# The Five Quality Red Lines for Skill Distillation in Cangjie-Skill

> Discover the five quality red lines for skill distillation in Cangjie-Skill. Ensure your skills pass triple verification, structure, citation, bait testing, and trigger conditions for acceptance.

- Repository: [kangarooking/cangjie-skill](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill)
- Tags: best-practices
- Published: 2026-08-14

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**The five quality red lines for skill distillation are mandatory verification checkpoints that reject any skill failing to meet standards for triple verification, complete R/I/A1/A2/E/B structure, concise citation length, comprehensive bait testing, and explicit trigger conditions.**

In the **kangarooking/cangjie-skill** pipeline, these red lines act as non-negotiable gates. Any violation blocks emission, ensuring only rigorous, agent-ready skills reach downstream systems like `darwin-skill` or Claude Code. The requirements are formally defined in [[`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/SKILL.md#L146-L152) and enforced across the entire distillation workflow.

## Red Line 1: Pass All Three Verification Steps

Every candidate skill must clear the **Triple Verification** before advancing. This three-part evaluation—documented in [[`methodology/04-stage2-ria-plus.md`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/methodology/04-stage2-ria-plus.md)](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/methodology/04-stage2-ria-plus.md)—covers:

- **Cross-domain evidence**: Verification that the concept appears in multiple contexts
- **Predictive power**: Demonstrated ability to forecast outcomes or guide decisions
- **Non-triviality**: Confirmation the skill captures genuine insight, not obvious information

Skills failing any verification step are discarded immediately with no retry path.

## Red Line 2: Complete R/I/A1/A2/E/B Structure

Each skill must contain six mandatory components:

| Component | Purpose |
|-----------|---------|
| **R**eference | Original source material citation |
| **I**nterpretation | Personal synthesis and understanding |
| **A1** | Book example demonstrating the concept |
| **A2** | Future trigger scenario for application |
| **E**xecution | Step-by-step implementation guidance |
| **B**oundary/Blind-spot | Limits and common misapplications |

Missing any section violates this red line and rejects the skill.

## Red Line 3: Concise Original Citations

Quoted source material must stay within strict length limits:

- **≤ 150 characters per paragraph** for Chinese text
- **≤ 100 words** for English text

This constraint prevents **large block copies** and keeps skills focused on distilled insight rather than reproduced content. The citation length is validated during the pipeline's formatting stage.

## Red Line 4: Mandatory test-prompts.json with Cross-Skill Bait

Every skill requires a **[`test-prompts.json`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/test-prompts.json)** file containing a full **bait test suite**:

- **should-call** prompts: Verify correct activation
- **should-not-call (bait)** prompts: Verify appropriate rejection
- **border-case** prompts: Test edge conditions
- **Cross-skill bait**: At least one prompt deliberately targets a sibling skill from the same book to verify **disambiguation**

The canonical structure is defined in [`templates/test-prompts.json.template`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/templates/test-prompts.json.template), with pressure-testing workflows detailed in [[`methodology/06-stage4-pressure-test.md`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/methodology/06-stage4-pressure-test.md)](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/methodology/06-stage4-pressure-test.md).

```json
{
  "prompts": [
    {
      "id": "should-call-01",
      "type": "should_call",
      "text": "When planning a product launch, which framework helps prioritize features based on market impact?"
    },
    {
      "id": "bait-01",
      "type": "should_not_call",
      "text": "Explain the difference between agile and waterfall methodologies."
    },
    {
      "id": "cross-skill-bait-01",
      "type": "should_not_call",
      "text": "In the same book, which skill explains how to conduct a competitive analysis?"
    }
  ]
}

```

## Red Line 5: Explicit Trigger Condition in Description

The **`description`** field must define a **clear activation pattern**. Vague formulations like "a skill about X" are rejected. Instead, descriptions specify exact trigger conditions so agents know precisely when to invoke the skill.

```yaml
description: |
  trigger: "product launch *framework* OR *prioritize features*"
  purpose: "Guide teams to use the XYZ framework for market-impact-driven feature selection."

```

The [`templates/INDEX.md.template`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/templates/INDEX.md.template) generates skill indices that help verify these cross-skill boundaries.

## How the Red Lines Interact in the Pipeline

The quality red lines operate sequentially during **Cangjie-Skill's Stage 4 (Pressure Testing)**:

1. Structural completeness (Red Line 2) and citation length (Red Line 3) are validated first
2. Triple verification evidence (Red Line 1) is reviewed
3. [`test-prompts.json`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/test-prompts.json) coverage (Red Line 4) is executed against actual model responses
4. Trigger clarity (Red Line 5) is assessed through activation testing

**Any failure at any stage blocks emission.** The pipeline maintains a **zero-tolerance policy**: no partial credit, no manual overrides, no exceptions for "mostly good" skills.

## Summary

- **Triple verification** ensures skills have genuine predictive and cross-domain value
- **Complete six-part structure** (R/I/A1/A2/E/B) guarantees comprehensive documentation
- **Citation limits** prevent content bloat and enforce distillation discipline
- **Bait test suites with cross-skill targeting** verify reliable activation boundaries
- **Explicit trigger conditions** enable precise agent invocation

These five quality red lines for skill distillation make Cangjie-Skill outputs **accurate, executable, well-scoped, and rigorously tested** before handoff to production agents.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What happens if a skill fails just one red line?

The skill is **rejected and never emitted**. The Cangjie-Skill pipeline has no partial acceptance mechanism. According to the source specification in [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/SKILL.md), red lines are absolute gates—any violation returns the skill to revision or discards it entirely.

### Where is the Triple Verification process documented?

The **Triple Verification** methodology—covering cross-domain evidence, predictive power, and non-triviality—is detailed in [[`methodology/04-stage2-ria-plus.md`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/methodology/04-stage2-ria-plus.md)](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/methodology/04-stage2-ria-plus.md). This document defines how verification evidence must be collected and presented for Red Line 1 compliance.

### Why require a cross-skill bait test specifically?

The **cross-skill bait** requirement ensures skills from the same source material **disambiguate correctly**. Without this test, two skills from the same book might both activate incorrectly on overlapping queries. The cross-skill bait deliberately targets sibling skills to verify clean boundaries, as implemented in the pressure-testing stage documented in [`methodology/06-stage4-pressure-test.md`](https://github.com/kangarooking/cangjie-skill/blob/main/methodology/06-stage4-pressure-test.md).

### How is the 150-character citation limit enforced?

Citation length is validated during the pipeline's formatting and linting stages. The limit applies to **quoted original text per paragraph**—not to the author's interpretation or synthesis. English skills follow a 100-word equivalent. Violations are flagged automatically before human review.