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Skill

/skill-improver

Runs an autonomous review-and-fix improvement loop over a Claude Code skill until a review comes back clean, with a cross-round findings ledger, escalation when fixes stop converging, and a mechanical scope guard. Reviews are performed by the plugin-dev skill-reviewer agent. Use

From plugin
trailofbits-skills
7.1k81 skills30 agents8 commands2 MCP
Install
$ npx -y skills add trailofbits/skills --skill skill-improver --agent claude-code

How 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/skill-improver

Context preview

The summary Claude sees to decide when to auto-load this skill.

Runs an autonomous review-and-fix improvement loop over a Claude Code skill until a review comes back clean, with a cross-round findings ledger, escalation when fixes stop converging, and a mechanical scope guard. Reviews are performed by the plugin-dev skill-reviewer agent. Use

SKILL.md

skill-improver.SKILL.md
name: skill-improver
description: "Runs an autonomous review-and-fix improvement loop over a Claude Code skill until a review comes back clean, with a cross-round findings ledger, escalation when fixes stop converging, and a mechanical scope guard. Reviews are performed by the plugin-dev skill-reviewer agent. Use to fix skill quality issues, iteratively refine a skill, or resume a loop after an escalation ('fix my skill', 'improve this skill until it passes review', 'skill improvement loop'). NOT for a one-time review — use the plugin-dev skill-reviewer agent directly."
argument-hint: "<SKILL_NAME_OR_PATH> [--max-rounds N]"
allowed-tools: Bash Glob Read TaskOutput TaskStop Workflow

Skill Improver

Improve a Claude Code skill by running `/code-improver:improve` — a dynamic workflow that loops a reviewer and a fixer subagent until a review reports zero critical/major findings, then strips its own residue. This entry point wires the loop to the `plugin-dev:skill-reviewer` agent, so the **plugin-dev plugin must be installed** (marketplace `claude-plugins-official`). The loop, its ledger, and its guards live in the workflow; this skill resolves the target and relays the outcome.

Starting the loop

The user provided: `$ARGUMENTS` (if empty, take the target skill from the conversation).

1. Resolve the skill path

1. If the input ends with `/SKILL.md` and the file exists, use its directory 2. If the input is a directory containing `SKILL.md`, use that path 3. Otherwise `Glob(pattern="**/SKILL.md")` and filter by skill name or path substring:

  • **Multiple matches:** ask the user to choose
  • **No matches:** report the available skills
  • **Single match:** proceed

2. Resolve the loop script

The loop is the dynamic workflow `workflows/improve.js` in this plugin. Launch it by path: `scriptPath` takes a resolved absolute path, and the Workflow tool's `name` resolves built-in and project workflows, so a marketplace-installed one may not answer to `code-improver:improve`. Try in order, first hit wins — the home directories come before `.` so an installed copy beats a checkout of this marketplace:

1. `Bash: ls -d -- "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/workflows/improve.js"` 2. `Bash: ls -d -- "${CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT}/workflows/improve.js"` (if that variable is set instead) 3. `Bash: find ~/.claude ~/.codex . -maxdepth 7 -path '*/code-improver/workflows/improve.js' -print -quit 2>/dev/null`

Use the path exactly as printed. Its plugin directory — the path with `/workflows/improve.js` removed — is `pluginRoot`. If all three come back empty, try `{name: "code-improver:improve"}` once; if that is unavailable too, stop and say the loop could not be located. Do not assemble a path by hand and do not improvise the loop.

3. Invoke the workflow

Run it with the Workflow tool, `{scriptPath: "<the path from step 2>", args: {...}}`:

{
  "target": "<resolved absolute path>",
  "reviewer": {
    "kind": "agent",
    "name": "plugin-dev:skill-reviewer",
    "notes": "The target is a Claude Code skill directory; review it as a skill (frontmatter, triggering description, progressive disclosure, referenced files)."
  },
  "pluginRoot": "<the plugin directory from step 2>",
  "maxRounds": 5
}
  • `maxRounds` only if the user asked for a different cap (`--max-rounds N`).
  • `pluginRoot` lets the run find its metrics collector; omit the key only if step 2 fell

through to the workflow name — the workflow then searches for itself.

  • `scope` (repo-relative globs) only if the user restricted or widened what the loop may

touch; by default the workflow scopes to the skill's plugin directory.

  • `decision` only on continuation (below).

The workflow runs in the background and needs no babysitting: it reviews, fixes, re-reviews, checks scope after every fix round, and can only complete on a clean review. It never commits; all changes stay in the working tree.

**If the Workflow tool is unavailable or denied, stop and say so.** Do not improvise the loop inline with direct edits — the ledger, scope guard, and escalation guarantees live in the workflow, and an inline imitation has none of them (observed failure: an inline fallback "fixed" a finding by weakening the documented guarantee, exactly what the loop exists to prevent).

**If the result is `halted: "reviewer-unavailable"`, relay it and stop.** The reviewer this skill names is not installed; tell the user to install the `plugin-dev` plugin from the `claude-plugins-official` marketplace and re-run. Do not review the skill yourself.

**Do not end your turn while the loop is running.** The Workflow tool returns a task id immediately; the result comes later. In an interactive session the completion notification re-invokes you — wait for it. In a non-interactive run (scripted, CI, eval) there is no later turn: stopping abandons the loop mid-round, so after launching, poll the task (TaskOutput with the returned task id, or sleep-and-recheck) until it completes, then relay the result. A session that answers "the loop is running, I'll report later" has lost the run.

Relaying the result

The workflow returns a structured result. Report it honestly — the distinctions matter:

  • **`converged: true`** — the last action was a review with zero critical/major findings.

Report rounds used, remaining minor findings (`open_minor_count`), and the artifact paths (`ledger_path`, `metrics`).

  • **`capped: true`** — the fix budget ran out and the FINAL review still found blocking

issues. Say plainly: **capped, NOT converged**, and list `open_blocking`. Do not present this as success.

  • **`escalation`** — the loop detected it was not converging (recurring findings,

non-decreasing counts, or a fix relocating a problem). Relay the escalation message and finding ids to the user: this needs a design decision, not more rounds.

  • **`halted`** — a guard fired (scope violation, unregistered new files, a dead or

unavailable reviewer, or a finalize pass whos

Read more
Ships withtrailofbits-skills

A Claude Code plugin marketplace from Trail of Bits providing skills to enhance AI-assisted security analysis, testing, and development workflows. Codex can load this marketplace through its Claude marketplace compatibility.

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