swe-re-expert

Skills Date Tracking Guide

This guide explains how to use the new date_added feature for tracking when skills were created or added to the collection.

Overview

The date_added field in skill frontmatter allows you to track when each skill was created. This is useful for:

• Versioning: Understanding skill age and maturity
• Changelog generation: Tracking new skills over time
• Reporting: Analyzing skill collection growth
• Organization: Grouping skills by creation date

Format

The date_added field uses ISO 8601 date format: YYYY-MM-DD

---
name: my-skill-name
description: "Brief description"
date_added: "2024-01-15"
---

Quick Start

1. View All Skills with Their Dates

python tools/scripts/manage_skill_dates.py list

Output example:

📅 Skills with Date Added (example):
============================================================
  2025-02-26  │  recent-skill
  2025-02-20  │  another-new-skill
  2024-12-15  │  older-skill
  ...

⏳ Skills without Date Added (example):
============================================================
  some-legacy-skill
  undated-skill
  ...

📊 Coverage: example output only

2. Add Missing Dates

Add today’s date to all skills that don’t have a date_added field:

python tools/scripts/manage_skill_dates.py add-missing

Or specify a custom date:

python tools/scripts/manage_skill_dates.py add-missing --date 2026-03-06

3. Add/Update All Skills

Set a date for all skills at once:

python tools/scripts/manage_skill_dates.py add-all --date 2026-03-06

4. Update a Single Skill

Update a specific skill’s date:

python tools/scripts/manage_skill_dates.py update my-skill-name 2026-03-06

5. Generate a Report

Generate a JSON report of all skills with their metadata:

python tools/scripts/generate_skills_report.py

Save to file:

python tools/scripts/generate_skills_report.py --output skills_report.json

Sort by name:

python tools/scripts/generate_skills_report.py --sort name --output sorted_skills.json

Usage in Your Workflow

When Creating a New Skill

Add the date_added field to your SKILL.md frontmatter:

---
name: new-awesome-skill
description: "Does something awesome"
date_added: "2026-03-06"
---

Automated Addition

When onboarding many skills, use:

python tools/scripts/manage_skill_dates.py add-missing --date 2026-03-06

This adds today’s date to all skills that are missing the field.

Validation

The validators now check date_added format:

# Run the operational validator
npm run validate

# Optional hardening pass
npm run validate:strict

# Reference validation
npm run validate:references

# Run smoke tests
npm test

These checks catch invalid dates, broken references, and related regressions.

Generated Reports

The generate_skills_report.py script produces a JSON report with statistics:

{
  "generated_at": "2026-03-06T10:30:00.123456",
  "total_skills": 1234,
  "skills_with_dates": 1200,
  "skills_without_dates": 34,
  "coverage_percentage": 97.2,
  "sorted_by": "date",
  "skills": [
    {
      "id": "recent-skill",
      "name": "recent-skill",
      "description": "A newly added skill",
      "date_added": "2026-03-06",
      "source": "community",
      "risk": "safe",
      "category": "recent"
    },
    ...
  ]
}

Use this for:

• Dashboard displays
• Growth metrics
• Automated reports
• Analytics

Integration with CI/CD

Add to your pipeline:

# In pre-commit or CI pipeline
npm run validate
npm run validate:references

# Generate stats report
python tools/scripts/generate_skills_report.py --output reports/skills_report.json

Best Practices

1. Use consistent format: Always use YYYY-MM-DD
2. Use real dates: Reflect actual skill creation dates when possible
3. Update on creation: Add the date when creating new skills
4. Validate regularly: Run validators to catch format errors
5. Review reports: Use generated reports to understand collection trends

Troubleshooting

“Invalid date_added format”

Make sure the date is in YYYY-MM-DD format:

• ✅ Correct: 2024-01-15
• ❌ Wrong: 01/15/2024 or 2024-1-15

Script not found

Make sure you’re running from the project root:

cd path/to/agentic-awesome-skills
python tools/scripts/manage_skill_dates.py list

Python not found

Install Python 3.x from python.org

Related Documentation

• ../contributors/skill-anatomy.md - Complete skill structure guide
• skills-update-guide.md - How to update the skill collection
• ../contributors/examples.md - Example skills

Questions or Issues?

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution guidelines.

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