APS Skill Template (agnostic-prompt-standard _template)
A starter SKILL.md and directory skeleton for authoring skills that follow the agnostic-prompt-standard (APS) specification, so authors don't start from scratch.
This path is an APS template containing only placeholders (<skill-id>, <Your Name>, placeholder date); it has no scripts, external effects, or permission claims and thus no red-line risk, but authorship, data-flow, and source attribution are all empty placeholders — deducted to below-mid range.
The file contains no executable instructions or claimed functionality; no tests, edge cases, or failure feedback are assessable, only a declared directory layout, and the referenced references/00-*.md is not visible in evidence — deducted to the low band.
No scenarios, inputs/outputs, triggers, or non-fit boundaries; the description is a placeholder. The layout implies it targets APS spec authors, not end users — deducted to the low band.
Well-structured: complete front-matter fields (license: MIT, spec_version, framework_revision) and layered directories (references/assets/processes/guides/scripts) show progressive-disclosure intent, but all fields are unfilled with no versioning or maintenance ownership — deducted to the midpoint.
As a template it may help scaffold APS skills, but it delivers no concrete result, its value claim is unverifiable, and output is zero — deducted near the floor.
Only placeholder text and a directory listing; no traceable claims and no third-party execution evidence, so the static-read cap applies — low score.
- The assessed file is an unfilled template (placeholder name/description/author) and cannot be used as a runnable skill; do not invoke or trigger based on it.
- The referenced references/00-*.md, processes/, and scripts/ contents are not provided in evidence; actual capability and safety are unknown.
- The publisher is unverified by the FollowSkills registry, and the repo MIT license is attributed to Microsoft Corporation — provenance should be independently confirmed.
- Core content is hosted on GitHub with no Chinese-language support or mainland-China reachability guarantees.
What does this skill do, and when should you use it?
This file lives at .github/skills/agnostic-prompt-standard/_template/ in the jsburckhardt/devcontainer-features repository and is an unfilled template, not a working skill. It defines the standard layout for skills under APS (spec_version 1.0, framework_revision 1.0.0): a SKILL.md entrypoint, normative references, reusable assets, executable processes, prose guides, and optional scripts. The host repository is an MIT-licensed collection of devcontainer features; this template is one of two separately bundled skills there. Readers looking for turnkey capability should skip it — only authors who want to write their own APS-compliant skill need it.
Provides a placeholder frontmatter template (name, description, license=MIT, author, spec_version=1.0, framework_revision=1.0.0, last_updated) and documents a recommended directory structure: references/ (normative specifications), assets/constants/ and assets/formats/ (constant blocks and format contracts), processes/ (executable APS process documents), guides/ (prose references for humans and agents), and scripts/ (optional build/compile/lint scripts). It executes nothing and calls no tools or scripts itself.
- An author writing a new skill against the agnostic-prompt-standard (v1.1.16 lineage) who needs an APS-conformant file skeleton and field naming as a starting point.
- A team wanting consistent directory conventions (references/assets/processes/guides/scripts) across multiple skills, using the template as the common base.
- A maintainer reviewing skill repositories who wants a structural compliance checklist for APS layout.
What are this skill's strengths and limitations?
- Clear structure: entrypoint, specifications, constants, processes, guides, and scripts each have a defined place, aiding cross-skill consistency.
- MIT-licensed, from a public repository, with explicit spec_version and framework_revision metadata for version tracking.
- Platform-agnostic: just Markdown and directory conventions, no proprietary mechanisms.
- It is an unfilled template: name, description, author, and dates are placeholders with no actual capability.
- The repository has no description or topics, and the README documents the devcontainer features collection, saying almost nothing about this template.
- Whether the referenced references/00-<name>.md and other directories ship alongside the template cannot be confirmed from the source.
- No example skill, tests, or validation scripts are evidenced; adopters must consult the upstream agnostic-prompt-standard repository to use APS correctly.
How do you install this skill?
The template ships with the repository and has no standalone installation. Clone https://github.com/jsburckhardt/devcontainer-features and copy the files under .github/skills/agnostic-prompt-standard/_template/ as the starting point for a new skill. No dedicated installation command for the template is documented.
How do you use this skill?
After copying the template, replace the placeholders in the frontmatter (<skill-id>, <One-sentence skill description>, <Your Name>, <YYYY-MM-DD>) with real values, write the overview paragraph, and populate references/, assets/, processes/, guides/ etc. per the declared layout. The template itself is never triggered at runtime.