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Guide · Agent skill

How to use the Smoke Check Gate agent skill

Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

Smoke Check Gate is an agent skill for Claude Code that sits between finishing implementation and handing a build to QA. It runs your project's automated test suite, looks for coverage gaps, asks you to confirm critical-path checks, and writes a PASS/FAIL report. It is written for game projects using Godot or Unity. By the end of this guide you will know what the skill does, how to install it, how to trigger it with a plain request, and what it needs on your machine.

Smoke Check GateDonchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios · MIT

Quick start

  1. 1Confirm your project fits. Check that the project uses Godot or Unity and that the required helper scripts are present.
  2. 2Download the ZIP. Download the smoke-check ZIP from our page.
  3. 3Unzip the skill. Unzip into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into the project's .claude/skills/ for one project.
  4. 4Or upload in the Claude apps. In the Claude apps, go to Settings → Capabilities → Skills and upload the skill.
  5. 5Ask for a smoke check. Make a natural request such as asking the agent to run a smoke check before QA hand-off.
  6. 6Answer the manual questions. Respond to the critical-path questions the agent asks so each item is confirmed or left NOT ASSESSED.
  7. 7Review the report. Approve the write step and open the PASS/FAIL report in production/qa/.

What the smoke-check skill makes the agent do

When you ask your agent to run a smoke check, it follows a six-phase procedure. It detects how the project's tests are set up, runs the automated test suite (for example Godot headless or Unity tests), looks for coverage gaps, walks you through manual critical-path checks by asking questions, and writes a PASS/FAIL report to production/qa/.

A failed check is meant to mean the build is not ready for QA hand-off. The skill does not auto-fix failures: it reports them and states what must be resolved.

  • Phase 1: detect test setup
  • Phase 2: run automated tests
  • Phase 3: check test coverage
  • Phase 4: run manual smoke checks
  • Phase 5: generate report
  • Phase 6: write and gate (asks for approval before writing the file)

Install the smoke-check skill

Download the ZIP from our page. Then choose one of two options. For a personal setup, unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, unzip it into that project's .claude/skills/ folder.

If you use the Claude apps instead, upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

  • Personal: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
  • Project only: unzip into your project's .claude/skills/
  • Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

Trigger the skill with a natural request

You can ask in plain language, for example asking the agent to run a smoke check before sending the build to testers. The skill also accepts an optional argument: sprint (the default, full check against the current sprint's stories) or quick (skips the coverage scan and manual batch 3, for rapid re-checks after a specific fix).

You can add a platform flag: --platform pc, console, mobile or all. The platform flag adds platform-specific manual checks, and with all the report includes a per-platform verdict table.

  • Full check: sprint
  • Fast re-check after a fix: quick
  • Platform checks: --platform pc, console, mobile or all
/smoke-check sprint --platform console

What the skill needs before it runs

The skill requires Claude Code or a compatible SKILL.md agent. Your project must be a game project using Godot (with the godot command on your PATH) or Unity (with Packages/manifest.json including the test framework). It also needs bash and the project's hooks/yaml-helper.sh and .claude/scripts/project-coherence.sh helper scripts.

Be aware that the skill runs local scripts and commands. It does not use the network.

  • Claude Code or a compatible SKILL.md agent
  • Godot with the godot command on PATH, or Unity with the test framework in Packages/manifest.json
  • bash, hooks/yaml-helper.sh and .claude/scripts/project-coherence.sh

Safety notes: scripts and commands

The skill executes Godot or Unity test commands on your machine, so it is only suitable where running those commands locally is acceptable. The source notes that a timeout counts as a gate failure, never a pass, because the run never completed.

Manual checks are confirmed through questions to you. Anything you do not confirm is marked NOT ASSESSED, which is neither a FAIL nor a pass.

  • Runs local scripts and Godot or Unity test commands
  • Uses no network access
  • Never edits source code or test files to fix failures
  • Requires your explicit approval before the report file is written

Tips for getting a useful result

Set up the project's test command first, since the skill prefers the project's own commands.project.yaml value over per-engine defaults. Use quick for re-checks after a specific fix, and the full sprint run before a phase handoff.

Answer the manual checks honestly. The verdict depends on your answers, so skipping questions leaves items NOT ASSESSED.

  • Keep your project's test command configured so the skill uses it
  • Use quick only for rapid re-checks, not for the final gate
  • Answer manual questions accurately; unconfirmed items stay NOT ASSESSED

What people use it for

  • Run a full sprint smoke check on a Godot project before sending a build to testers.
  • Re-check a build quickly after fixing one failing test using the quick argument.
  • Produce per-platform verdicts for a Unity game targeting PC, console and mobile with --platform all.
  • Keep a written PASS/FAIL record of critical-path status at each sprint or phase boundary.

Frequently asked questions

Is the smoke-check skill free to use?

The source does not state a price or licence terms beyond the item's listed licence, which is MIT. Check the repository's licence file for the full terms.

How do I install the smoke-check skill?

Download the ZIP from our page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps, you can instead upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

What does the smoke-check skill require?

It requires Claude Code or a compatible SKILL.md agent, a Godot project with the godot command on PATH or a Unity project with the test framework in Packages/manifest.json, and bash with the listed helper scripts.

Does smoke-check work for non-game projects?

No. It is written for game projects, and its detection and test commands target Godot and Unity setups, so the checks will not match other stacks.

Why did my smoke check fail or time out?

A failed check means the build is not QA-ready. A timeout is treated as a gate failure, not a pass, because the test run never completed. Fix the reported issue and re-run the check.

Does the skill fix failures automatically?

No. Its instructions say it should not auto-fix failures. It reports them and states what must be resolved, without editing source code or test files.

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Our verdict

Smoke Check Gate suits game developers and teams using Claude Code who want a consistent, written PASS/FAIL record before each QA hand-off. It is a poor fit for non-game projects, teams that want a fully automatic verdict, or machines where running Godot or Unity test commands is not acceptable.

Download the skill