night-market-diagnostics-toolkit

Night Market Diagnostics Toolkit

Measure instead of eyeballing. Every claim about the health of this

repo ("the skill graph is clean", "descriptions fit the budget",

"no compromised dependencies") has a script that produces a number

or a PASS/FAIL. This skill catalogs those scripts, their exact

invocations, and how to read their output.

Conventions for everything below:

• Run all commands from the repo root

(/home/alext/claude-night-market).

• Plain python3 is enough for every script in the table except

mutation testing, which needs uv.

• All checks here are read-only. None of them mutate the repo.

The ratchet-baseline concept

Several checks are ratchets. A ratchet check counts a category of

existing debt (for example, SKILL.md files missing an Exit Criteria

section), compares the live count against a frozen number in a

baseline JSON file, and:

• passes while the live count is at or below the baseline

(pre-existing debt is tolerated),

• fails the moment a NEW violation pushes the count above the

baseline (debt may not grow),

• nudges you to lower the baseline number when the live count drops

(locking in the win so the debt cannot silently return).

The goal is a baseline that only shrinks, eventually to zero. The

two ratchet baselines live at scripts/skill_graph_baseline.json

(keys max_dangling_bugs, max_uncalled_libraries) and

scripts/skill_exit_criteria_baseline.json

(key max_missing_exit_criteria). When a ratchet prints a

"dropped to N (baseline M). Lower ... to lock the win." line, edit

the baseline JSON down to N in the same PR.

Tool table

Jargon used in the table: "dangling Skill() ref" means a

Skill(plugin:name) reference in a skill/command/agent file whose

target skill does not exist. "Uncalled library" means a

library-role skill no other skill invokes (the risk targeted by

.claude/rules/shared-utility-consumer-rule.md).

| Tool | Invocation | What it measures | How to interpret | When to run |

|------|------------|------------------|------------------|-------------|

| Plugin structure validator | python3 plugins/abstract/scripts/validate_plugin.py plugins/<name> | plugin.json validity, kebab-case naming, directory layout | Exit 0 with "Plugin validation passed". Any FAIL line names the broken file | Before committing plugin changes. make validate-all loops it over every plugin |

| Skill-graph drift ratchet | python3 scripts/check_skill_graph_drift.py | Dangling Skill() refs and uncalled libraries vs skill_graph_baseline.json | Exit 0 at/below baseline. Nonzero exit lists the new dangling refs. "Lower ... to lock the win" means shrink the baseline | After adding, renaming, or deleting skills or Skill() refs |

| Exit-criteria drift ratchet | python3 scripts/check_skill_exit_criteria_drift.py | SKILL.md files under plugins/ missing an ## Exit Criteria heading vs skill_exit_criteria_baseline.json | Same ratchet semantics as above | After adding or editing any SKILL.md |

| Pinned-version checker | python3 scripts/check_pinned_versions.py | GitHub-sourced tool pins vs the latest upstream release (needs network) | "N pin(s) current" is healthy. A "holding X at ..." line documents an intentional hold with its reason (for example bandit 1.8.6 for the Python 3.9 hook floor) | In pre-commit, and whenever a CI tool-setup step breaks |

| Capabilities sync | bash scripts/capabilities-sync-check.sh | plugin.json registrations vs the generated capabilities reference in book/src/ | "PASSED: All capabilities are in sync" plus counts. On drift, run /sanctum:sync-capabilities --fix | After changing any skill, command, or agent registration |

| Supply-chain scan | python3 scripts/supply_chain_scan.py | Lockfiles vs the known-compromised-versions blocklist, plus known malicious artifacts | Two [OK] lines is clean. Any hit must be resolved before release | When adding dependencies, during incidents, before releases |

| Token stats | python3 plugins/abstract/scripts/context_optimizer.py stats plugins/ --format json | Bytes and estimated tokens per SKILL.md, bucketed small/medium/large | Skills over ~5,000 estimated tokens breach the quality-gates file limit and are split candidates | When a skill feels bloated, before modularizing |

| Description budget | python3 plugins/abstract/scripts/validate_budget.py | Sum of all skill/command description characters vs the 90,000-char ecosystem ceiling (ADR-0004, 160 chars per description) | Prints used/ceiling and headroom. Exit 0 means within budget | After editing any frontmatter description |

| skrills validate | skrills validate --skill-dir plugins --target claude | Skill frontmatter validity per target framework (Claude, Codex, Copilot) | "Validated N skills: ..." then an Errors (n): list with file:line. Fix every listed error | Skill audits. make validate-skills falls back to uv run python scripts/check_plugin_hooks.py when skrills is absent |

| skrills analyze | skrills analyze --skill-dir plugins | Skill token usage and dependency structure | Large-token outliers are split candidates | Budget planning. make analyze-skills falls back to scripts/generate_dependency_map.py |

| Mutation testing | cd plugins/<name> && uv run mutmut run --paths-to-mutate=scripts/,src/ --tests-dir=tests/ | Whether the test suite kills injected code mutations (surviving mutants = untested behavior) | Exit 0 = no survivors. Exit 2 = survivors found (CI treats this as pass-with-report). Any other exit = crash, investigate | Weekly CI (Sunday) or manually before hardening a test suite |

| Markdown link checker | python3 scripts/check-markdown-links.py [file.md ...] | Broken relative links and anchors. No args = scan the whole repo | Exit 1 prints each broken link as file: link | After moving or renaming docs or skills |

| Lint-suppression guard | python3 scripts/check_noqa.py <files...> | Inline lint/type suppressions that lack a stated reason | "BLOCKED" plus a hit list. Fix the issue, or append a reason after the suppression marker | Pre-commit runs it on changed files |

| Docstring quality | python3 scripts/check_docstring_quality.py <files.py...> | Docstrings that merely restate the function name | Each hit says "delete it or add information". Do exactly that | Pre-commit runs it on changed Python files |

| JSON-utils drift | bash scripts/shared/check-json-utils-drift.sh | Vendored JSON helper copies in plugin hooks vs the canonical scripts/shared/json_utils.sh | "OK: all vendored JSON utilities match canonical." Anything else names the drifted copy | After editing json_utils.sh or any inlined copy |

| Export stats | python3 scripts/clawhub_export.py --stats | Skill counts per plugin and top-20 membership for cross-framework export | Totals line plus a per-plugin table | Before cross-framework publishing |

| Framework detect | python3 scripts/framework_detect.py [--json] | Which agent-framework capabilities the current directory exposes (skills, agents, hooks, commands, mcp, a2a) | [+]/[-] capability checklist | When debugging cross-framework export targets |

Interpretation notes

• **context_optimizer stats prints nothing in the default text

format.** This is a verified quirk: stats on a directory with

no --format flag produces empty output and exit 0. Always pass

--format json (clean JSON) rather than --format table, which

dumps a raw Python dict.

• Ratchet failures name the new violations. A ratchet that

fails after your change means your change added debt. Fix the

new ref or add the missing section. Never raise a baseline number

to make a check pass, with one documented exception: a brand-new

library skill legitimately starts uncalled, and

scripts/check_skill_graph_drift.py itself (plus the _comment

in scripts/skill_graph_baseline.json) instructs you to raise

max_uncalled_libraries to record the 30-day consumer grace

period that .claude/rules/shared-utility-consumer-rule.md

grants (the rule grants the grace period; the script defines the

baseline mechanics). night-market-architecture-contract records

the same exception in its ratchet invariants.

• Mutation exit codes are the contract. CI

(.github/workflows/mutation-testing.yml) treats exit 0 and

exit 2 as success and posts survivors to the step summary. Only

exits other than 0 and 2 fail the workflow. So a green mutation

run does NOT mean zero survivors. Read the report.

• check_pinned_versions needs network access. It queries GitHub

for latest releases. Offline, expect failures that are

environmental, not real findings.

Health snapshot in one command

scripts/health-snapshot.sh (in this skill directory) runs the six

cheap checks and prints a PASS/FAIL table. It is read-only,

needs only bash and python3, requires no network, and completes in

about 6 seconds (measured 2026-07-02).

bash .claude/skills/night-market-diagnostics-toolkit/scripts/health-snapshot.sh

It runs: plugin structure validation (all plugins), capabilities

sync, supply-chain scan, both drift ratchets, and the description

budget. Exit 0 means all six passed. Exit 1 means at least one

failed, and the failing check's full output is printed to stderr

above the table. Run it at session start, before a PR, and after

any bulk skill edit.

Blocking vs advisory

Which failures stop a merge and which are signals:

| Check | Gate | Effect on failure |

|-------|------|-------------------|

| validate_plugin.py | pre-commit (19 hook entries) | Blocks commit |

| Skill-graph drift ratchet | pre-commit | Blocks commit |

| Exit-criteria drift ratchet | pre-commit | Blocks commit |

| check_noqa.py | pre-commit | Blocks commit |

| check_docstring_quality.py | pre-commit | Blocks commit |

| check-markdown-links.py | pre-commit | Blocks commit |

| validate_budget.py | pre-commit | Blocks commit |

| check-json-utils-drift.sh | pre-commit | Blocks commit |

| check_pinned_versions.py | pre-commit | Blocks commit |

| capabilities-sync-check.sh | pre-commit and CI (capabilities-sync.yml) | Blocks commit and PR |

| Mutation testing | CI (weekly and manual dispatch) | Advisory: survivors reported, workflow stays green |

| supply_chain_scan.py | manual / make supply-chain-scan (not wired to CI) | Advisory day-to-day, treat as blocking before any release |

| context_optimizer, skrills analyze, clawhub stats, framework_detect | manual | Advisory: measurement only |

The dimension-level policy lives in .claude/quality_gates.json:

enforce_blocking is true with max_critical_issues: 3, and only

the security dimension sets block_on_violation: true. The

performance (20KB / 5,000-token file limits, 60-line functions,

complexity under 12), maintainability (debt ratio under 0.3,

nesting under 5), and compliance dimensions are advisory

(block_on_violation: false). So: security findings block,

size/complexity findings warn.

When NOT to use

• Running the test suite, lint, typecheck, or a release:

use night-market-operations (command anatomy and artifacts).

• You already have a failure and need symptom-to-cause triage:

use night-market-debugging-playbook.

• You need the meaning and default of a config knob rather than a

measurement: use night-market-config-catalog.

• You are deciding whether evidence is sufficient to claim work

complete: use night-market-validation-and-qa.

Exit Criteria

• [ ] bash .claude/skills/night-market-diagnostics-toolkit/scripts/health-snapshot.sh

runs from the repo root, prints a six-row PASS/FAIL table,

and exits 0 when all checks pass and 1 when any fails.

• [ ] Every invocation in the tool table is copy-pasteable from the

repo root and executes without a usage error.

• [ ] A reader who has only this file can state the ratchet

contract: baseline freezes existing debt, new violations

fail, shrinking the baseline locks in wins.

• [ ] The blocking/advisory table matches .pre-commit-config.yaml

entries and the block_on_violation flags in

.claude/quality_gates.json.

• [ ] Mutation exit-code semantics (0 clean, 2 survivors tolerated,

anything else is a crash) match

.github/workflows/mutation-testing.yml.

Provenance and maintenance

Compiled 2026-07-02 against repo v1.9.15 on branch

discussions-fix-1.9.14. Volatile numbers observed that day:

197 skills, 134 commands, 56 agents registered; description budget

73,135 of 90,000 chars used (81.3%); ratchet live counts 5 dangling

refs (baseline 31), 7 uncalled libraries (baseline 8), 1 missing

Exit Criteria (baseline 127); 13 version pins current with bandit

intentionally held at 1.8.6.

Re-verification one-liners:

# Baselines and live ratchet counts
python3 scripts/check_skill_graph_drift.py; python3 scripts/check_skill_exit_criteria_drift.py

# Registration counts and budget usage
bash scripts/capabilities-sync-check.sh | tail -3; python3 plugins/abstract/scripts/validate_budget.py | tail -3

# Pre-commit wiring of the blocking table
rg -n "check_skill_graph_drift|check_noqa|validate_budget|check_pinned_versions" .pre-commit-config.yaml

# Mutation exit-code contract
rg -n "exit_code" .github/workflows/mutation-testing.yml

# Gate dimension block flags
python3 -c "import json;print(json.load(open('.claude/quality_gates.json')))"