Refine

MANDATORY PREPARATION

Invoke /agent-workflow — it contains workflow principles, anti-patterns, and the Context Gathering Protocol. Follow the protocol before proceeding — if no workflow context exists yet, you MUST run /teach-maestro first.

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This is the final quality pass. The workflow works — now make it excellent.

Refinement Checklist

Prompts

• [ ] Every prompt follows the 4-zone pattern (role, context, instructions, output)
• [ ] Output schemas are explicit and validated
• [ ] Negative instructions clarify what NOT to do
• [ ] No contradictory instructions
• [ ] Few-shot examples included for ambiguous tasks
• [ ] Chain-of-thought used for multi-step reasoning tasks

Tool Descriptions

• [ ] Every tool has a multi-line description: what, when to use, when NOT to use, returns
• [ ] Input parameters have descriptions and types
• [ ] Error responses are documented
• [ ] At least one example input/output in the description

Error Messages

• [ ] Error messages are specific (not "an error occurred")
• [ ] Error messages suggest corrective action
• [ ] Errors include context (what was being attempted)
• [ ] Errors are structured (code + message + details)

Logging

• [ ] Every model call is logged (input tokens, output tokens, latency, cost)
• [ ] Tool calls are logged with inputs and outputs
• [ ] Errors are logged with full context
• [ ] PII is redacted from logs
• [ ] Workflow ID traces through all log entries

Configuration

• [ ] All magic numbers are named constants
• [ ] Environment-specific values are in config, not code
• [ ] Defaults are sensible — config is for overrides
• [ ] Cost ceilings are set
• [ ] Timeout values are set for all external calls

Output

For each checklist item that fails, provide:

1. What's wrong (specific finding)
2. Where it is (file, line, or component)
3. How to fix it (concrete suggestion)
4. Priority (critical / important / nice-to-have)

Priority Matrix

| Priority | Criteria | Maestro Action | |----------|---------|----------------| | Critical | Affects correctness or safety | /fortify or /guard before shipping | | Important | Affects quality or maintainability | /calibrate in current cycle | | Nice-to-have | Cosmetic or minor inconsistency | Note for next /refine pass |

Recommended Next Step

After refinement is complete, run /evaluate to verify the polished workflow against realistic scenarios.

NEVER:

• Skip the checklist — go through every item
• Mark items as passing without checking
• Suggest changes that alter behavior (this is polish, not redesign)
• Refine before the workflow is functionally correct (fix first, refine last)

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: sharpdeveye
• Source: sharpdeveye/maestro
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://maestroskills.dev

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.