/** * SKL Scanner — Skill-listing token budget * * Claude Code shows the model a listing of every active skill's `description` * so it can decide which skill to invoke. That listing is budgeted: each * description is capped, and anything past the cap is silently truncated * (Claude Code raised the per-description cap 250 → 1,536 chars in v2.1.105, * changelog L1502, and added a startup/`/doctor` notice when truncation * happens). A description past the cap loses its tail from what the model * actually sees — the very trigger phrases meant to route invocation. * * Detection: * CA-SKL-001 active skill description > 1,536 chars → truncated (medium) * CA-SKL-002 sum of active descriptions exceeds the listing budget (low) * * The aggregate listing budget (changelog L2860, CC 2.1.32) allots the skill * listing the model reads ~2% of the context window. We do NOT know the user's * context window, so CA-SKL-002 anchors on a conservative 200k window and says * so loudly: it leads with the measured sum (a fact) and carries a calibration * note explaining the budget scales 5x on a 1M-context model. Severity is low * (an estimate) versus medium for the verified per-description cap. * * The cap, the budget, and the enumerate-and-measure step all live in * `lib/skill-listing-budget.mjs` — the single source of truth shared with the * GAP scanner, which prescribes `disableBundledSkills` when this budget is * exceeded. SKL only constructs the findings. * * Two-lens note vs TOK pattern F: TOK pattern F flags *project-local* skills * with descriptions > 500 chars as a structural per-turn "bloat" heuristic. * SKL is a different lens — it scans ALL active skills (user + plugin) against * the *verified* 1,536-char hard truncation cap, not a bloat heuristic. The * two are intentionally distinct, not duplicates. * * Zero external dependencies. */ import { finding, scannerResult } from './lib/output.mjs'; import { SEVERITY } from './lib/severity.mjs'; import { DESCRIPTION_CAP, AGGREGATE_BUDGET_TOKENS, BUDGET_CALIBRATION_NOTE, BODY_TOKEN_THRESHOLD, BODY_CALIBRATION_NOTE, measureActiveSkillListing, } from './lib/skill-listing-budget.mjs'; import { CONTEXT_WINDOW_ANCHOR, scaleForWindow, withCommas } from './lib/context-window.mjs'; // Shared remediation for the aggregate-budget finding (byte-identical across the // default and the B8 window-calibrated branches). const AGGREGATE_RECOMMENDATION = 'Reclaim skill-listing budget: set `disableBundledSkills: true` to drop bundled skills you ' + 'do not use from the listing, use `skillOverrides` (`name-only` collapses a description, ' + '`off` removes a skill) on the heaviest entries, and trim long descriptions toward their ' + 'trigger phrases.'; const SCANNER = 'SKL'; /** * Main scanner entry point. * * @param {string} _targetPath unused (skill listing is HOME-scoped) * @param {object} _discovery unused (ignores project discovery) */ export async function scan(_targetPath, _discovery, opts = {}) { const start = Date.now(); const findings = []; // B8 — calibrate the aggregate budget to the resolved context window. The // default (no opts) is the conservative 200k anchor at full severity, which is // byte-identical to the pre-B8 behavior. An unknown (advisory) window keeps the // anchor but downgrades the finding to info instead of firing it as a breach. const cw = opts.contextWindow; const window = (cw && typeof cw.window === 'number') ? cw.window : CONTEXT_WINDOW_ANCHOR; const advisory = !!(cw && cw.advisory); const isDefault = window === CONTEXT_WINDOW_ANCHOR && !advisory; const budgetTokens = scaleForWindow(AGGREGATE_BUDGET_TOKENS, window); const { skills, aggregate } = await measureActiveSkillListing(budgetTokens); for (const skill of skills) { if (skill.descLength <= DESCRIPTION_CAP) continue; const sourceLabel = skill.source === 'plugin' ? `plugin:${skill.pluginName}` : 'user'; findings.push(finding({ scanner: SCANNER, severity: SEVERITY.medium, title: 'Skill description exceeds the listing cap (Claude Code truncates it)', description: `Skill "${skill.name}" (${sourceLabel}) has a description of ${skill.descLength} ` + `characters (>${DESCRIPTION_CAP}). Claude Code caps each skill description in ` + 'the listing the model reads to choose a skill, so everything past ' + `${DESCRIPTION_CAP} characters is silently dropped — including any trigger ` + 'phrases at the tail meant to route invocation.', file: skill.path, evidence: `description_chars=${skill.descLength}; cap=${DESCRIPTION_CAP}; ` + `skill="${skill.name}"; source=${sourceLabel}`, recommendation: `Trim the description below ${DESCRIPTION_CAP} characters, leading with the ` + 'trigger phrases. To reclaim listing budget more broadly: set ' + '`disableBundledSkills: true` to drop bundled skills you do not use from the ' + 'listing entirely, or use `skillOverrides` (`name-only` collapses a ' + 'description, `off` removes a skill) on the heaviest entries.', category: 'token-efficiency', })); } // CA-SKL-002 (aggregate). Emitted after the per-skill findings so the common // "one oversized skill + aggregate" case reads 001=cap, 002=aggregate. if (aggregate.overBudget) { if (isDefault) { // Conservative 200k anchor — byte-identical to the pre-B8 finding. findings.push(finding({ scanner: SCANNER, severity: SEVERITY.low, title: 'Aggregate skill descriptions may exceed the listing budget', description: `The ${aggregate.scanned} active skills carry about ${aggregate.aggregateTokens} tokens of description text ` + `(each description counted up to the ${DESCRIPTION_CAP}-char listing cap), above the ` + `${AGGREGATE_BUDGET_TOKENS}-token budget Claude Code allots the skill listing on a 200k ` + 'context window (about 2% of context, CC 2.1.32). When the listing overflows that budget ' + 'Claude Code drops descriptions, so the model may stop seeing some skills entirely. This ' + 'is an estimate — the budget scales with your actual context window (see evidence).', evidence: `active_skills_scanned=${aggregate.scanned}; description_chars=${aggregate.aggregateChars} (each capped at ` + `${DESCRIPTION_CAP}); description_tokens~${aggregate.aggregateTokens}; budget@200k=` + `${AGGREGATE_BUDGET_TOKENS} tok (skill listing ~2% of context, CC 2.1.32); over_by~` + `${aggregate.overBy} tok - ${BUDGET_CALIBRATION_NOTE}`, recommendation: AGGREGATE_RECOMMENDATION, category: 'token-efficiency', })); } else { // B8 — window-calibrated. Advisory (unknown window) downgrades to info. const winLabel = withCommas(window); findings.push(finding({ scanner: SCANNER, severity: advisory ? SEVERITY.info : SEVERITY.low, title: 'Aggregate skill descriptions may exceed the listing budget', description: `The ${aggregate.scanned} active skills carry about ${aggregate.aggregateTokens} tokens of description text ` + `(each description counted up to the ${DESCRIPTION_CAP}-char listing cap), above the ` + `${budgetTokens}-token budget Claude Code allots the skill listing at a ${winLabel}-token ` + 'context window (about 2% of context, CC 2.1.32). When the listing overflows that budget ' + 'Claude Code drops descriptions, so the model may stop seeing some skills entirely.' + (advisory ? ' Your context window is unknown, so this is advisory: it anchors on the conservative 200k window.' : ''), evidence: `active_skills_scanned=${aggregate.scanned}; description_chars=${aggregate.aggregateChars} (each capped at ` + `${DESCRIPTION_CAP}); description_tokens~${aggregate.aggregateTokens}; budget@${winLabel}=` + `${budgetTokens} tok (skill listing ~2% of context, CC 2.1.32); over_by~${aggregate.overBy} tok` + (advisory ? ` - ${BUDGET_CALIBRATION_NOTE}` : ' - this is an estimate, not measured telemetry'), recommendation: AGGREGATE_RECOMMENDATION, category: 'token-efficiency', })); } } // CA-SKL-003 (oversized body). Emitted last so the common single-issue cases // read cleanly. Unlike the listing budget, this is an ON-DEMAND cost — the body // loads only when the skill is invoked, not every turn — hence low severity and // an explicit on-demand calibration note. for (const skill of skills) { if (skill.bodyTokens <= BODY_TOKEN_THRESHOLD) continue; const sourceLabel = skill.source === 'plugin' ? `plugin:${skill.pluginName}` : 'user'; findings.push(finding({ scanner: SCANNER, severity: SEVERITY.low, title: 'Skill body is large (loads on demand when the skill runs)', description: `Skill "${skill.name}" (${sourceLabel}) has a body of about ${skill.bodyTokens} tokens ` + `(${skill.bodyLines} lines), over the ~${BODY_TOKEN_THRESHOLD}-token guidance for a skill body. ` + 'The body is not in the always-loaded listing — it loads only when the skill is invoked — but ' + 'once loaded a large body consumes context for the rest of that session. Claude Code skill ' + 'guidance is to keep the body lean and move heavy reference material into supporting files.', file: skill.path, evidence: `body_tokens~${skill.bodyTokens}; body_lines=${skill.bodyLines}; body_chars=${skill.bodyChars}; ` + `threshold=${BODY_TOKEN_THRESHOLD} tok; skill="${skill.name}"; source=${sourceLabel} - ${BODY_CALIBRATION_NOTE}`, recommendation: 'Move reference content into supporting files the skill loads only when needed, and consider ' + '`context: fork` in the skill frontmatter for heavy skills so the body runs in a forked context ' + 'instead of consuming the main thread.', category: 'token-efficiency', })); } return scannerResult(SCANNER, 'ok', findings, aggregate.scanned, Date.now() - start); }