evaluate-tool

Evaluate Tool

Evaluate a new AI tool before adding it to your workflow. Prevents tool sprawl by checking for overlap and assessing ACMM-level fit.

Trigger

/evaluate-tool <repo-url-or-name>

Workflow

1. Research the tool

Fetch the repo description and README:

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo} --jq '.description'
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/readme --jq '.content' | base64 -d | head -100

Determine:

• What it does (one-liner)
• What problem it solves
• What type it is (tool / skill / plugin / framework / harness / MCP server)
• What category it belongs to

2. Check for overlap

Read the catalog at ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/docs/CATALOG.md and find entries in the same category. For each overlapping tool:

• Is the new tool strictly better, or just different?
• Does it replace something already in the workflow, or add alongside it?
• Would adopting it mean running two tools that solve the same problem?

3. Assess ACMM-level fit

Read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/docs/WORKFLOW.md. Determine which ACMM level this tool belongs to:

• L2 (instructions/preferences)
• L3 (measurement/testing)
• L4 (adaptive/automated)
• L5 (semi-automated)
• L6 (fully autonomous)

Check: is the user at or approaching that level? Adopting L5 tools without L3 infrastructure is the "autonomous action without guardrails" anti-pattern.

4. Report

Output a structured evaluation:

## Tool Evaluation: {name}

**What it does:** {one-liner}
**Problem it solves:** {pain point}
**Type:** {type}
**Category:** {category}
**ACMM Level:** L{n}

### Overlap Analysis
{list overlapping tools from catalog, with comparison}

### Recommendation
- **ADOPT** — fills a gap in the current workflow
- **REPLACE {x}** — better than current tool for this problem
- **SKIP** — overlaps with {x} which is already in the workflow
- **DEFER** — relevant at L{n}, but you're at L{m}. Revisit when {condition}.

### Catalog Entry (if adopting)
{pre-filled table row for CATALOG.md}

5. Update catalog

If the recommendation is ADOPT or REPLACE, offer to add the entry to ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/docs/CATALOG.md and update ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/docs/WORKFLOW.md.