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trailmark-summary

Runs a Trailmark summary analysis on a codebase. Returns auto-detected languages, entry point count, and dependency list

Install / Use

npx skills add trailofbits/skills --skill trailmark-summary

Installs into whichever agent you are using.

About this skill
📄

SKILL.md

Installable skill definition

Quality Score

90/100

Category

Automation

Supported Platforms

Universal

Tags

Our assessment of trailmark-summary

trailmark-summary scores 90/100 on our quality scale, 718th of 1,990 Automation skills we index (top 37%).

Its SKILL.md is 3.6 KB long, split into 6 sections with 4 code examples: a solid amount of guidance for an agent.

With 7,225 GitHub stars, it is one of the more widely adopted skills in the catalogue.

Substance
26/30
Structure
18/20
Description
15/15
Adoption
16/20
Freshness
15/15

Maintenance, license and trust

  • The repository was last updated 4 days ago, so trailmark-summary is actively maintained.
  • It is released under the CC-BY-SA-4.0 license; check its terms before commercial use.
  • Its trust signals score 100/100, with no cautions. These come from repository metadata, not a code audit — read the skill file before letting an agent act on it.

trailmark-summary compared with similar skills

All 4 of these similar skills score higher than trailmark-summary; compare them before choosing.

SkillScoreStarsUpdatedFormat
trailmark-summary (this skill)by trailofbits907.2k4d agoSKILL.md
Agent-Reachby Panniantong10085.8k12d agoCLAUDE.md
rufloby ruvnet10073.4ktodayCLAUDE.md
Scraplingby D4Vinci10084.1ktodayMCP Server
algorithmic-artby anthropics100177.9k5d agoSKILL.md

Frequently asked questions

How do I install trailmark-summary?
Run npx skills add trailofbits/skills --skill trailmark-summary. The install tabs above show the steps for each supported agent.
Which AI agents does trailmark-summary work with?
It is written for Universal, as a SKILL.md file. Other agents that read the same format can often use it too.
Is trailmark-summary safe to use?
It is CC-BY-SA-4.0-licensed and scores 100/100 on trust signals. Skills are instructions an agent will follow, so read the file before installing it and do not approve commands you do not understand.
Is trailmark-summary still maintained?
The repository was last updated 4 days ago, so trailmark-summary is actively maintained.

name: trailmark-summary description: "Runs a Trailmark summary analysis on a codebase. Returns auto-detected languages, entry point count, and dependency list. Use when vivisect or galvanize needs a quick structural overview. Triggers: trailmark summary, code summary, structural overview." allowed-tools: Bash Read Grep Glob

Trailmark Summary

Runs trailmark analyze --language auto --summary on a target directory. This is a v0.2-safe workflow; do not require Trailmark 0.4.0 just to produce a summary.

When to Use

  • Vivisect Phase 0 needs a quick structural overview before decomposition
  • Galvanize Phase 1 needs detected languages and entry point count
  • Quick orientation on an unfamiliar codebase before deeper analysis

When NOT to Use

  • Full structural analysis with all passes needed (use trailmark-structural)
  • Detailed code graph queries (use the main trailmark skill directly)
  • You need hotspot scores or taint data (use trailmark-structural)

Rationalizations to Reject

| Rationalization | Why It's Wrong | Required Action | |-----------------|----------------|-----------------| | "I can read the code manually instead" | Manual reading misses parser-based language detection, dependency data, and entry point enumeration | Install and run trailmark | | "Language detection doesn't matter" | Wrong language selection produces empty or partial analysis | Use Trailmark's parser-based detection or --language auto | | "Partial output is good enough" | Missing any of the three required outputs (detected languages, entry points, dependencies) means incomplete analysis | Verify all three are present | | "Tool isn't installed, I'll skip it" | This skill exists specifically to run trailmark | Report the installation gap instead of skipping |

Usage

The target directory is passed via the args parameter.

Execution

Step 1: Check that trailmark is available.

trailmark analyze --help 2>/dev/null || \
  uv run trailmark analyze --help 2>/dev/null

If neither command works, report "trailmark is not installed" and return. Do NOT run pip install, uv pip install, git clone, or any install command. The user must install trailmark themselves.

Optionally record the version if the installed build supports it:

trailmark --version 2>/dev/null || uv run trailmark --version 2>/dev/null || true

Do not fail if the version command is missing; older v0.2.x builds may still support the summary workflow.

Step 2: Detect languages with Trailmark's parse API.

python3 - "{args}" <<'PY'
import json
import sys

try:
    from trailmark.parse import detect_languages  # canonical location since 0.3.x
except ModuleNotFoundError:
    # v0.2.x predates trailmark.parse; the same function lives in query.api
    from trailmark.query.api import detect_languages

print(json.dumps(detect_languages(sys.argv[1])))
PY

If the import fails, rerun the same snippet with uv run --with trailmark python - "{args}". If the result is [], report "Trailmark found no supported languages under target" and return.

Step 3: Run the summary with auto-detection.

trailmark analyze --language auto --summary {args} 2>&1 || \
  uv run trailmark analyze --language auto --summary {args} 2>&1

Step 4: Verify the output.

The output must include ALL THREE of:

  1. Detected languages from Step 2
  2. Entrypoints: line from the summary output
  3. Dependencies: line from the summary output

If any are missing, report the gap. Do not fabricate output.

Return the detected language list plus the full Trailmark summary output. If a version string was available, include it in the returned metadata.

Related Skills

View on GitHub
GitHub Stars7.2k
CategoryAutomation
Updated4d ago
Forks615

Languages

Python

Trust signals

100/100

From repository metadata: license, adoption, age and documentation. Not a code audit — see the Safety scan above for what the skill file itself contains.

No cautions