fix(skills): report YAML frontmatter parse errors and serialize SKILL.md safely

apps/vscode-e2e/src/suite/skills-diagnostics.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+import * as assert from "assert"
+import * as fs from "fs/promises"
+import * as path from "path"
+
+import * as vscode from "vscode"
+
+import { setDefaultSuiteTimeout } from "./test-utils"
+import { waitFor } from "./utils"
+
+const GOOD_SKILL = "e2e-skill-good"
+const BAD_SKILL = "e2e-skill-bad"
+
+// Issue #859 reproduction content: the description is a double-quoted YAML
+// scalar whose inner double quotes are left unescaped, which makes the
+// frontmatter unparseable.
+const MALFORMED_SKILL_MD = `---
+name: ${BAD_SKILL}
+description: "Use when implementing features. Triggers on: "TDD", "test-driven development"
+---
+
+# E2E Skill Bad
+
+Instructions here.
+`
+
+const FIXED_SKILL_MD = `---
+name: ${BAD_SKILL}
+description: 'Use when implementing features. Triggers on: "TDD", "test-driven development"'
+---
+
+# E2E Skill Bad
+
+Instructions here.
+`
+
+const GOOD_SKILL_MD = `---
+name: ${GOOD_SKILL}
+description: A healthy skill used by the skill diagnostics e2e smoke test.
+---
+
+# E2E Skill Good
+
+Instructions here.
+`
+
+// Write a skill file atomically (write to a sidecar, then rename over the
+// target) so the extension host's file watcher only ever observes complete
+// content. An in-place fs.writeFile is visible mid-write, the watcher can
+// fire for that moment, and - because discovery scans are serialized - a
+// mid-write event could be the last one, leaving a stale scan result.
+const writeSkillFileAtomic = async (finalPath: string, content: string): Promise<void> => {
+	const tmpPath = `${finalPath}.tmp`
+	await fs.writeFile(tmpPath, content, "utf8")
+	await fs.rename(tmpPath, finalPath)
+}
+
+suite("Roo Code Skill Diagnostics", function () {
+	setDefaultSuiteTimeout(this)
+
+	let skillsRoot: string
+
+	setup(async function () {
+		const workspaceRoot = vscode.workspace.workspaceFolders?.[0]?.uri.fsPath
+		assert.ok(workspaceRoot, "e2e workspace folder must be open")
+		skillsRoot = path.join(workspaceRoot, ".roo", "skills")
+	})
+
+	teardown(async function () {
+		// Remove only the skill directories this suite created so pre-existing
+		// or other suites' fixtures under .roo/skills are left intact.
+		await Promise.all(
+			[GOOD_SKILL, BAD_SKILL].map((name) => fs.rm(path.join(skillsRoot, name), { recursive: true, force: true })),
+		)
+	})
+
+	test("should surface a malformed SKILL.md as a diagnostic without hiding healthy skills", async function () {
+		this.timeout(180_000)
+
+		// Arrange: one healthy skill and one malformed skill on real disk in the
+		// workspace's .roo/skills directory, written atomically so the watcher
+		// only observes complete files.
+		await fs.mkdir(path.join(skillsRoot, GOOD_SKILL), { recursive: true })
+		await writeSkillFileAtomic(path.join(skillsRoot, GOOD_SKILL, "SKILL.md"), GOOD_SKILL_MD)
+		await fs.mkdir(path.join(skillsRoot, BAD_SKILL), { recursive: true })
+		const badSkillMd = path.join(skillsRoot, BAD_SKILL, "SKILL.md")
+		await writeSkillFileAtomic(badSkillMd, MALFORMED_SKILL_MD)
+
+		// Act: the extension host's file watcher re-discovers skills; wait until
+		// the real SkillsManager reports the healthy skill and a diagnostic for
+		// the malformed one.
+		await waitFor(
+			async () => {
+				const state = globalThis.api.getSkillsState()
+				const goodVisible = state.skills.some((skill) => skill.name === GOOD_SKILL)
+				const badDiagnosed = state.skillDiagnostics.some((diagnostic) => diagnostic.path.includes(BAD_SKILL))
+				return goodVisible && badDiagnosed
+			},
+			{ timeout: 60_000, interval: 500 },
+		)
+
+		// Assert: the malformed skill is skipped with a diagnostic pointing at it,
+		// while the healthy skill is unaffected.
+		const state = globalThis.api.getSkillsState()
+		const diagnostic = state.skillDiagnostics.find((d) => d.path.includes(BAD_SKILL))
+		assert.ok(diagnostic, "malformed SKILL.md should produce a diagnostic")
+		assert.strictEqual(diagnostic.source, "project")
+		assert.ok(diagnostic.message.length > 0, "diagnostic should carry the parse error message")
+		assert.ok(
+			state.skills.some((skill) => skill.name === GOOD_SKILL),
+			"healthy skill should still be discovered",
+		)
+		assert.ok(
+			!state.skills.some((skill) => skill.name === BAD_SKILL),
+			"malformed skill should be omitted from skills",
+		)
+
+		// Act: repair the frontmatter in place (atomically); the watcher
+		// re-discovers and the diagnostic clears.
+		await writeSkillFileAtomic(badSkillMd, FIXED_SKILL_MD)
+
+		await waitFor(
+			async () => {
+				const next = globalThis.api.getSkillsState()
+				const cleared = !next.skillDiagnostics.some((d) => d.path.includes(BAD_SKILL))
+				const loaded = next.skills.some((skill) => skill.name === BAD_SKILL)
+				return cleared && loaded
+			},
+			{ timeout: 60_000, interval: 500 },
+		)
+
+		const fixed = globalThis.api.getSkillsState()
+		assert.ok(
+			fixed.skills.some((skill) => skill.name === BAD_SKILL),
+			"fixed skill should load after repair",
+		)
+		assert.ok(fixed.skills.find((skill) => skill.name === BAD_SKILL)?.description.includes("TDD") === true)
+	})
+})

packages/types/src/api.ts

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import type { RooCodeSettings } from "./global-settings.js"
 import type { HistoryItem } from "./history.js"
 import type { ProviderSettingsEntry, ProviderSettings } from "./provider-settings.js"
 import type { IpcMessage, IpcServerEvents } from "./ipc.js"
+import type { SkillDiagnostic, SkillMetadata } from "./skills.js"
 import type { WebviewThemeFixture } from "./vscode-extension-host.js"
 
 export type RooCodeAPIEvents = RooCodeEvents
@@ -58,6 +59,15 @@ export interface RooCodeAPI extends EventEmitter<RooCodeAPIEvents> {
 	 * @returns The number of persisted API conversation history entries, or 0 if unavailable.
 	 */
 	getTaskApiConversationHistoryLength(taskId: string): Promise<number>
+	/**
+	 * Returns the skill metadata and load diagnostics currently discovered by the
+	 * extension host. Intended for use in tests only.
+	 * @returns The discovered skills and any diagnostics for skills that failed to load.
+	 */
+	getSkillsState(): {
+		skills: SkillMetadata[]
+		skillDiagnostics: SkillDiagnostic[]
+	}
 	/**
 	 * Checks for an ordered user turn and assistant tool call in persisted API history.
 	 * @param taskId The ID of the task.

packages/types/src/skills.ts

@@ -20,6 +20,15 @@ export interface SkillMetadata {
 	modeSlugs?: string[]
 }
 
+/** A user-actionable problem found while loading a SKILL.md file. */
+export interface SkillDiagnostic {
+	path: string
+	source: "global" | "project"
+	message: string
+	line?: number
+	column?: number
+}
+
 /**
  * Skill name validation constants per agentskills.io specification:
  * https://agentskills.io/specification

packages/types/src/vscode-extension-host.ts

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import { OllamaModelsMessageType } from "./providers/ollama.js"
 import { OpenAiModelsMessageType } from "./providers/openai.js"
 import { VsCodeLmModelsMessageType } from "./providers/vscode-llm.js"
 import type { OpenAiCodexRateLimitInfo } from "./providers/openai-codex-rate-limits.js"
-import type { SkillMetadata } from "./skills.js"
+import type { SkillDiagnostic, SkillMetadata } from "./skills.js"
 import type { RuleMetadata } from "./rules.js"
 import type { TelemetrySetting } from "./telemetry.js"
 import type { WorktreeIncludeStatus } from "./worktree.js"
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@ export interface ExtensionMessage {
 	list?: string[] // For dismissedUpsells
 	tools?: SerializedCustomToolDefinition[] // For customToolsResult
 	skills?: SkillMetadata[] // For skills response
+	skillDiagnostics?: SkillDiagnostic[] // For malformed skills omitted from the skills response
 	rules?: RuleMetadata[] // For rules response
 	modes?: { slug: string; name: string }[] // For modes response
 	rooHistoryImportProgress?: {