Vendor Review — Agent Skill by Anthropic

From the author

Evaluate a vendor — cost analysis, risk assessment, and recommendation. Use when reviewing a new vendor proposal, deciding whether to renew or replace a contract, comparing two vendors side-by-side, or building a TCO breakdown and negotiation points before procurement sign-off.

— the description by Anthropic

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The vendor-review skill provides a standardized approach to assessing third-party vendors. It helps users conduct comprehensive evaluations by analyzing total cost of ownership, identifying potential risks, and benchmarking performance metrics. The skill is designed to assist in decision-making processes such as selecting new vendors, renewing existing contracts, or comparing multiple options side-by-side, ultimately producing a clear recommendation and actionable negotiation points.

What it does

Performs a detailed total cost of ownership analysis including implementation and exit costs.
Conducts a risk assessment covering financial stability, security, and contract lock-in.
Evaluates vendor performance based on SLAs, support, and reliability metrics.
Generates a side-by-side comparison matrix for multiple vendors.
Provides a structured output with clear recommendations and specific negotiation leverage points.
Integrates with procurement and knowledge base data if available to pull existing contract details.

When to use it

When evaluating a new vendor proposal for procurement.
When deciding whether to renew or replace an existing vendor contract.
When comparing two or more vendors to determine the best fit.
When preparing for contract negotiations to identify key leverage points.

Advantages

Standardizes the vendor evaluation process across the organization.
Highlights hidden costs beyond simple license fees.
Provides a clear, objective summary for stakeholders.
Identifies specific risks and mitigation strategies before signing.
Facilitates data-driven negotiation through structured analysis.

Usage examples

“/vendor-review Acme Corp”: The agent analyzes the provided proposal or general information about Acme Corp, generating a cost breakdown, risk assessment, and a recommendation on whether to proceed.
“/vendor-review Compare CloudProvider A vs CloudProvider B”: The agent creates a side-by-side comparison matrix covering pricing, features, security, and support to help determine the superior vendor choice.

Install

Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/anthropics/vendor-review/download

Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip vendor-review.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Anthropic

/vendor-review

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Evaluate a vendor with structured analysis covering cost, risk, performance, and fit.

Usage

/vendor-review $ARGUMENTS

What I Need From You

Vendor name: Who are you evaluating?
Context: New vendor evaluation, renewal decision, or comparison?
Details: Contract terms, pricing, proposal document, or current performance data

Evaluation Framework

Cost Analysis (Total Cost of Ownership)

Total cost of ownership (not just license fees)
Implementation and migration costs
Training and onboarding costs
Ongoing support and maintenance
Exit costs (data migration, contract termination)

Risk Assessment

Vendor financial stability
Security and compliance posture
Concentration risk (single vendor dependency)
Contract lock-in and exit terms
Business continuity and disaster recovery

Performance Metrics

SLA compliance
Support response times
Uptime and reliability
Feature delivery cadence
Customer satisfaction

Comparison Matrix

When comparing vendors, produce a side-by-side matrix covering: pricing, features, integrations, security, support, contract terms, and references.

Output

## Vendor Review: [Vendor Name]
**Date:** [Date] | **Type:** [New / Renewal / Comparison]

### Summary
[2-3 sentence recommendation]

### Cost Analysis
| Component | Annual Cost | Notes |
|-----------|-------------|-------|
| License/subscription | $[X] | [Per seat, flat, usage-based] |
| Implementation | $[X] | [One-time] |
| Support/maintenance | $[X] | [Included or add-on] |
| **Total Year 1** | **$[X]** | |
| **Total 3-Year** | **$[X]** | |

### Risk Assessment
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|------|-----------|--------|------------|
| [Risk] | High/Med/Low | High/Med/Low | [Mitigation] |

### Strengths
- [Strength 1]
- [Strength 2]

### Concerns
- [Concern 1]
- [Concern 2]

### Recommendation
[Proceed / Negotiate / Pass] — [Reasoning]

### Negotiation Points
- [Leverage point 1]
- [Leverage point 2]

If Connectors Available

If ~~knowledge base is connected:

Search for existing vendor evaluations, contracts, and performance reviews
Pull procurement policies and approval thresholds

If ~~procurement is connected:

Pull current contract terms, spend history, and renewal dates
Compare pricing against existing vendor agreements

Tips

Upload the proposal — I can extract pricing, terms, and SLAs from vendor documents.
Compare vendors — "Compare Vendor A vs Vendor B" gets you a side-by-side analysis.
Include current spend — For renewals, knowing what you pay now helps evaluate price changes.

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer903 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer11.3 KiB
SKILL.md3.1 KiB

Requirements and compatibility

Written for: Claude Code, Claude apps

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Claude Code frontmatter

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

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Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download vendor-review.zip