routing. One
> well-chosen example plus an explicit exclusion ("Not for …") carries the
> routing signal at a fraction of the tokens; extra examples are allowed but
> cost always-on context, which is why R09 deducts 5 points when the
> description exceeds 1,200 characters.
> **`min_examples` override** (`R09: { min_examples: N }` in the project's
> `nlpm.local.md`, see `nlpm:conventions` §6): with N greater than 1, a
> description that has at least one but fewer than N `<example>` blocks costs
> -5 per missing block, capped at -15 so that a partial set never costs more
> than none; zero blocks stays -15. The exclusion-clause and length rows are
> unchanged. Without the override, N is 1 and the rows above apply as written.
---
### Commands
| Rule | Check | Condition | Penalty |
|------|-------|-----------|---------|
| -- | `description` present | Missing | -25 |
| R18 | `argument-hint` present | Command takes input but no hint | -5 |
| R14 | Steps numbered | Multi-step body with no numbered steps | -10 |
| R15 | Empty input handling | No handling for empty/missing input | -10 |
| R16 | Output format | No output format defined | -10 |
| R17 | Error paths | No error handling for missing files or bad data | -5 |
---
### Shared Partials
| Rule | Check | Condition | Penalty |
|------|-------|-----------|---------|
| R19 | `user-invocable: false` | Missing or set to true | -25 |
| R20 | Purpose clear | Description doesn't state it's a partial | -10 |
---
### Rules
| Rule | Check | Condition | Penalty |
|------|-------|-----------|---------|
| R21 | `description` present | Missing frontmatter description | -10 |
| R21 | Format: bold imperative | No bold imperative opening | -5 |
| R21 | Format: rationale | No rationale following the imperative | -10 |
| R22 | Enforceability | Rule is not specific/testable | -10 |
| R23 | Budget | Rule file over 500 lines | -15 |
| R26 | Conflicts with other rules | Direct contradiction with another rule in same set | -20 |
| R24 | Duplicates tooling | Re-states what eslint/ruff/clippy already catches | -10 |
---
### Hooks — universal checks (apply to all tools)
| Rule | Check | Condition | Penalty |
|------|-------|-----------|---------|
| -- | Valid syntax | Hook config file fails to parse (JSON or TOML per tool) | -25 |
| R29 | Scripts exist | Referenced script file does not exist | -20 |
| -- | Command safety | Hook command contains dangerous patterns (`rm -rf`, `git push --force`, `DROP TABLE`) | -15 |
| -- | Matcher regex valid | Matcher pattern doesn't compile as valid regex | -10 |
| -- | Timeout reasonable | Hook specifies timeout > 30s (likely hangs) | -5 |
### Hooks (Claude Code — Tier 2-Claude only)
Authoritative event list: `nlpm:conventions-claude` §7 together with its extended allow-list in `conventions-claude/reference.md`. Per the multi-tool design (`analysis/multi-tool-design-2026-05.md` decision #4), Claude / Codex / Antigravity hook event vocabularies are NOT 1:1 mappable — three separate tables, no translation. The Codex and Antigravity tables are in `references/codex.md` and `references/antigravity.md`.
| Rule | Check | Condition | Penalty |
|------|-------|-----------|---------|
| R27 | Event names valid (Claude) | Uses an event name that is in neither the `nlpm:conventions-claude` §7 table nor its extended allow-list (`conventions-claude/reference.md`, Hook Events). Those two lists together are the confirmed set (33 events, including `SubagentStop`, `SubagentStart`, `PreCompact` and `Notification`); a name missing from both still passes if `code.claude.com/docs/en/hooks.md` documents it | -15 |
| R27 | Case correct (Claude) | Event name has wrong case (e.g. `pretooluse`) | -10 |
| -- | Hook type valid (Claude) | Uses unrecognized `type` value — confirmed Claude types: `command`, `http`, `mcp_tool`, `prompt`, `agent` | -10 |
| -- | MCP matcher format (Claude) | Matcher targets MCP tool but doesn't use `mcp__<server>__<tool>` pattern | -5 |
---
### plugin.json (Claude Code — `.claude-plugin/plugin.json`)
| Check | Condition | Penalty |
|-------|-----------|---------|
| `name` present | Missing | -25 |
| `version` is semver | Present but not valid semver | -10 |
| `description` present | Missing | -5 |
---
### .claude-plugin/marketplace.json (Claude Code — Tier 2-Claude)
Schema reference: `nlpm:conventions-claude` §17 and its `reference.md` (Plugin Distribution).
| Check | Condition | Penalty |
|-------|-----------|---------|
| Valid JSON | File fails JSON parse | -25 |
| `name` present | Missing | -25 |
| `owner.name` present | `owner` missing, or it has no `name` | -10 |
| `plugins` array present | Missing or empty | -10 |
| Per-plugin `name` and `source` | Either missing | -10 each |
| Per-plugin `source` valid | A relative path that doesn't start with `./` (bare names are valid only under `metadata.pluginRoot`), or an object whose `source.source` isn't one of the six object types in `reference.md` or that lacks that type's required field | -10 each |
| Per-plugin `version` in step | Differs from the `version` in the `plugin.json` it describes, when that file is in the same repository (`plugin.json` wins at load, so the entry is stale) | -5 each |
| Per-plugin `description` present | Missing (the `/plugin` browser shows it) | -3 each |
---
### .mcp.json (Claude Code — `.mcp.json` at repo root)
| Check | Condition | Penalty |
|-------|-----------|---------|
| Valid JSON | File fails JSON parse | -25 |
| Server `command` present | MCP server entry missing `command` field | -15 |
---
### .lsp.json (Claude Code LSP — Tier 2-Claude)
Schema details: `nlpm:conventions-claude` §12. Stable in 2026.
| Check | Condition | Penalty |
|-------|-----------|---------|
| Valid JSON | File fails JSON parse | -25 |
---
### monitors/monitors.json (Claude Code monitors — Tier 2-Claude)
Schema details: `nlpm:conventions-claude` §13. Stable in 2026.
| Check | Condition | Penalty |
|-------|-----------|---------|
| Valid JSON | File fails JSON parse | -25 |
---
### Settings Files (.claude/settings.json, .claude/settings.local.json)
| Check | Condition | Penalty |
|-------|-----------|---------|
| Valid JSON | File fails JSON parse | -25 |
| No hardcoded secrets | Contains API keys, tokens, or passwords | -25 |
| Permission mode sanity | `bypassPermissions` enabled in a shared project settings file (not .local) | -15 |
Ver en GitHub