SKM-N05 · Error
`name` does not match the parent directory
The specification requires `name` to match the folder the SKILL.md lives in.
What the rule is
The specification requires `name` to match the parent directory the SKILL.md file lives in, and the official reference validator (`skills-ref validate`) treats a mismatch as a hard failure — this is a real, enforced spec-conformance violation, not a cosmetic one.
What happens in a live agent is a separate question, and here the evidence points the other way: the standard's own client-implementation guide for people building a new runtime recommends the opposite of a hard rejection — 'Name doesn't match the parent directory name → warn, load anyway.' That's documented best-practice guidance, not proof that Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenClaw, or Hermes Agent actually follow it, so this checker reports the runtime consequence as undetermined rather than guessing in either direction. Fix the mismatch regardless — it's still a real spec violation, and relying on lenient handling you haven't verified is not a plan.
Where it comes from
- Agent Skills — SpecificationSpecification / reference validator
- Agent Skills — Adding skills support to your agent (client-implementation guide)Specification / reference validator
- skills-ref validate (official reference validator, v0.1.5)Specification / reference validator
- Agent skills not workingAgentSkills.site
Strict spec conformance
Non-conformant. The official reference validator (skills-ref) rejects this — tested directly, not inferred from severity.
This is a separate question from the severity above and from which runtimes enforce it below — a rule can be a real, working extension in its home runtime while the reference validator still rejects the file outright, or vice versa. Both facts are reported, never one inferred from the other.
Which runtimes enforce it
| Runtime | Effect | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Not documented | The specification requires the match and skills-ref hard-fails on it, but the client-implementation guide's own recommended practice for a compliant runtime is to warn and load anyway. We hold no runtime-specific documentation or verified issue confirming what any of the five runtimes actually do — treat this as a real spec violation with an undetermined runtime consequence, not a confirmed load failure. |
| Codex | Not documented | The specification requires the match and skills-ref hard-fails on it, but the client-implementation guide's own recommended practice for a compliant runtime is to warn and load anyway. We hold no runtime-specific documentation or verified issue confirming what any of the five runtimes actually do — treat this as a real spec violation with an undetermined runtime consequence, not a confirmed load failure. |
| Cursor | Not documented | The specification requires the match and skills-ref hard-fails on it, but the client-implementation guide's own recommended practice for a compliant runtime is to warn and load anyway. We hold no runtime-specific documentation or verified issue confirming what any of the five runtimes actually do — treat this as a real spec violation with an undetermined runtime consequence, not a confirmed load failure. |
| OpenClaw | Not documented | The specification requires the match and skills-ref hard-fails on it, but the client-implementation guide's own recommended practice for a compliant runtime is to warn and load anyway. We hold no runtime-specific documentation or verified issue confirming what any of the five runtimes actually do — treat this as a real spec violation with an undetermined runtime consequence, not a confirmed load failure. |
| Hermes Agent | Not documented | The specification requires the match and skills-ref hard-fails on it, but the client-implementation guide's own recommended practice for a compliant runtime is to warn and load anyway. We hold no runtime-specific documentation or verified issue confirming what any of the five runtimes actually do — treat this as a real spec violation with an undetermined runtime consequence, not a confirmed load failure. |
How to fix it
- Rename either the `name` field or the containing folder so the two are identical, character for character.
Elsewhere
- SKILL.md, the formatThe full frontmatter field table this rule is drawn from.
- Agent Skills Not WorkingThe diagnostic reference this rule’s portability and failure evidence comes from.
- All rulesEvery check the validator runs, grouped by class.