Skill Authoring
Grafana LabsOfficialPublished by Grafana Labs
- Skill
- Meta (authoring, orchestration, planning, memory)
- Agent tooling
- Apache-2.0
- No issues found
AutoGineer summary
Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author
This skill provides a structured approach to creating and maintaining agent skills within the Grafana ecosystem. It defines a canonical structure for SKILL.md files, including YAML frontmatter, progressive disclosure patterns, and a validation feedback loop. It is designed to help developers align their skills with specific rubrics covering conciseness, actionability, workflow clarity, and progressive disclosure, ensuring they pass automated CI gates and trigger effectively for users.
What it does
- Provides a rubric for auditing and scoring skill documentation.
- Defines the canonical SKILL.md structure and bundle layout.
- Implements a validate-fix-rerun feedback loop for skill optimization.
- Offers guidance on progressive disclosure and splitting strategies for large documentation.
- Details trigger patterns to ensure skills are correctly identified by agents.
- Lists common anti-patterns to avoid during skill development.
When to use it
- When creating a new skill within the repository.
- When reviewing a skill pull request.
- When a skill fails the CI merge gate or receives a low review score.
- When a skill is not triggering as expected during agent interactions.
- When restructuring long documentation into a bundle.
- When seeking advice on optimizing or fixing existing skill files.
Advantages
- Standardizes skill development across the repository.
- Provides actionable feedback based on automated review scores.
- Reduces token usage through progressive disclosure strategies.
- Ensures consistent trigger behavior via pushy description patterns.
- Facilitates easier maintenance through modular bundle layouts.
Usage examples
- “How do I improve my skill's review score?”
- The agent will guide you through the Tessl review process, identifying specific dimensions like conciseness or actionability that need improvement based on the rubric.
- “My skill isn't triggering when I ask for help. What should I do?”
- The agent will audit your skill's description against the pushy-description pattern and suggest updates to ensure it includes the necessary trigger terms.
- “How should I split a long SKILL.md file?”
- The agent will provide strategies for splitting content into references/ files based on domain, depth, or format to maintain the three-level loading model.
Install
Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/grafana/skill-authoring/downloadUnzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:
mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip skill-authoring.zip -d .agents/skills
Documentation by Grafana Labs
Authoring & Improving Grafana Skills
How to write, review, and improve SKILL.md files so they pass the repo's CI gate and score well against the Anthropic-aligned rubric Tessl uses.
Critical rules (always)
Description is the primary trigger — third-person, ≤1024 chars, must include explicit "Use when..." phrasing AND list concrete trigger terms users naturally say. See references/descriptions.md for the pushy-description pattern that combats undertriggering.
Body under 500 lines — split into
references/*.mdif approaching the limit. SKILL.md is the routing layer, not the entire knowledge base.One level of nesting for references — link from SKILL.md directly, never
SKILL.md → a.md → b.md. Claude may usehead -100previews on nested chains and miss content.Imperative voice — "Run X" not "You should run X" not "It is important to run X". Explain why over heavy-handed
MUSTmarkers.Concrete examples beat prose — copy-paste-ready commands, real config snippets. Tessl's
actionabilitydimension scores this directly.No reserved words in
name—anthropicandclaudeare forbidden in skill names.No time-sensitive language in the body — "after August 2025…" rots. Use an
<details>"Old patterns" section for legacy info instead.Validate before committing —
./scripts/lint-skills.sh skills/<plugin>/<your-skill>clean + Tessl score ≥75 (runtessl skill review --json <dir>).
The rubric
CI fails any PR where a touched SKILL.md scores below 75 on four 0-3 dimensions: conciseness, actionability, workflow clarity, progressive disclosure. Full per-dimension scoring + Anthropic-doc mapping in references/rubric.md.
Score variance
The judge is an LLM and swings 7-10 points run-to-run. Local 94 commonly lands at CI 85. Ship only on three consecutive local 100s.
Decision tree for a new skill
What product / domain does this skill belong to? Pick the right plugin folder:
grafana-core/,grafana-cloud/,grafana-lgtm/,grafana-app-sdk/,grafana-k6/,grafana-plugins/. If none fits cleanly, ask the user before creating a new plugin group (a new group requires updating threemarketplace.jsonfiles).Estimate body length.
<200 lines of substance → single
SKILL.md, no bundle200-500 lines →
SKILL.md+references/<topic>.mdfor the long-form material500 lines → mandatory bundle split; see references/anatomy.md § Splitting strategies
Write a "pushy" description first. The description is the only thing always loaded into context. If agents don't trigger the skill, nothing else matters. See references/descriptions.md for the pattern.
Draft body with the four-dimension rubric in mind.
Cut every sentence Claude already knows (Conciseness)
Replace prose explanations with code blocks (Actionability)
Number every multi-step procedure + add a validation step at the end (Workflow clarity)
If you reach for
<details>, consider whether that content belongs inreferences/instead (Progressive disclosure)
Register in marketplace manifests. Add the skill path to the
skillsarray in all three:.claude-plugin/marketplace.json.cursor-plugin/marketplace.json.agents-plugin/marketplace.json
Validate locally.
# 1. Lint clean (0 errors) ./scripts/lint-skills.sh skills/<plugin>/<your-skill> # 2. Tessl reviewScore ≥75 (the CI gate) tessl skill review --json skills/<plugin>/<your-skill> | jq '.review.reviewScore' # 3. If below 75 or you want ≥85: run --optimize (requires auth) tessl skill review --optimize --yes --max-iterations 3 skills/<plugin>/<your-skill>If the run fails: read the lint error / Tessl suggestion, fix, re-run. Don't open the PR until both checks pass cleanly. The feedback-loop pattern beats one-shot writing.
Fixing a low-scoring existing skill
Read the judge's verbatim Suggestions text (non-JSON output):
tessl skill review skills/<plugin>/<name>The
Suggestions:block under each dimension names the exact sentences/sections to cut. Copy the suggestion — don't guess. Then verify the lowest dimension matches your read.Apply the fix pattern from references/rubric.md:
Conciseness 1-2 → cut intros, definitions, multi-line tables that mostly point to refs
Actionability 1-2 → replace prose with code blocks and CLI commands
Workflow clarity 1-2 → add numbered steps + validation checkpoints
Progressive disclosure 1-2 → split into
references/*.md
If the skill is intentionally a routing document (like
grafana-k6/k6-docs), don't let--optimizeinline the bundle back into SKILL.md. Hand-craft a minimal copy-paste "validation loop" inline so SKILL.md is independently actionable, while preserving the bundle.Re-score five times locally. Don't stop until all five runs hit 100 — see "Score variance" above for why.
Anti-patterns
See references/anti-patterns.md.
References
references/descriptions.md— the pushy-description pattern + trigger-term checklistreferences/rubric.md— per-dimension scoring with Anthropic-doc citations and concrete fix patternsreferences/anatomy.md— three-level progressive disclosure, bundle layout, splitting strategiesreferences/anti-patterns.md— what NOT to do, with examples
Files
- ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer850 B
- LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer11.1 KiB
- SKILL.md7.0 KiB
- references/anatomy.md5.5 KiB
- references/anti-patterns.md7.4 KiB
- references/descriptions.md4.4 KiB
- references/rubric.md12.2 KiB
LICENSE
Apache License
Version 2.0, January 2004
http://www.apache.org/licenses/
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION
1. Definitions.
"License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.
"Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by
the copyright owner that is granting the License.
"Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all
other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common
control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition,
"control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.
"You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity
exercising permissions granted by this License.
"Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications,
including but not limited to software source code, documentation
source, and configuration files.
"Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical
transformation or translation of a Source form, including but
not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation,
and conversions to other media types.
"Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or
Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a
copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
(an example is provided in the Appendix below).
"Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object
form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the
editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes
of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain
separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of,
the Work and Derivative Works thereof.
"Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including
the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions
to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner
or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of
the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted"
means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent
to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to
communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems,
and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the
Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but
excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise
designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution."
"Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity
on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by Licensor and
subsequently incorporated within the Work.
2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of,
publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the
Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.
3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
(except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made,
use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work,
where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable
by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their
Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s)
with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
institute patent litigation against any entity (including a
cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work
or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct
or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses
granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate
as of the date such litigation is filed.
4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
meet the following conditions:
(a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or
Derivative Works a copy of this License; and
(b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices
stating that You changed the files; and
(c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
the Derivative Works; and
(d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not
pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one
of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or
documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or,
within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents
of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and
do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution
notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside
or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided
that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed
as modifying the License.
You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and
may provide additional or different license terms and conditions
for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or
for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use,
reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with
the conditions stated in this License.
5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise,
any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work
by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of
this License, without any additional terms or conditions.
Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify
the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed
with Licensor regarding such Contributions.
6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.
7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or
agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each
Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions
of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the
appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any
risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.
8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing
the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer,
and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity,
or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this
License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only
on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf
of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify,
defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability
incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by reason
of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
APPENDIX: How to apply the Apache License to your work.
To apply the Apache License to your work, attach the following
boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]"
replaced with your own identifying information. (Don't include
the brackets!) The text should be enclosed in the appropriate
comment syntax for the file format. We also recommend that a
file or class name and description of purpose be included on the
same "printed page" as the copyright notice for easier
identification within third-party archives.
Copyright 2026 Grafana Labs
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
Requirements and compatibility
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.
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.
Attribution and licence
- Published by
- Grafana Labs
- Publisher
- Grafana Labs (Official)
- Source
- grafana/skills · skills/grafana-core/skill-authoring · commit 8fb72a5
- Licence
- Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
- LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
- ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
- Synced
AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by Grafana Labs or Grafana Labs.
Download ZIP
The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download skill-authoring.zip