Joy Check

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Tasks that involve Quizzes and assessments

Example prompts

• “/joy-check”

Requirements

• Python 3
• Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob

Workflow steps

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

1. 1DETECT MODE
2. 2PRE-FILTER
3. 3ANALYZE
4. 4REPORT

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 5218674. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

  • Read
  • Write
  • Edit
  • Bash
  • Grep
  • Glob

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • python3

  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

Joy Check loads about 1.7k tokens when it runs, and up to ~6.3k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 15 tokens; SKILL.md has 617 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~15

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.7k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~6.3k

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

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:135

  L78: PASS [85] -- "Credentials stay in .env files, never in code" (subordinate negative OK)

• NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md

  allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob

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 notque/vexjoy-agent at commit 5218674, republished under its MIT licence (© notque). 617 words, ~1,724 tokens.

name

joy-check

description

Validate content framing on joy-grievance spectrum.

allowed-tools

Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob

user-invocable

false

argument-hint

[--fix] [--strict] [--mode writing|instruction] <file>

command

/joy-check

routing.triggers

joy check, check framing, tone check, negative framing, joy validation, too negative, reframe positively, positive framing check, instruction framing

routing.pairs_with

writing, toolkit

routing.complexity

Simple

routing.category

content

python3 ~/.claude/scripts/scan-negative-framing.py [file]

grep -nE 'NEVER|do NOT|must NOT|FORBIDDEN' [file]
grep -nE "^-?\s*Don't|^-?\s*Avoid|^#+.*Anti-[Pp]attern|^#+.*Avoid" [file]

JOY CHECK: [file]
Mode: [writing|instruction]
Score: [0-100]
Status: PASS / FAIL

Items:
  [writing mode]
  P1 (L10-12): JOY [85] -- explorer framing, curiosity
  P3 (L18-22): CAUTION [40] -- "confused" leans defensive
    -> Reframe: Focus on what you learned from the confusion

  [instruction mode]
  L33: NEGATIVE [20] -- "NEVER edit code directly"
    -> Rewrite: "Route all code modifications to domain agents"
  L45: PASS [90] -- "Create feature branches for all changes"
  L78: PASS [85] -- "Credentials stay in .env files, never in code" (subordinate negative OK)

Overall: [summary of framing arc]

CONTENT --> writing workflow --> scan-ai-patterns --> joy-check --mode writing

SKILL.md --> joy-check --mode instruction --> fix flagged patterns --> re-verify

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

Files

SKILL.md and 2 other files (references) in skills/code-quality/joy-check of notque/vexjoy-agent.

• SKILL.md
• references/instruction-rubric.md
• references/writing-rubric.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 5218674