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Official agent skill

Validate Skills

by microsoft in microsoft/vstest

Validate that commands documented in skill files actually work.

OfficialMITAuto-check passedTesting & QA

Install Validate Skills

skills CLI
$ npx skills add microsoft/vstest --skill validate-skills -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install microsoft/vstest validate-skills --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/microsoft/vstest.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/validate-skills .claude/skills/validate-skills && 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/

Facts

Skill name
validate-skills
GitHub stars
969
Token cost
~759 tokens
SKILL.md length
316 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
5
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Validate that commands documented in skill files actually work.

  • Works in 7 steps: Detect Current OS → Extract Commands → Track Results → …
  • Reviewing skills to ensure all documented commands exit with code 0
  • SKILL.md covers When to Use, Procedure and Ordering Tips
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Validate Skills is an agent skill from microsoft/vstest, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Validate that commands documented in skill files actually work. Use when creating, updating, or reviewing skills to ensure all documented commands exit with code 0.

Its SKILL.md is about 760 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 Testing & QA. It works with Linux. The repository describes itself as: Visual Studio Test Platform is the runner and engine that powers test explorer and vstest.console. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Reviewing skills to ensure all documented commands exit with code 0

Example prompts

  • “/validate-skills”

Workflow steps

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

  1. Detect Current OS
  2. Extract Commands
  3. Track Results
  4. Run Each Command
  5. Safety Rules
  6. Report
  7. Fix or Flag

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 05cd781. 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 powershell, bash and 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

Validate Skills loads about 759 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 45 tokens; SKILL.md has 316 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~45
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~759

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 microsoft/vstest at commit 05cd781, republished under its MIT licence (© microsoft). 316 words, ~759 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/validate-skills/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
validate-skills
description
Validate that commands documented in skill files actually work. Use when creating, updating, or reviewing skills to ensure all documented commands exit with code 0.

Validating Skills

Verify every executable command in a skill runs successfully on the current OS.

When to Use

  • After creating or updating a skill that contains executable commands
  • During skill review to catch stale or broken instructions
  • When switching OS (e.g. Windows → Linux) to confirm cross-platform commands

Procedure

1. Detect Current OS

Determine which platform commands to extract:

powershell
# PowerShell (Windows)
$os = "Windows"
bash
# Bash (Linux / macOS)
OS=$(uname -s)   # "Linux" or "Darwin"
2. Extract Commands

Parse the target skill's SKILL.md and list every shell command for the detected OS:

  • Many skills document commands in tables with Windows and Linux / macOS columns. Pick the column matching your OS.
  • If a command contains comments like # Windows or # Linux / macOS, only run the one for your OS.
  • Placeholder substitution: Replace obvious placeholders (e.g. <path-to-csproj>, <skill-name>) with real values from the repo. If no sensible value exists, skip the command.
  • Adapt cross-platform commands: Commands like ls -la should be adapted to PowerShell equivalents (Get-ChildItem) on Windows when no native Windows command is documented.
3. Track Results

Use the SQL tool to create a tracking table:

sql
CREATE TABLE skill_commands (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
  skill TEXT NOT NULL,
  command TEXT NOT NULL,
  expected_exit INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
  actual_exit INTEGER,
  status TEXT DEFAULT 'pending',
  notes TEXT
);
4. Run Each Command

For every extracted command:

  1. Run it from the repo root
  2. Record the exit code
  3. Classify the result:
    • Exit 0 → PASS
    • Non-zero + environment issue (missing SDK, no internet) → ENV_ISSUE
    • Non-zero + command/docs wrong → ERROR
5. Safety Rules

CRITICAL: Never run unfiltered integration/acceptance tests. They take hours.

  • test.sh --integrationTest or test.cmd -Integration MUST include a --filter or -p flag.
  • test.sh -p smoke is acceptable (scoped to smoke tests), but expect it to be slow.
6. Report

After all commands finish, print a summary:

=== Skill Validation Report ===
Skill: <skill-name>
OS: <Linux|Darwin|Windows>
Commands tested: N
PASS: X
ENV_ISSUE: Y (list with reasons)
ERROR: Z (list failed commands with exit codes)
7. Fix or Flag
  • ERROR (documentation bug): Update the skill's SKILL.md to fix the command.
  • ENV_ISSUE: Add a troubleshooting note to the skill if the environment prerequisite is not already documented.
  • PASS: No action needed.

Ordering Tips

  • Run restore/build before tests (tests depend on build output)
  • Run the cheapest commands first to fail fast
  • Batch independent test commands in parallel when possible

© microsoft, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .github/skills/validate-skills of microsoft/vstest.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 05cd781

Compare with similar skills

Validate Skills 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.

Validate Skills compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Validate Skills this skillmicrosoft/vstest969—~759Automated safety check: PassMIT
Apple Container Test RunnerRustPython/RustPython22k—~467Automated safety check: PassMIT
E2E Testcrc-org/crc1.4k—~3.3kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Neru Add Config Optiony3owk1n/neru793—~1.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Neru Add Platform Featurey3owk1n/neru793—~713Automated safety check: PassMIT
Cyphal Parity GuardOpenCyphal/pycyphal142—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Validate Skills

What does Validate Skills do?

Validate that commands documented in skill files actually work. Validate Skills is an agent skill from microsoft/vstest, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Validate that commands documented in skill files actually work.

When should I use Validate Skills?

Validate Skills fits situations like: reviewing skills to ensure all documented commands exit with code 0.

How do I install Validate Skills in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add microsoft/vstest --skill validate-skills -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.github/skills/validate-skills in microsoft/vstest) into .claude/skills/validate-skills in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Validate Skills in Codex?

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

Can I use Validate Skills 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 microsoft/vstest --skill validate-skills -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/validate-skills, .gemini/skills/validate-skills, .github/skills/validate-skills and .opencode/skills/validate-skills in your project.

What does Validate Skills need to run?

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

Does Validate Skills 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 Validate Skills 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 Validate Skills use?

Validate Skills is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Validate Skills use?

About 759 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3k 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 Validate Skills?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Validate Skills: Apple Container Test Runner (RustPython/RustPython, 22k stars), E2E Test (crc-org/crc, 1.4k stars), Neru Add Config Option (y3owk1n/neru, 793 stars) and Neru Add Platform Feature (y3owk1n/neru, 793 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Validate Skills?

microsoft (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in microsoft/vstest, which has 969 GitHub stars. The repository holds 5 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

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