BD tripwire
Tripwire host-based IDS reference. Cryptographic key setup, database initialization, integrity checks, policy rules with severity levels, twcfg.txt configuration, and report analysis with twprint.
As a process D 38/100 · Unfinished process — weak spots: steps, result and completion, when it triggers
What is at stake
Medium-severity findings: the skill is probably honest, but read what alarmed the scanner.
Below is the worst case for this category. The finding here is medium: the guard saw a sign, not a proof.
The instructions or scripts send data out: environment variables, keys, file contents, chat history. You may never notice, because the agent performs the upload as "part of the task".
If the upload is not needed for the task, remove it: catalogs flag such skills and delist them. If it is needed, name the destination explicitly, say what leaves the machine, and give the user a switch.
How to improve
- Say in the description WHEN to use the skill ("use when…", example requests): that is the agent's main cue.
- For Hermes the description must be one sentence under 60 characters; move the conditions to a "When to Use" section.
- Your own cases (evals/evals.json, 4–6 real requests with expected answers): the full check would then run those instead of a model-drafted suite.
- A spec.yaml with trigger phrases and assertions — a behaviour contract for CI; `skilltest init` writes a template.
Guard findings · 3
✓ No critical or high findings
Medium and low: 3
-
medium Exfiltration
exfil-webhook-urlscripts/script.sh:514Webhook / callback URL commonly used for exfiltration (verify the destination) (quoted — discussed, not commanded)curl -X POST https://hooks.slack.com/services/xxx \
quoted -
low Dangerous commands
cmd-persistencescripts/script.sh:239Persistence mechanism (cron / launchd / scheduled task / autorun registry) (string literal in code, not executed; code comment)# /etc/cron.daily/tripwire-check
code literalcomment -
low Dangerous commands
cmd-persistencescripts/script.sh:491Persistence mechanism (cron / launchd / scheduled task / autorun registry) (string literal in code, not executed; code comment)# /etc/cron.daily/tripwire-email
code literalcomment
Files scanned: 3. Evidence is masked. Grey chips explain why severity was lowered.
Against the Agent Skills spec
- warning
description-long-hermesdescription is 196 chars; the Hermes authoring standard requires ≤ 60 (one sentence, ending with a period) - warning
description-no-whenneither description nor a "## When to Use" section says when to use the skill - note
frontmatter-keyunknown frontmatter key "homepage" - note
frontmatter-keyunknown frontmatter key "source"
Process rating: all ten parameters 38/100
- 0Steps. Prose only: no discrete steps
- 0Result and completion. Does not say what the result is
- 0Inputs and preconditions. Does not say what the process needs to start
- 0Failures and branches. Linear process with no failure handling
- 0Progress reporting. Says nothing while it works
- 20When it triggers. No condition that starts the skill
- 100Tools and files. No external tools needed
- 100Consistency. Name and required fields are in place
- 100Execution cost. Instruction body is 140 tokens
- 100Running it twice. No mutating operations
Everything here is measured from the skill text rather than judged by a model, so the numbers are checkable. A parameter weighs more when it is a more common reason for the process to stall.
Quality signals
- +5Description has no quoted example phrases that should trigger the skill
- +4Description does not say when NOT to use the skill (false activations)
- +4Structure: 2 headings, hard to scan
- +3No numbered steps or checklist
- +3Output format is not stated: the model decides each time
- +4No input/output examples
- -31 of 1 scripts are never mentioned in SKILL.md
- +1No license
- +2Single-language instructions
- +3Description length 196: enough signal without eating the budget
Quality base 70; lint remarks subtract, signals add up to 100. Result: 50.