/anomaly-detection
Identify unusual patterns, outliers, and anomalies in data using statistical methods, isolation forests, and autoencoders for fraud detection and quality monitoring
$ npx -y skills add aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill anomaly-detection --agent claude-codeHow it fires
How this skill gets triggered: by you, by Claude, or both.
- Fires itselfAuto-invocation. Claude auto-loads it when your prompt matches the work.Auto-invocation is when the right skill fires by itself at the right moment, driven by a FLOW.md router and a hook, instead of you invoking it by name. It is the difference between a skill being installed and a skill actually getting used.Read the full definition →
- You can call itInvoke it directly when you want it.
- Slash command
/anomaly-detection
Context preview
The summary Claude sees to decide when to auto-load this skill.
Identify unusual patterns, outliers, and anomalies in data using statistical methods, isolation forests, and autoencoders for fraud detection and quality monitoring
SKILL.md
anomaly-detection.SKILL.mdname: Anomaly Detection
description: Identify unusual patterns, outliers, and anomalies in data using statistical methods, isolation forests, and autoencoders for fraud detection and quality monitoring
Anomaly Detection
Overview
Anomaly detection identifies unusual patterns, outliers, and anomalies in data that deviate significantly from normal behavior, enabling fraud detection and system monitoring.
When to Use
- Detecting fraudulent transactions or suspicious activity in financial data
- Identifying system failures, network intrusions, or security breaches
- Monitoring manufacturing quality and identifying defective products
- Finding unusual patterns in healthcare data or patient vital signs
- Detecting abnormal sensor readings in IoT or industrial systems
- Identifying outliers in customer behavior for targeted intervention
Detection Methods
- **Statistical**: Z-score, IQR, modified Z-score
- **Distance-based**: K-nearest neighbors, Local Outlier Factor
- **Isolation**: Isolation Forest
- **Density-based**: DBSCAN
- **Deep Learning**: Autoencoders, GANs
Anomaly Types
- **Point Anomalies**: Single unusual records
- **Contextual**: Unusual in specific context
- **Collective**: Unusual patterns in sequences
- **Novel Classes**: Completely new patterns
Implementation with Python
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import seaborn as sns
from sklearn.preprocessing import StandardScaler
from sklearn.ensemble import IsolationForest
from sklearn.neighbors import LocalOutlierFactor
from sklearn.covariance import EllipticEnvelope
from scipy import stats
# Generate sample data with anomalies
np.random.seed(42)
# Normal data
n_normal = 950
normal_data = np.random.normal(100, 15, (n_normal, 2))
# Anomalies
n_anomalies = 50
anomalies = np.random.uniform(0, 200, (n_anomalies, 2))
anomalies[n_anomalies//2:, 0] = np.random.uniform(80, 120, n_anomalies//2)
anomalies[n_anomalies//2:, 1] = np.random.uniform(-50, 0, n_anomalies//2)
X = np.vstack([normal_data, anomalies])
y_true = np.hstack([np.zeros(n_normal), np.ones(n_anomalies)])
df = pd.DataFrame(X, columns=['Feature1', 'Feature2'])
df['is_anomaly_true'] = y_true
print("Data Summary:")
print(f"Normal samples: {n_normal}")
print(f"Anomalies: {n_anomalies}")
print(f"Total: {len(df)}")
# Standardize
scaler = StandardScaler()
X_scaled = scaler.fit_transform(X)
# 1. Statistical Methods (Z-score)
z_scores = np.abs(stats.zscore(X))
z_anomaly_mask = (z_scores > 3).any(axis=1)
df['z_score_anomaly'] = z_anomaly_mask
print(f"\n1. Z-score Method:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {z_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(z_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# 2. Isolation Forest
iso_forest = IsolationForest(contamination=n_anomalies/len(df), random_state=42)
iso_predictions = iso_forest.fit_predict(X_scaled)
iso_anomaly_mask = iso_predictions == -1
iso_scores = iso_forest.score_samples(X_scaled)
df['iso_anomaly'] = iso_anomaly_mask
df['iso_score'] = iso_scores
print(f"\n2. Isolation Forest:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {iso_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(iso_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# 3. Local Outlier Factor
lof = LocalOutlierFactor(n_neighbors=20, contamination=n_anomalies/len(df))
lof_predictions = lof.fit_predict(X_scaled)
lof_anomaly_mask = lof_predictions == -1
lof_scores = lof.negative_outlier_factor_
df['lof_anomaly'] = lof_anomaly_mask
df['lof_score'] = lof_scores
print(f"\n3. Local Outlier Factor:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {lof_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(lof_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# 4. Elliptic Envelope (Robust Covariance)
ee = EllipticEnvelope(contamination=n_anomalies/len(df), random_state=42)
ee_predictions = ee.fit_predict(X_scaled)
ee_anomaly_mask = ee_predictions == -1
ee_scores = ee.mahalanobis(X_scaled)
df['ee_anomaly'] = ee_anomaly_mask
df['ee_score'] = ee_scores
print(f"\n4. Elliptic Envelope:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {ee_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(ee_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# 5. IQR Method
Q1 = np.percentile(X, 25, axis=0)
Q3 = np.percentile(X, 75, axis=0)
IQR = Q3 - Q1
lower_bound = Q1 - 1.5 * IQR
upper_bound = Q3 + 1.5 * IQR
iqr_anomaly_mask = ((X < lower_bound) | (X > upper_bound)).any(axis=1)
df['iqr_anomaly'] = iqr_anomaly_mask
print(f"\n5. IQR Method:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {iqr_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(iqr_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# Visualization of anomaly detection methods
fig, axes = plt.subplots(2, 3, figsize=(15, 10))
methods = [
(z_anomaly_mask, 'Z-score', None),
(iso_anomaly_mask, 'Isolation Forest', iso_scores),
(lof_anomaly_mask, 'LOF', lof_scores),
(ee_anomaly_mask, 'Elliptic Envelope', ee_scores),
(iqr_anomaly_mask, 'IQR', None),
]
# True anomalies
ax = axes[0, 0]
colors = ['blue' if not a else 'red' for a in y_true]
ax.scatter(df['Feature1'], df['Feature2'], c=colors, alpha=0.6, s=30)
ax.set_title('True Anomalies')
ax.set_xlabel('Feature 1')
ax.set_ylabel('Feature 2')
# Plot each method
for idx, (anomaly_mask, method_name, scores) in enumerate(methods):
ax = axes.flatten()[idx + 1]
if scores is not None:
scatter = ax.scatter(df['Feature1'], df['Feature2'], c=scores, cmap='RdYlBu_r', alpha=0.6, s=30)
plt.colorbar(scatter, ax=ax, label='Score')
else:
colors = ['red' if a else 'blue' for a in anomaly_mask]
ax.scatter(df['Feature1'], df['Feature2'], c=colors, alpha=0.6, s=30)
ax.set_title(f'{method_name}\n({anomaly_mask.sum()} anomalies)')
ax.set_xlabel('Feature 1')
ax.set_ylabel('Feature 2')
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()
# 6. Anomaly score comparison
fig, axes = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(14, 8))
# ISO Forest scores
axes[0, 0].hist(iso_scores[~y_true], bins=30, alpha=0.7, label='Normal', color='blue')
axes[0, 0].hist(iso_scores[y_true == 1], bins=10, alpha=0.7, label='Anomaly', color='red')
axes[0, 0].set_xlabel(Read more
name: Anomaly Detection description: Identify unusual patterns, outliers, and anomalies in data using statistical methods, isolation forests, and autoencoders for fraud detection and quality monitoring
Anomaly Detection
Overview
Anomaly detection identifies unusual patterns, outliers, and anomalies in data that deviate significantly from normal behavior, enabling fraud detection and system monitoring.
When to Use
- Detecting fraudulent transactions or suspicious activity in financial data
- Identifying system failures, network intrusions, or security breaches
- Monitoring manufacturing quality and identifying defective products
- Finding unusual patterns in healthcare data or patient vital signs
- Detecting abnormal sensor readings in IoT or industrial systems
- Identifying outliers in customer behavior for targeted intervention
Detection Methods
- **Statistical**: Z-score, IQR, modified Z-score
- **Distance-based**: K-nearest neighbors, Local Outlier Factor
- **Isolation**: Isolation Forest
- **Density-based**: DBSCAN
- **Deep Learning**: Autoencoders, GANs
Anomaly Types
- **Point Anomalies**: Single unusual records
- **Contextual**: Unusual in specific context
- **Collective**: Unusual patterns in sequences
- **Novel Classes**: Completely new patterns
Implementation with Python
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import seaborn as sns
from sklearn.preprocessing import StandardScaler
from sklearn.ensemble import IsolationForest
from sklearn.neighbors import LocalOutlierFactor
from sklearn.covariance import EllipticEnvelope
from scipy import stats
# Generate sample data with anomalies
np.random.seed(42)
# Normal data
n_normal = 950
normal_data = np.random.normal(100, 15, (n_normal, 2))
# Anomalies
n_anomalies = 50
anomalies = np.random.uniform(0, 200, (n_anomalies, 2))
anomalies[n_anomalies//2:, 0] = np.random.uniform(80, 120, n_anomalies//2)
anomalies[n_anomalies//2:, 1] = np.random.uniform(-50, 0, n_anomalies//2)
X = np.vstack([normal_data, anomalies])
y_true = np.hstack([np.zeros(n_normal), np.ones(n_anomalies)])
df = pd.DataFrame(X, columns=['Feature1', 'Feature2'])
df['is_anomaly_true'] = y_true
print("Data Summary:")
print(f"Normal samples: {n_normal}")
print(f"Anomalies: {n_anomalies}")
print(f"Total: {len(df)}")
# Standardize
scaler = StandardScaler()
X_scaled = scaler.fit_transform(X)
# 1. Statistical Methods (Z-score)
z_scores = np.abs(stats.zscore(X))
z_anomaly_mask = (z_scores > 3).any(axis=1)
df['z_score_anomaly'] = z_anomaly_mask
print(f"\n1. Z-score Method:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {z_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(z_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# 2. Isolation Forest
iso_forest = IsolationForest(contamination=n_anomalies/len(df), random_state=42)
iso_predictions = iso_forest.fit_predict(X_scaled)
iso_anomaly_mask = iso_predictions == -1
iso_scores = iso_forest.score_samples(X_scaled)
df['iso_anomaly'] = iso_anomaly_mask
df['iso_score'] = iso_scores
print(f"\n2. Isolation Forest:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {iso_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(iso_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# 3. Local Outlier Factor
lof = LocalOutlierFactor(n_neighbors=20, contamination=n_anomalies/len(df))
lof_predictions = lof.fit_predict(X_scaled)
lof_anomaly_mask = lof_predictions == -1
lof_scores = lof.negative_outlier_factor_
df['lof_anomaly'] = lof_anomaly_mask
df['lof_score'] = lof_scores
print(f"\n3. Local Outlier Factor:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {lof_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(lof_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# 4. Elliptic Envelope (Robust Covariance)
ee = EllipticEnvelope(contamination=n_anomalies/len(df), random_state=42)
ee_predictions = ee.fit_predict(X_scaled)
ee_anomaly_mask = ee_predictions == -1
ee_scores = ee.mahalanobis(X_scaled)
df['ee_anomaly'] = ee_anomaly_mask
df['ee_score'] = ee_scores
print(f"\n4. Elliptic Envelope:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {ee_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(ee_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# 5. IQR Method
Q1 = np.percentile(X, 25, axis=0)
Q3 = np.percentile(X, 75, axis=0)
IQR = Q3 - Q1
lower_bound = Q1 - 1.5 * IQR
upper_bound = Q3 + 1.5 * IQR
iqr_anomaly_mask = ((X < lower_bound) | (X > upper_bound)).any(axis=1)
df['iqr_anomaly'] = iqr_anomaly_mask
print(f"\n5. IQR Method:")
print(f"Anomalies detected: {iqr_anomaly_mask.sum()}")
print(f"Accuracy: {(iqr_anomaly_mask == y_true).mean():.2%}")
# Visualization of anomaly detection methods
fig, axes = plt.subplots(2, 3, figsize=(15, 10))
methods = [
(z_anomaly_mask, 'Z-score', None),
(iso_anomaly_mask, 'Isolation Forest', iso_scores),
(lof_anomaly_mask, 'LOF', lof_scores),
(ee_anomaly_mask, 'Elliptic Envelope', ee_scores),
(iqr_anomaly_mask, 'IQR', None),
]
# True anomalies
ax = axes[0, 0]
colors = ['blue' if not a else 'red' for a in y_true]
ax.scatter(df['Feature1'], df['Feature2'], c=colors, alpha=0.6, s=30)
ax.set_title('True Anomalies')
ax.set_xlabel('Feature 1')
ax.set_ylabel('Feature 2')
# Plot each method
for idx, (anomaly_mask, method_name, scores) in enumerate(methods):
ax = axes.flatten()[idx + 1]
if scores is not None:
scatter = ax.scatter(df['Feature1'], df['Feature2'], c=scores, cmap='RdYlBu_r', alpha=0.6, s=30)
plt.colorbar(scatter, ax=ax, label='Score')
else:
colors = ['red' if a else 'blue' for a in anomaly_mask]
ax.scatter(df['Feature1'], df['Feature2'], c=colors, alpha=0.6, s=30)
ax.set_title(f'{method_name}\n({anomaly_mask.sum()} anomalies)')
ax.set_xlabel('Feature 1')
ax.set_ylabel('Feature 2')
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()
# 6. Anomaly score comparison
fig, axes = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(14, 8))
# ISO Forest scores
axes[0, 0].hist(iso_scores[~y_true], bins=30, alpha=0.7, label='Normal', color='blue')
axes[0, 0].hist(iso_scores[y_true == 1], bins=10, alpha=0.7, label='Anomaly', color='red')
axes[0, 0].set_xlabel(488 production-ready AI prompts, all following a standardized template with validated quality gates. Transform ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI assistants into expert consultants.
Repo: aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts
Other skills on useful-ai-prompts.
- /ab-test-analysis
Design and analyze A/B tests, calculate statistical significance, and determine sample sizes for conversion optimization and experiment validation
Open skill - /access-control-rbac
Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), permissions management, and authorization policies. Use when building secure access control systems with fine-grained permissions.
Open skill - /accessibility-compliance
Implement WCAG 2.1/2.2 accessibility standards, screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, and a11y testing. Use when building inclusive web applications, ensuring regulatory compliance, or improving user experience for people with disabilities.
Open skill - /accessibility-testing
Test web applications for WCAG compliance and ensure usability for users with disabilities. Use for accessibility test, a11y, axe, ARIA, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and WCAG validation.
Open skill - /agile-sprint-planning
Plan and execute effective sprints using Agile methodologies. Define sprint goals, estimate user stories, manage sprint backlog, and facilitate daily standups to maximize team productivity and deliver value incrementally.
Open skill - /alert-management
Implement comprehensive alert management with PagerDuty, escalation policies, and incident coordination. Use when setting up alerting systems, managing on-call schedules, or coordinating incident response.
Open skill

