Agent skill

Checking Freshness

Quick data freshness check. An agent skill from astronomer/agents.

Apache-2.0Auto-check passedData & Analytics

Install Checking Freshness

skills CLI

$ npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill checking-freshness -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install astronomer/agents checking-freshness --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/astronomer/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/checking-freshness .claude/skills/checking-freshness && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "checking-freshness" agent skill from https://github.com/astronomer/agents/tree/main/skills/checking-freshness into .claude/skills/checking-freshness/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "checking-freshness", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/astronomer/agents/tree/main/skills/checking-freshness

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill checking-freshness -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install astronomer/agents checking-freshness --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/astronomer/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/checking-freshness .agents/skills/checking-freshness && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "checking-freshness" agent skill from https://github.com/astronomer/agents/tree/main/skills/checking-freshness into .agents/skills/checking-freshness/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "checking-freshness", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill checking-freshness -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install astronomer/agents checking-freshness --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/astronomer/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/checking-freshness .cursor/skills/checking-freshness && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "checking-freshness" agent skill from https://github.com/astronomer/agents/tree/main/skills/checking-freshness into .cursor/skills/checking-freshness/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "checking-freshness", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/astronomer/agents.git --path skills/checking-freshness

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill checking-freshness -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install astronomer/agents checking-freshness --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/astronomer/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/checking-freshness .gemini/skills/checking-freshness && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "checking-freshness" agent skill from https://github.com/astronomer/agents/tree/main/skills/checking-freshness into .gemini/skills/checking-freshness/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "checking-freshness", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install astronomer/agents checking-freshness

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill checking-freshness -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/astronomer/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/checking-freshness .github/skills/checking-freshness && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "checking-freshness" agent skill from https://github.com/astronomer/agents/tree/main/skills/checking-freshness into .github/skills/checking-freshness/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "checking-freshness", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill checking-freshness -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install astronomer/agents checking-freshness --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/astronomer/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/checking-freshness .opencode/skills/checking-freshness && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "checking-freshness" agent skill from https://github.com/astronomer/agents/tree/main/skills/checking-freshness into .opencode/skills/checking-freshness/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "checking-freshness", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: checking-freshness
GitHub stars: 450
Token cost: ~801 tokens
SKILL.md length: 310 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 34
Repo updated: Oct 5, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: Apache-2.0

At a glance

Quick data freshness check. An agent skill from astronomer/agents.

Works in 3 steps: Find the Timestamp Column → Query Last Update Time → Check Row Counts by Time
The user asks if data is up to date
SKILL.md covers Freshness Check Process, Freshness Status, If Data is Stale and Output Format, plus 1 more section
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Checking Freshness is an agent skill from astronomer/agents. Quick data freshness check. Use when the user asks if data is up to date, when a table was last updated, if data is stale, or needs to verify data currency before using it.

Its SKILL.md is about 800 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Data & Analytics, covering Data pipelines and ETL. It works with Astro and Apache Airflow. The repository describes itself as: AI agent tooling for data engineering workflows. The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

The user asks if data is up to date
A table was last updated
Needs to verify data currency before using it

Example prompts

“/checking-freshness”

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

Find the Timestamp Column
Query Last Update Time
Check Row Counts by Time

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 1ec1a1f. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are sql).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Checking Freshness loads about 801 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 48 tokens; SKILL.md has 310 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~48
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~801

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from astronomer/agents at commit 1ec1a1f, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© astronomer). 310 words, ~801 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/checking-freshness/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: checking-freshness
description: Quick data freshness check. Use when the user asks if data is up to date, when a table was last updated, if data is stale, or needs to verify data currency before using it.

Data Freshness Check

Quickly determine if data is fresh enough to use.

Freshness Check Process

For each table to check:

1. Find the Timestamp Column

Look for columns that indicate when data was loaded or updated:

_loaded_at, _updated_at, _created_at (common ETL patterns)
updated_at, created_at, modified_at (application timestamps)
load_date, etl_timestamp, ingestion_time
date, event_date, transaction_date (business dates)

Query INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS if you need to see column names.

2. Query Last Update Time

sql

SELECT
    MAX(<timestamp_column>) as last_update,
    CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() as current_time,
    TIMESTAMPDIFF('hour', MAX(<timestamp_column>), CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()) as hours_ago,
    TIMESTAMPDIFF('minute', MAX(<timestamp_column>), CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()) as minutes_ago
FROM <table>

3. Check Row Counts by Time

For tables with regular updates, check recent activity:

sql

SELECT
    DATE_TRUNC('day', <timestamp_column>) as day,
    COUNT(*) as row_count
FROM <table>
WHERE <timestamp_column> >= DATEADD('day', -7, CURRENT_DATE())
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1 DESC

Freshness Status

Report status using this scale:

Status	Age	Meaning
Fresh	< 4 hours	Data is current
Stale	4-24 hours	May be outdated, check if expected
Very Stale	> 24 hours	Likely a problem unless batch job
Unknown	No timestamp	Can't determine freshness

If Data is Stale

Check Airflow for the source pipeline:

Find the DAG: Which DAG populates this table? Use af dags list and look for matching names.
Check DAG status:
- Is the DAG paused? Use af dags get <dag_id>
- Did the last run fail? Use af dags stats
- Is a run currently in progress?
Diagnose if needed: If the DAG failed, use the debugging-dags skill to investigate.

On Astro

If you're running on Astro, you can also:

DAG history in the Astro UI: Check the deployment's DAG run history for a visual timeline of recent runs and their outcomes
Astro alerts for SLA monitoring: Configure alerts to get notified when DAGs miss their expected completion windows, catching staleness before users report it

On OSS Airflow

Airflow UI: Use the DAGs view and task logs to verify last successful runs and SLA misses

Output Format

Provide a clear, scannable report:

FRESHNESS REPORT
================

TABLE: database.schema.table_name
Last Update: 2024-01-15 14:32:00 UTC
Age: 2 hours 15 minutes
Status: Fresh

TABLE: database.schema.other_table
Last Update: 2024-01-14 03:00:00 UTC
Age: 37 hours
Status: Very Stale
Source DAG: daily_etl_pipeline (FAILED)
Action: Investigate with **debugging-dags** skill

Quick Checks

If user just wants a yes/no answer:

"Is X fresh?" -> Check and respond with status + one line
"Can I use X for my 9am meeting?" -> Check and give clear yes/no with context

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/checking-freshness of astronomer/agents.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 1ec1a1f

Compare with similar skills

Checking Freshness next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Checking Freshness compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Checking Freshness this skillastronomer/agents	450	—	~801	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	2 days ago
Chart Testsastronomer/airflow-chart	297	—	~2.8k	Automated safety check: Pass	Custom licence	yesterday
Functional Testsastronomer/airflow-chart	297	—	~2.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	Custom licence	yesterday
Helm Chartastronomer/airflow-chart	297	—	~6.4k	Automated safety check: Pass	Custom licence	yesterday
Create Examplegodatadriven/whirl	205	—	~1.1k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	6 days ago
Senior Data Engineerbenchflow-ai/skillsbench	1.8k	—	~5.9k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	2 mo ago

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Questions about Checking Freshness

What does Checking Freshness do?

Quick data freshness check. An agent skill from astronomer/agents. Checking Freshness is an agent skill from astronomer/agents. Quick data freshness check.

When should I use Checking Freshness?

Checking Freshness fits situations like: the user asks if data is up to date; A table was last updated; needs to verify data currency before using it.

How do I install Checking Freshness in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill checking-freshness -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/checking-freshness in astronomer/agents) into .claude/skills/checking-freshness in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Checking Freshness in Codex?

Run `npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill checking-freshness -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/checking-freshness in astronomer/agents) into .agents/skills/checking-freshness in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Checking Freshness in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill checking-freshness -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/checking-freshness, .gemini/skills/checking-freshness, .github/skills/checking-freshness and .opencode/skills/checking-freshness in your project.

What does Checking Freshness need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Checking Freshness is instructions for the agent only.

Does Checking Freshness access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Checking Freshness safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Checking Freshness use?

Checking Freshness is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Checking Freshness use?

About 801 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Checking Freshness?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Checking Freshness: Chart Tests (astronomer/airflow-chart, 297 stars), Functional Tests (astronomer/airflow-chart, 297 stars), Helm Chart (astronomer/airflow-chart, 297 stars) and Create Example (godatadriven/whirl, 205 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Checking Freshness?

astronomer (a GitHub organization) maintains it in astronomer/agents, which has 450 GitHub stars. The repository holds 34 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.

Source: astronomer/agents on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Checking Freshness

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Data Freshness Check

Freshness Check Process

1. Find the Timestamp Column

2. Query Last Update Time

3. Check Row Counts by Time

Freshness Status

If Data is Stale

On Astro

On OSS Airflow

Output Format

Quick Checks

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from astronomer/agents

Related

Questions about Checking Freshness