Skills

Trailmark Summary

Runs a Trailmark summary analysis on a codebase.

Install

npx skills add trailofbits/skills --skill trailmark-summary -g -a claude-code -y
Repository
trailofbits/skills7.9k
Category
Engineering
Updated
7d ago
License
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Context cost
Lightabout 842 tokens
Runs scripts
No, instructions only

What it does

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.

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

RationalizationWhy It's WrongRequired Action
"I can read the code manually instead"Manual reading misses parser-based language detection, dependency data, and entry point enumerationInstall and run trailmark
"Language detection doesn't matter"Wrong language selection produces empty or partial analysisUse 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 analysisVerify all three are present
"Tool isn't installed, I'll skip it"This skill exists specifically to run trailmarkReport 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:

Read the whole SKILL.md on GitHub

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