skill-test

!`bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config --keys automation` **Automation mode**: Resolve `modes.automation` (`project.local.yaml` → `project.yaml` → default `collaborative`). Every `AskUserQuestion` call and every file write follows `.claude/docs/automation-modes.md` (collaborative asks always · guided major-only · autonomous logs and proceeds; `automation_always_ask` categories always prompt). # Skill Test Validates skills (`.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md`) and agents (`.claude/agents/*.md`) for structural compliance and behavioral correctness. No external dependencies — runs entirely within the existing skill/hook/template architecture. **Four modes:** | Mode | Command | Purpose | Token Cost | |------|---------|---------|------------| | `static` | `/skill-test static [name\|all]` | Structural linter — 7 compliance checks per skill (skills only) | Low (~1k/skill) | | `spec` | `/skill-test spec [name]` | Behavioral verifier — evaluates assertions in a skill's or agent's test spec | Medium (~5k each) | | `category` | `/skill-test category [name\|all]` | Category rubric — checks a skill or agent against its category-specific metrics | Low (~2k each) | | `audit` | `/skill-test audit` | Coverage report — skills, agent specs, last test dates | Low (~3k total) | --- ## Phase 1: Parse Arguments Determine mode from the first argument: - `static [name]` → run 7 structural checks on one skill - `static all` → run 7 structural checks on all skills (Glob `.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md`) - `spec [name]` → read the skill or agent + its test spec, evaluate assertions - `category [name]` → run category-specific rubric from `CCGS Skill Testing Framework/quality-rubric.md` - `category all` → run category rubric for every skill and every agent that has a `category:` in catalog - `audit` (or no argument) → read catalog, list all skills and agents, show coverage If the argument is unrecognized, output usage and stop. **Resolve the name before `spec` or `category`.** Look it up in `CCGS Skill Testing Framework/catalog.yaml`: an entry under `skills:` is a skill (`.claude/skills/[name]/SKILL.md`); an entry under `agents:` is an agent (`.claude/agents/[name].md`). With no catalog entry, use whichever of those two files exists. Only when neither exists, report "'[name]' is neither a skill in `.claude/skills/` nor an agent in `.claude/agents/`." and stop. A name that is also an ordinary word is still a name: `/skill-test spec help` tests the `/help` skill, never a request for this skill's usage. `static` checks SKILL.md structure, so it is skills-only. Given an agent name, say so and point to `/skill-test spec [name]` — do not report the agent as missing. --- ## Phase 2A: Static Mode — Structural Linter For each skill being tested, read its `SKILL.md` and every file in its `references/` folder fully, and run all 7 checks on them as one skill — the longest skills keep each phase in `references/`. The frontmatter checks (1, 6 and 7) read `SKILL.md`. ### Check 1 — Required Frontmatter Fields The file must contain all of these in the YAML frontmatter block: - `name:` - `description:` - `argument-hint:` - `user-invocable:` - `allowed-tools:` **FAIL** if any are absent. A file whose frontmatter does not parse fails Check 1 too — malformed YAML is a structural defect this check exists to catch, not an unassessable file; see the per-skill result rule below. ### Check 2 — Multiple Phases The skill must have ≥2 numbered phase headings. Look for patterns like: - `## Phase N` or `## Phase N:` - `## N.` (numbered top-level sections) - At least 2 distinct `##` headings if phases aren't explicitly numbered **FAIL** if fewer than 2 phase-like headings are found. ### Check 3 — Verdict Keywords The skill must communicate a clear outcome. Accept any of: - **Gate / review verdicts** — `PASS`, `FAIL`, `CONCERNS`, `APPROVED`, `BLOCKED`, `COMPLETE`, `READY`, `COMPLIANT`, `NON-COMPLIANT` - **Go / no-go verdicts** — `PROCEED`, `PIVOT`, `KILL`, `GO`, `NO-GO` - **Severity scales** — `CRITICAL`, `HIGH`, `MEDIUM`, `LOW`. Audit skills rank findings by severity instead of issuing one verdict for the whole run. **FAIL** if none are present **and** the skill produces an assessment — its description or body promises a review, audit, check, gate, or readiness judgement. **WARN** (never FAIL) if none are present and the skill's output is an artifact or a value rather than a judgement. `/settings` is the reference case: it prints and writes configuration and has no verdict to give. Do not invent one to satisfy this check. > A narrower list — gate verdicts only, hard FAIL on anything else — would wrongly > fail skills for reasons that are not their fault: `/prototype` and > `/vertical-slice` advertise `PROCEED`/`PIVOT`/`KILL` in their own descriptions, > `/adopt` and `/security-audit` rank by severity, and `/settings` has no verdict > by design. A linter that produces false failures on legitimate patterns stops > being trusted. ### Check 4 — Collaborative Protocol Language The skill must contain ask-before-write language. Look for: - `"May I write"` (canonical form) - `"before writing"` or `"approval"` near file-write instructions - `"ask"` + `"write"` in close proximity (within same section) **WARN** if absent (some read-only skills legitimately skip this). **FAIL** if `allowed-tools` includes `Write` or `Edit` but no ask-before-write language is found. ### Check 5 — Next-Step Handoff The skill must end with a recommended next action or follow-up path. Look for: - A final section mentioning another skill (e.g., `/story-done`, `/gate-check`) - "Recommended next" or "next step" phrasing - A "Follow-Up" or "After this" section **WARN** if absent. ### Check 6 — Fork Context Complexity If frontmatter contains `context: fork`, the skill should have ≥5 phase headings (`##` level or numbered Phase N headers). Fork context is for complex multi-phase skills; simple skills should not use it. **WARN** if `context: fork` is set but fewer than 5 phases found. ### Check 7 — Argument Hint Plausibility `argument-hint` must be non-empty. If the skill body mentions multiple modes (e.g., "Mode A | Mode B"), the hint should reflect them. Cross-reference the hint against the first phase's "Parse Arguments" section. **WARN** if hint is `""` or if documented modes don't match hint. --- ### Static Mode Output Format For a single skill: ``` === Skill Static Check: /[name] === Check 1 — Frontmatter Fields: PASS Check 2 — Multiple Phases: PASS (7 phases found) Check 3 — Verdict Keywords: PASS (PASS, FAIL, CONCERNS) Check 4 — Collaborative Protocol: PASS ("May I write" found) Check 5 — Next-Step Handoff: WARN (no follow-up section found) Check 6 — Fork Context Complexity: PASS (8 phases, context: fork set) Check 7 — Argument Hint: PASS Verdict: WARNINGS (1 warning, 0 failures) Recommended: Add a "Follow-Up Actions" section at the end of the skill. ``` A WARN or FAIL line names its cause in parentheses, and any verdict other than COMPLIANT ends with a `Recommended:` line naming the fix. The single-skill `Verdict:` is one of four values, the same as the `static all` Result column: **COMPLIANT** (no warnings, no failures), **WARNINGS** (warnings, no failures), **NON-COMPLIANT** (any FAIL), or **NOT ASSESSED** (the file could not be read or parsed, or its checks could not run — name the reason). For `static all`, produce a summary table then list any non-compliant skills: ``` === Skill Static Check: All 74 Skills === Skill | Result | Issues -----------------------|--------------|------- gate-check | COMPLIANT | design-review | COMPLIANT | story-readiness | WARNINGS | Check 5: no handoff ... Summary: 48 COMPLIANT, 3 WARNINGS, 1 NON-COMPLIANT, 1 NOT ASSESSED Aggregate Verdict: N WARNINGS / N FAILURES / N NOT ASSESSED ``` **`NOT ASSESSED` is a per-skill result here, not only an aggregate line.** A skill whose file is missing or otherwise unreadable (permissions, not found), so no check could even start, is reported as `NOT ASSESSED` with the reason — never omitted from the table and never counted as COMPLIANT. Ranked **above COMPLIANT**, **below WARNINGS and NON-COMPLIANT**. A file that *was* read but whose frontmatter does not parse is a different case: Check 1 fails on it (see above), so it is reported **NON-COMPLIANT**, not NOT ASSESSED — the defect is in the skill, not in the linter's access to it. **And state the denominator.** `All 74 Skills` in the header must be the number actually examined, not the number that exist: report `[N] of [M] skills checked` whenever they differ. A summary whose counts silently sum to less than its own title is the failure this skill is supposed to catch in others. No file writes in static mode. --- ## Phase 2B: Spec Mode — Behavioral Verifier ### Step 1 — Locate Files Use the skill or agent file resolved in Phase 1. Look up the spec path from `CCGS Skill Testing Framework/catalog.yaml` — use the `spec:` field on the matching `skills:` or `agents:` entry. If either is missing: - Missing skill or agent: the Phase 1 message. - Missing spec path in catalog: "No spec path set for '[name]' in catalog.yaml." - Spec file not found at path: "Spec file missing at [path]. Run `/skill-test audit` to see coverage gaps." ### Step 2 — Read Both Files Read the skill — its `SKILL.md` and every file in its `references/` folder — or the agent file, and the test spec file, completely. ### Step 3 — Evaluate Assertions **Evaluate against what the model running it can see.** A skill runs in a session, and a spawned agent in its own context, and both have the project's `CLAUDE.md` loaded along with every file it imports on an `@path` line (a spawned agent quotes `coordination-rules.md` word for word without reading it). Read those files too. A rule stated there counts for every skill and agent — cite the file it came from. Where the skill's or agent's own file contradicts it, the own file wins: it is the more specific instruction. **For an agent**, the spec's sections are evaluated against the agent file — and against every skill its frontmatter lists under `skills:`, which Claude Code loads into the agent at launch: - **Static Assertions** — check each against the agent's frontmatter and body. An assertion that names a literal value (a `model:` alias, a frontmatter key, a tool name) is an exact comparison with the file: `model: inherit` does not satisfy "Model tier is `sonnet`", and a near match is FAIL, never PARTIAL. - **Test Cases** — evaluate each case's expected behavior against the agent's written instructions, the same way a skill's are evaluated below. A case that names a gate ID (`LP-FEASIBILITY`, `CD-PILLARS`, …) is that gate's invocation: the spawning skill has the agent read `.claude/docs/director-gates/[gate-id].md` first, so that file's Prompt and Verdicts are the agent's instructions for the case — read it too. - **Redirect and escalation cases** — the agent is asked for work another role owns, or meets a conflict it cannot settle. The case is met when the loaded `coordination-rules.md` covers the step — rule 2 (no binding decisions outside its domain), rule 3 (escalate a conflict to the shared parent) or rule 5 (no files outside its directories without delegation) — **and** the agent's own file names the owning role in its collaborator, delegation, escalation or "must not" lists. Cite both; do not require the agent to restate the redirect in its own words. It is a FAIL when the agent's file claims that work for itself, or when no loaded file names who owns it. - **Protocol Compliance** — use the spec's own `## Protocol Compliance` list in place of the four skill checks below. **For a skill**, check each of the spec's **Static Assertions** against the skill's frontmatter and body (`SKILL.md` and its `references/` files) the same way; a literal value is an exact comparison. `/skill-test static` runs only its 7 fixed checks, so a spec's own static lines — a verdict keyword, a phase, "May I write" before a named file — are evaluated here or nowhere. The rest of this step applies to skills and agents alike. For each **Test Case** in the spec: 1. Read the **Fixture** description (assumed state of project files) 2. Read the **Expected behavior** steps 3. Read each **Assertion** checkbox A case with no **Fixture** reads its **Input** as the fixture; a case with no **Assertions** list treats each **Expected behavior** bullet as an assertion — most agent specs are written this way, and a case verdict is not left undefined just because it has no separate checklist. For each assertion, evaluate whether the skill's written instructions, if followed correctly given the fixture state, would satisfy it. This is a Claude-evaluated reasoning check, not code execution. Mark each assertion: - **PASS** — skill instructions clearly satisfy this assertion - **PARTIAL** — skill instructions partially address it, but with ambiguity - **FAIL** — skill instructions would NOT satisfy this assertion given the fixture - **NOT ASSESSED** — the assertion could not be evaluated at all: it names a fixture state the spec never defines, depends on runtime behavior no static read can settle, or references a file or section that does not exist (a file that is merely silent on the behaviour is FAIL or PARTIAL, not this). Rank it **above PASS** (an assertion nobody could evaluate has not been satisfied) and **below PARTIAL and FAIL** (an ambiguity somebody identified is more actionable than one nobody could reach). Do not resolve an unevaluable assertion to PASS because the skill "probably" handles it — that judgement is what the spec exists to replace. For a skill's **Protocol Compliance** section (always present), evaluate each line of the spec's own list against the skill's files exactly as you evaluate a case assertion — PASS, PARTIAL, FAIL or NOT ASSESSED. Specs put rules there that no case repeats ("covered by the protocol compliance assertions above"), so a list that is not evaluated is a set of rules nobody checks. These four checks are the floor, added when the list does not already cover them: - Check whether the skill requires "May I write" before file writes - Check whether the skill presents findings before requesting approval - Check whether the skill ends with a recommended next step - Check whether the skill avoids auto-creating files without approval ### Step 4 — Build Report ``` === Skill Spec Test: /[name] === Date: [date] Spec: CCGS Skill Testing Framework/skills/[category]/[name].md Static Assertions: [PASS] [assertion text] [NOT ASSESSED] [assertion text] Reason: [why it could not be evaluated] Case 1: [Happy Path — name] Fixture: [summary] Assertions: [PASS] [assertion text] [FAIL] [assertion text] Reason: The skill's Phase 3 says "..." but the fixture state means "..." Case Verdict: FAIL Case 2: [Edge Case — name] ... Case Verdict: PASS Protocol Compliance: [PASS] Uses "May I write" before file writes [PASS] Presents findings before asking approval [PARTIAL] No explicit next-step handoff at end Overall Verdict: FAIL (1 case failed, 1 protocol line partial) ``` A Case Verdict is the worst result among its assertions, and the Overall Verdict the worst across the static assertions, the cases and Protocol Compliance, in this order: FAIL, PARTIAL, NOT ASSESSED, PASS. An assertion nobody could evaluate keeps the overall result from reading PASS. For an agent, the header is `=== Agent Spec Test: [name] ===`, `Spec:` is its path under `CCGS Skill Testing Framework/agents/`, and a `Static Assertions:` block comes before Case 1. ### Step 5 — Offer to Write Results "May I write these results to `CCGS Skill Testing Framework/results/skill-test-spec-[name]-[date].md` and update `CCGS Skill Testing Framework/catalog.yaml`?" If yes: - Write results file to `CCGS Skill Testing Framework/results/` - Update the skill's or agent's entry in `CCGS Skill Testing Framework/catalog.yaml`: - `last_spec: [date]` - `last_spec_result: PASS|PARTIAL|FAIL|NOT ASSESSED` — the Overall Verdict --- ## Phase 2D: Category Mode — Rubric Evaluation ### Step 1 — Locate Skill and Category Use the skill or agent file resolved in Phase 1. Look up the `category:` field on its `skills:` or `agents:` entry in `CCGS Skill Testing Framework/catalog.yaml`. If neither file exists: the Phase 1 message. If no `category:` field: "No category assigned for '[name]' in catalog.yaml. Add `category: [name]` to its entry first." For `category all`: collect every skill and every agent with a `category:` field and process each, reporting skills and agents in separate tables. `category: utility` skills are evaluated against U1 (static checks pass) and U2 (gate mode correct if applicable) only — skip to the static mode for U1. Cross-check against `.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md` and `.claude/agents/*.md` (Audit mode's Step 2 glob): list any skill or agent missing from the catalog, or