library-review_skill

Overview

This skill comprehensively reviews Python libraries for maintainability, correctness, and security. It inspects project structure, packaging, code quality, testing, documentation, API design, and CI/CD to produce actionable recommendations. Use it to evaluate library health before releases, audits, or dependency adoption.

How this skill works

It runs a quick health check (repo layout, pyproject.toml, test presence, coverage, basic security scans) and then performs deeper inspections across eight dimensions: structure, packaging, code, tests, security, docs, API design, and CI/CD. The output is a concise report with strengths, categorized scores, and prioritized recommendations you can act on. Checks include static analysis, type hint coverage, test coverage thresholds, dependency hygiene, and CI configuration review.

When to use it

• Before a major release or public announcement
• When auditing dependencies for security and maintainability
• During an open-source quality improvement initiative
• As part of a pre-merge checklist for library PRs
• When preparing a package for PyPI distribution

Best practices

• Keep pyproject.toml as the authoritative build config and prefer src/ layout
• Provide type hints on the public API and include a py.typed marker
• Maintain automated tests with target coverage (aim >80%) and test edge cases
• Run CI on PRs across supported Python versions and include security scans
• Ship a clear README, changelog, LICENSE, and contribution guide

Example use cases

• Audit a third-party dependency before adding it to production
• Prepare an internal library for semantic versioning and release
• Create a prioritized action plan to raise a library from ‘Needs Work’ to ‘Good’
• Perform recurring health checks on core libraries as part of engineering hygiene
• Review community contributions to ensure they meet project quality standards