Skills mvanhorn cli-printing-press CLI Printing Press

printing-press-score

Use it when:
You want a printed CLI's score again after changes, or to compare two versions of a CLI.
It does:
Runs the press's scorecard on a CLI found by name, by path or from your current run, with its OpenAPI spec when it finds one.
You get:
Tables of 18 dimension scores in two tiers, a total out of 100 with a letter grade and the gaps; compare mode adds a delta column.
Scores:
Infrastructure such as output modes, auth, README and doctor, and domain correctness such as path validity, sync and dead code.
Without a spec:
Dimensions that need one show as N/A and leave the denominator instead of counting as zero.
Changes:
Nothing; printing-press-polish is the skill that fixes what the scorecard flags.

Skill 4 of 9 in the CLI Printing Press bundle, after printing-press-polish and before printing-press-publish.

Needs the cli-printing-press binary 4.0.0 or newer and Go 1.26.10 or newer. Read-only.

TL;DR

A read-only wrapper over the cli-printing-press scorecard command, which grades CLIs against what the press calls the Steinberger bar. With no argument it rescores the CLI of your current run, asking which when there are several; with a name it looks in your press library, also trying the -pp-cli suffix, then in past runs; with a path it scores that folder; with two names, as in "notion-pp-cli-4 vs notion-pp-cli-2", it scores both in parallel. It looks for the CLI's spec.json or the spec its run used, and scores without one when there is none. It renders Tier 1, twelve infrastructure dimensions out of 10 each, and Tier 2, six domain-correctness dimensions with type fidelity and dead code out of 5, then the total and grade, the gap report and a note on any unscored dimensions. A failed scorecard is reported with its full error output.

Summarizes the skill at 94ce80e.

npx skills add https://github.com/mvanhorn/cli-printing-press --skill printing-press-score
Weekly Downloads week to Nov 9, 2026
103
+5% in 8 weeks

Fewer weekly downloads than 79% of skills

Weekly values
Week toInstalls
Sep 2198
Sep 2879
Oct 5104
Oct 12108
Oct 19129
Oct 26124
Nov 2119
Nov 9103
Total Downloads on skills.sh
6,600

Fewer downloads than 68% of skills

Repo stars mvanhorn/cli-printing-press
4,936

Fewer stars than 56% of repos

Age published May 7, 2026
6 months

Newer than 61% of skills

Category

Find root causes, review code and test what you built.

Everything for building software: planning, coding, debugging, design, frameworks, cloud, agents and skills.

Type

Operates a CLI, API, app or bundled script to get something done.

Effect

Adds no side effects of its own. It shapes how the agent thinks, writes or reviews. Guidelines and routers are always effect:none, even when the task they support edits code.

Needs

A specific command-line tool or desktop app must be installed, such as gh, agent-browser, LibreOffice, Obsidian or a vendor CLI.

Publisher

A verified publisher on skills.sh, or the company or maintainer behind the product the skill operates.

Topics
Stack

SKILL.md

From mvanhorn/cli-printing-press at 94ce80e. Checked daily, last changed Nov 6, 2026.

Frontmatter
name: printing-press-score
description: Score a generated CLI against the Steinberger bar, compare two CLIs side-by-side
version: 0.1.0
min-binary-version: "4.0.0"
allowed-tools:
  - Bash
  - Read
  - Glob
  - Grep
  - AskUserQuestion
created_by: user

/printing-press-score

Score generated CLIs against the Steinberger bar. Supports rescoring, scoring by name/path, and comparing two CLIs.

Quick Start

/printing-press-score                              # rescore current CLI
/printing-press-score notion-pp-cli-4              # score by name
/printing-press-score ~/my-cli                     # score by path
/printing-press-score notion-pp-cli-4 vs notion-pp-cli-2  # compare two

Prerequisites

  • Go 1.26.10 or newer installed
  • cli-printing-press binary on PATH (install with go install github.com/mvanhorn/cli-printing-press/v4/cmd/cli-printing-press@latest)

Step 0: Setup

Before any other commands, run the setup contract to verify the cli-printing-press binary is on PATH and initialize scope variables:

<!-- PRESS_SETUP_CONTRACT_START -->

# min-binary-version: 4.0.0

# Derive scope first — needed for local build detection
_scope_dir="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || echo "$PWD")"
_scope_dir="$(cd "$_scope_dir" && pwd -P)"

# Prefer local build when running from inside the printing-press repo.
_press_repo=false
if [ -x "$_scope_dir/cli-printing-press" ] && [ -d "$_scope_dir/cmd/cli-printing-press" ]; then
  _press_repo=true
  export PATH="$_scope_dir:$PATH"
  echo "Using local build: $_scope_dir/cli-printing-press"
elif ! command -v cli-printing-press >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  if [ -x "$HOME/go/bin/cli-printing-press" ]; then
    echo "cli-printing-press found at ~/go/bin/cli-printing-press but not on PATH."
    echo "Add GOPATH/bin to your PATH:  export PATH=\"\$HOME/go/bin:\$PATH\""
  else
    echo "cli-printing-press binary not found."
    echo "Install with:  go install github.com/mvanhorn/cli-printing-press/v4/cmd/cli-printing-press@latest"
  fi
  return 1 2>/dev/null || exit 1
fi

# Resolve and emit the absolute path the agent must use for every later
# `cli-printing-press` invocation. `export PATH` above only affects this one
# Bash tool call; subsequent calls open a fresh shell and resolve bare
# `cli-printing-press` against the user's default PATH, where a stale global
# can silently shadow the local build. The agent captures this marker and
# substitutes the absolute path into every later invocation.
if [ "$_press_repo" = "true" ]; then
  PRINTING_PRESS_BIN="$_scope_dir/cli-printing-press"
else
  PRINTING_PRESS_BIN="$(command -v cli-printing-press 2>/dev/null || true)"
fi
echo "PRINTING_PRESS_BIN=$PRINTING_PRESS_BIN"

PRESS_BASE="$(basename "$_scope_dir" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | sed -E 's/[^a-z0-9_-]/-/g; s/^-+//; s/-+$//')"
if [ -z "$PRESS_BASE" ]; then
  PRESS_BASE="workspace"
fi

PRESS_SCOPE="$PRESS_BASE-$(printf '%s' "$_scope_dir" | shasum -a 256 | cut -c1-8)"
PRESS_HOME="${PRINTING_PRESS_HOME:-$HOME/printing-press}"
PRESS_RUNSTATE="$PRESS_HOME/.runstate/$PRESS_SCOPE"
PRESS_LIBRARY="$PRESS_HOME/library"
PRESS_MANUSCRIPTS="$PRESS_HOME/manuscripts"
PRESS_CURRENT="$PRESS_RUNSTATE/current"

mkdir -p "$PRESS_RUNSTATE" "$PRESS_LIBRARY" "$PRESS_MANUSCRIPTS" "$PRESS_CURRENT"

<!-- PRESS_SETUP_CONTRACT_END -->

After running the setup contract, capture the PRINTING_PRESS_BIN=<abs-path> line from stdout. Every subsequent cli-printing-press ... invocation in this skill must use that absolute path (substitute the value, not the literal $PRINTING_PRESS_BIN token) — export PATH above only affects the single Bash tool call it runs in, so later calls open a fresh shell where bare cli-printing-press resolves against the user's default PATH and a stale global can shadow the local build.

After capturing the binary path, check binary version compatibility. Read the min-binary-version field from this skill's YAML frontmatter. Run <PRINTING_PRESS_BIN> version --json and parse the version from the output. Compare it to min-binary-version using semver rules. If the installed binary is older than the minimum, stop immediately and tell the user: "cli-printing-press binary vX.Y.Z is older than the minimum required vA.B.C. Run go install github.com/mvanhorn/cli-printing-press/v4/cmd/cli-printing-press@latest to update."

Current-run state is resolved from $PRESS_RUNSTATE. Published CLIs are resolved from $PRESS_LIBRARY. Archived manuscripts are resolved from $PRESS_MANUSCRIPTS.

Step 1: Parse Arguments

Read the user's input after /printing-press-score. The input is free-form — interpret intent, don't enforce syntax.

Noise words to strip: compare, vs, versus, and, against, with, to

After stripping noise words, count the remaining tokens:

  • 0 tokens → Rescore Current mode
  • 1 token → Score Single mode
  • 2 tokens → Compare mode

Step 2: Resolve CLI Directories

For each CLI identifier, resolve it to a directory path:

If the token contains / or .

Treat it as a path (absolute or relative). Verify the directory exists.

If the token is a plain name

Try these locations in order:

  1. $PRESS_LIBRARY/<name>/ — exact match
  2. $PRESS_LIBRARY/<name>-pp-cli/ — with -pp-cli suffix
  3. If neither exists, Glob $PRESS_LIBRARY/<name>-pp-cli*
  4. If exactly one glob match exists and is a directory, use it
  5. If multiple glob matches exist, present a numbered menu using AskUserQuestion

If neither exists, scan current-run and archived state: 6. Use Glob to find $PRESS_RUNSTATE/runs/*/state.json files 7. Read each, look for an output_dir or working_dir value whose basename contains the name 8. If found and the directory exists, use it

If nothing resolves, report the error: "Could not find CLI '<name>'. Provide a path or check the name."

Rescore Current (0 tokens)
  1. Use Glob to find all $PRESS_CURRENT/*.json files
  2. Read each to get api_name, state_path, and working_dir
  3. Filter to those whose working_dir actually exists on disk
  4. If none are found, Glob $PRESS_LIBRARY/*-pp-cli* and use those directories instead
  5. If exactly one → use it automatically
  6. If multiple → present a numbered menu using AskUserQuestion:
    Multiple CLIs found. Which one to score?
    1. stripe-pp-cli ($PRESS_LIBRARY/stripe-pp-cli)
    2. notion-pp-cli ($PRESS_LIBRARY/notion-pp-cli)
    3. linear-pp-cli ($PRESS_LIBRARY/linear-pp-cli)
    
  7. If none found → report: "No generated CLIs found. Provide a name or path."

Step 3: Find Spec for Tier 2 Scoring

For each resolved CLI directory, find the OpenAPI spec:

  1. Check <cli-dir>/spec.json — the pipeline converts YAML specs to JSON during generation
  2. If not found, scan $PRESS_RUNSTATE/runs/*/state.json files for one matching this CLI's directory. Read its spec_path field. If that file exists on disk, use it.
  3. If no spec found, proceed without --spec. Note to the user: "No spec found — spec-derived dimensions will be marked N/A and omitted from the denominator. Provide a spec path for full scoring."

Step 4: Run Scorecard

Single Score Mode

Run the scorecard command:

cli-printing-press scorecard --dir <resolved-path> --json

If a spec was found, add --spec <spec-path>.

Parse the JSON output. The structure is:

{
  "api_name": "...",
  "steinberger": {
    "output_modes": 8,
    "auth": 7,
    "error_handling": 6,
    "terminal_ux": 9,
    "readme": 5,
    "doctor": 10,
    "agent_native": 7,
    "local_cache": 4,
    "breadth": 7,
    "vision": 6,
    "workflows": 3,
    "insight": 5,
    "path_validity": 0,
    "auth_protocol": 0,
    "data_pipeline_integrity": 7,
    "sync_correctness": 6,
    "type_fidelity": 4,
    "dead_code": 3,
    "total": 72,
    "percentage": 72
  },
  "overall_grade": "B",
  "gap_report": ["..."],
  "unscored_dimensions": ["path_validity", "auth_protocol"]
}

If unscored_dimensions is present, those dimensions should be rendered as N/A, not 0/x, and should be described as omitted from the denominator rather than as fixable CLI defects. For backward compatibility, JSON still encodes the numeric fields as 0; consumers must use unscored_dimensions to distinguish N/A from a real zero.

--write-manifest does not change the score. A verify object already stored in <cli-dir>/.printing-press.json is scoring evidence for every invocation, including a bare scorecard --dir. Human output prints Denominator: infrastructure N, domain M beside the total. JSON reports the same exclusion through unscored_dimensions, and any verify floor through steinberger.calibration_note. path_validity and auth_protocol stay unverified, and the domain denominator changes, only when neither an embedded <cli-dir>/spec.json nor --spec supplies the evidence. When spec.json is present, scorecard uses that file before --spec.

Learn-loop credit is static-behavioral, never presence-based: the scorecard credits teach/recall/learnings registration on the root command and non-empty entity lookup seeds (or the spec's recorded no-entities escape). The learn loop is default-on, so internal/learn/ existing earns nothing; when explaining a learn gap, point at missing seeds or unregistered commands, not missing files. Execution proof (verify matrix, learnings stats) belongs to verify and dogfood; the scorecard runs no binaries.

Compare Mode

Run both scorecard commands in parallel using two simultaneous Bash tool calls:

# Call 1:
cli-printing-press scorecard --dir <path1> --spec <spec1> --json

# Call 2:
cli-printing-press scorecard --dir <path2> --spec <spec2> --json

Parse both JSON outputs.

Step 5: Render Output

Single Score Table

Render a rich markdown table. Note: Tier 1 dimensions are all /10. Tier 2 dimensions are /10 except TypeFidelity and DeadCode which are /5.

Scorecard: <api_name>

Infrastructure (Tier 1)
| Dimension      | Score |
|----------------|-------|
| Output Modes   | 8/10  |
| Auth           | 7/10  |
| Error Handling | 6/10  |
| Terminal UX    | 9/10  |
| README         | 5/10  |
| Doctor         | 10/10 |
| Agent Native   | 7/10  |
| Local Cache    | 4/10  |
| Breadth        | 7/10  |
| Vision         | 6/10  |
| Workflows      | 3/10  |
| Insight        | 5/10  |

Domain Correctness (Tier 2)
| Dimension               | Score |
|--------------------------|-------|
| Path Validity            | 9/10  |
| Auth Protocol            | 8/10  |
| Data Pipeline Integrity  | 7/10  |
| Sync Correctness         | 6/10  |
| Type Fidelity            | 4/5   |
| Dead Code                | 3/5   |

**Total: 72/100 — Grade B**

If gap_report is non-empty, list the gaps:

Gaps:
- <gap 1>
- <gap 2>

If unscored_dimensions is non-empty, add a note after the table:

Note: path_validity, auth_protocol were unscored and omitted from the denominator. Provide a spec path for full scoring.
Compare Table

Render a side-by-side table with a delta column. Show the first CLI name and second CLI name as column headers. Calculate delta as (CLI 1 score - CLI 2 score). Show +N for positive, -N for negative, — for zero.

Scorecard Comparison: <name1> vs <name2>

Infrastructure (Tier 1)
| Dimension      | <name1> | <name2> | Delta |
|----------------|---------|---------|-------|
| Output Modes   | 8/10    | 5/10    | +3    |
| Auth           | 7/10    | 7/10    | —     |
| ...            |         |         |       |

Domain Correctness (Tier 2)
| Dimension               | <name1> | <name2> | Delta |
|--------------------------|---------|---------|-------|
| Path Validity            | 9/10    | 6/10    | +3    |
| ...                      |         |         |       |

| **Total**  | **72/100 (B)** | **56/100 (C)** | **+16** |

Error Handling

  • If the cli-printing-press binary is not on PATH → show install instructions: go install github.com/mvanhorn/cli-printing-press/v4/cmd/cli-printing-press@latest
  • If the scorecard command fails → report the error with the full stderr output
  • If a CLI directory doesn't exist → report which name couldn't be resolved
  • If JSON parsing fails → show the raw output and report the parsing error