Capability Audit

Purpose

Collect comparable evidence about GitHub-hosted agent capabilities before installation. The bundled script uses the GitHub API without cloning a repository. It reports maintenance metadata, license, distribution files, executable surfaces, test signals, and high-risk text patterns. It does not install, authenticate, or declare a project safe.

Workflow

1. Convert each candidate to owner/repo or a GitHub repository URL.

2. Run the script for all credible candidates, not only the popularity leader:

   python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/audit.py owner/repo another/repo
   

3. Read the exact pinned commit or package that would be installed. The script inspects the current default branch only; say so explicitly.

4. Open every discovered plugin manifest, SKILL.md frontmatter, hook, MCP configuration, and executable script before recommending installation.

5. Compare candidates using task fit, blast radius, runtime proof, maintenance, interoperability, rollback, documentation, and adoption. Cap adoption at 5% of the decision.

6. Report four states separately: discovered, structurally inspected, installed/authenticated, and runtime-tested.

Use --json for machine-readable output and --token-env NAME only when an existing GitHub token environment variable is needed for rate limits. Never paste a token into the command.

Interpretation rules

• A clean report means only that no configured heuristic fired.
• Stars are context, not a quality score.
• Recent pushes can be automated noise; inspect the changed content.
• Missing SECURITY.md is a review signal, not proof of insecurity.
• Marketplace inclusion and pinned SHAs improve provenance but do not establish runtime safety.
• Hooks, MCP servers, allowed-tools, install scripts, and downloaded binaries define the effective trust boundary.
• The official MCP reference servers are teaching implementations; evaluate production hardening independently.

Additional resource

Read ecosystem-discovery-guide.md for the source order, weighted scorecard, research seeds, and installation gate.

Remember

Inspect the artifact you will execute, at the version you will execute—not the reputation of its repository.