ClaudSkills / Dev Tools / linters-formatters

Skill Description Linter

Q: What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Skill Description Linter skill fit in?

A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Skill Description Linter is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the Dev Tools category. Learn more at https://claudskills.com/learn/what-is-skill-md/.

Category: Dev Tools · Sub-category: linters-formatters · Last updated: 2026-10-25

type:review

Lint the front matter of your SKILL.md files so each skill is listed and picked correctly: double-quoted description under 600 characters, a verb first, a quoted trigger phrase, Use when and Not for sentences, name equal to the folder, strict-YAML safety and a Limits section, with --fix for the quoting. Use when asked \"why does my skill not trigger?\", before publishing skills, or in CI. Not for testing which prompts trigger a skill (use skill-trigger-eval) or for reviewing third-party skills.

Security AStatic scan found no risk patternsHow grading works ›

From the source SKILL.md

The description is the only part of a skill the host reads before deciding to load it, and the front matter is parsed by more than one reader: Claude Code, other agents, packaging scripts and validators with strict YAML parsers. A description that is too long costs listing budget on every turn; one that starts with the mechanism instead of the user's goal, has no phrase a user would type, or never says what it is not for gets picked for the wrong request or not at all; a plain value with a colon in it breaks strict parsers. This skill checks the rules below on every SKILL.md you point it at,…

What this skill does

Skill Description Linter is a community-contributed Claude Code skill in the linters-formatters sub-category. It ships as a SKILL.md file that Claude Code auto-discovers under ~/.claude/skills/skill-description-linter/ and loads when your prompt matches the skill's trigger.

When to invoke it: Use when and Not for sentences, name equal to the folder, strict-YAML safety and a Limits section, with --fix for the quoting. Use when asked \"why does my skill not trigger?\", before publishing skills, or in CI.

Who uses this skill

The Skill Description Linter Claude Code skill is built for developers, power users, and teams automating repetitive workflows and improving developer experience. It's part of ClaudSkills (also referred to as Claude Skills or Claude Code Skills) — the open community-curated registry of 211,000+ SKILL.md files for Anthropic's Claude Code agent and the wider Claude ecosystem (Claude API, Claude Agent SDK).

How to install

Free

Manual install (2 steps)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/skill-description-linter
curl -L https://claudskills.com/skills/skill-description-linter/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.claude/skills/skill-description-linter/SKILL.md

Or just download SKILL.md directly and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/skill-description-linter/. Claude Code auto-discovers it on next session.

Skills live at ~/.claude/skills/skill-description-linter/SKILL.md on macOS/Linux, or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\skill-description-linter\SKILL.md on Windows. See the full install guide for step-by-step instructions.

📱 Install from your phone or desktop Telegram

Open @claudskills_bot on Telegram, tap Open Desktop App, and the desktop app installs this skill for you. Or share the bot link with a colleague — they get the same one-tap install. Learn more →

Pro

One-click install via the desktop app

The ClaudSkills desktop app installs any skill directly into ~/.claude/skills/ with one click — no terminal required. Pro starts at $9/mo or $149 lifetime.

Pro

For the full experience including quality scoring and one-click install features for each skill — upgrade to Pro.

See pricing → Download desktop app

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Skill Description Linter Claude Code skill?

Install via the ClaudSkills desktop app (one click) or copy SKILL.md from the source repository to ~/.claude/skills/skill-description-linter/SKILL.md and restart Claude Code. Both flows are detailed at claudskills.com/install/.

What does the Skill Description Linter skill do?

Is this skill free to install?

Yes. ClaudSkills is an open registry — every skill keeps its source repository's license, and manual install via copy is free. ClaudSkills Pro ($9/mo, $79/yr, or $149 one-time) adds one-click install via the desktop app and a multi-signal Quality Score.

When should I use the Skill Description Linter skill?

Use Skill Description Linter when your Claude Code task falls under the Dev Tools category — specifically in the linters formatters area. Claude Code auto-discovers installed skills and invokes the right one based on the task description, so you can also ask Claude directly (e.g. "use Skill Description Linter" or describe the task and let Claude pick). Browse related skills at /category/tools/.

What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Skill Description Linter skill fit in?

A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Skill Description Linter is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the Dev Tools category. Learn more at /learn/what-is-a-claude-skill/.

Attribution & license

Source: https://github.com/basitalisandhu/claude-skills/blob/HEAD/plugins/cc-setup-tooling/skills/skill-description-linter/SKILL.md
License: MIT
Author: basitalisandhu
Website: https://basitalisandhu.github.io/claude-skills/

Cite this skill

If you reference this skill in a blog post, paper, or documentation, you can cite it as:

APA

basitalisandhu. (2026). Skill Description Linter [Claude Code skill]. ClaudSkills. https://claudskills.com/skills/skill-description-linter/

BibTeX

@misc{skill-description-linter-2026,
  author    = {basitalisandhu},
  title     = {Skill Description Linter [Claude Code skill]},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {ClaudSkills},
  url       = {https://claudskills.com/skills/skill-description-linter/}
}

Embed this skill

Promote, attribute, or link this skill from your own README, blog post, or documentation. All three snippets are free to use — no sign-up, no API key. More distribution surfaces →

Badge

[![ClaudSkills](https://claudskills.com/badge/skill-description-linter.svg)](https://claudskills.com/skills/skill-description-linter/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=skill_badge)

Security scan

Grade A · scanned 2026-10-25 — free static scan against the OWASP Agentic Skills Top 10.

No risk patterns were found in any of the ten OWASP-aligned categories. How grading works ›

✓ Prompt injection
✓ Data exfiltration
✓ Supply chain
✓ Reverse shell
✓ Credentials
✓ Execution
✓ Filesystem
✓ Persistence
✓ Obfuscation
✓ Network

Show this grade on your repo (click to copy):

[![Security: A](https://img.shields.io/badge/Security-A-2e7d32)](https://claudskills.com/skills/skill-description-linter/#security)

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Browse all Dev Tools skills in the ClaudSkills registry, or explore these other picks from the same category:

Browse all Dev Tools skills → Top 100 skills

Part of ClaudSkills — the open registry for Claude Skills & Claude Code Skills. · What's New · Install guide · About · llms.txt

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