| name | Skill Test |
| description | Test skills before using or publishing. Trial, compare, evaluate in isolation without affecting your environment. |
Test Skills Safely
Two use cases:
- Try before commit — Test drive skills before installing
- Evaluate before publish — Verify quality before publishing
Key principle: Test in isolation. Never affect user's environment.
References:
- Read
sandbox.md — Isolated testing environment
- Read
compare.md — A/B comparison between skills
- Read
evaluate.md — Multi-agent quality evaluation
Quick Start
Trial a skill:
sessions_spawn(
task="Test skill X: Load ONLY its SKILL.md, run [sample task], report quality",
model="anthropic/claude-haiku"
)
Compare two skills:
- Run same task through each (separate sub-agents)
- Present outputs side-by-side
- Ask: "Which works better? Why?"
Test Modes
Trial Mode — Before installing
- Spawn sub-agent with ONLY the test skill
- Run 2-3 representative tasks
- Evaluate: Does it help? Clear instructions?
- Decision: keep, pass, or try another
Evaluation Mode — Before publishing
- Spawn specialized reviewers (see
evaluate.md)
- Check structure, safety, usefulness
- Synthesize findings
- Recommend improvements
Sandbox Isolation
⚠️ Never load test skill into your main context.
Sub-agent approach (recommended):
sessions_spawn(
task="You have ONE skill loaded: [skill content]. Test by doing: [task]",
model="anthropic/claude-haiku"
)
- Complete isolation — main session unaffected
- Natural cleanup — sub-agent terminates, done
- Cheap testing — use Haiku
What to check:
- Does it activate correctly?
- Are instructions clear?
- Token cost reasonable?
- Output quality acceptable?
Edge Cases
Skill requires credentials: Ask user for test credentials or skip auth-dependent features.
Skill not found: Verify slug with npx clawhub info <slug> before testing.
Test fails mid-way: Sub-agent terminates cleanly. Review logs, adjust test task, retry.
Skill has many auxiliary files: Load SKILL.md first, reference others only if needed during test.
Test thoroughly. Install only after explicit user approval.
