Quarantine System

When Skillsmith detects potential security issues in a skill, it places the skill in quarantine to protect your environment. This page explains how the quarantine system works and what to do if you encounter a quarantined skill.

What is Quarantine?

Quarantine is a protective system that isolates skills with potential security issues. When a skill is quarantined, it cannot be installed until it has been reviewed or the issues have been resolved.

The quarantine system exists to protect you from:

Malicious code that could harm your system
Prompt injection attacks that could manipulate AI assistants
Skills that access sensitive files without authorization
Low-quality skills that may cause unexpected behavior

Quarantine Severity Levels

Quarantined skills are assigned one of four severity levels, each with different implications:

MALICIOUSLevel 4

Permanent quarantine — security threat detected

Cannot be installed under any circumstances
Requires security team review
Author may be banned from the registry

Example: Skill contains jailbreak patterns or known malicious code

SUSPICIOUSLevel 3

Manual review required before import allowed

Installation blocked until review completes
Security team evaluates within 24-48 hours
May be approved, rejected, or downgraded

Example: Skill accesses sensitive files without clear justification

RISKYLevel 2

Can import with warnings displayed

Installation allowed with explicit confirmation
Warning message explains detected risks
User assumes responsibility

Example: Skill references external URLs not on the allowlist

LOW_QUALITYLevel 1

Can import with reduced quality score

Installation allowed normally
Quality score is reduced in search results
May indicate incomplete or outdated skill

Example: Skill missing required metadata or documentation

What Triggers Quarantine

Skills can be quarantined for several reasons:

Trigger	Typical Severity	Description
Failed security scan	SUSPICIOUS or MALICIOUS	Security scan detected critical or high-severity patterns
User reports	SUSPICIOUS	Multiple users reported suspicious behavior
Blocklist match	MALICIOUS	Skill matches known malicious patterns or authors
Anomaly detection	SUSPICIOUS	Sudden behavior change in previously trusted skill
Missing metadata	LOW_QUALITY	Required fields missing from SKILL.md

User Experience

When Installing a Quarantined Skill

If you try to install a quarantined skill, you'll see different messages depending on severity:

MALICIOUS Skills

Error: This skill has been quarantined for security reasons and cannot be installed.
Reason: Security threat detected - jailbreak patterns found
For more information, visit www.skillsmith.app/docs/quarantine

SUSPICIOUS Skills

Warning: This skill is under review and cannot be installed yet.
Reason: Accesses sensitive file patterns
Review status: Pending (estimated 24-48 hours)
You will be notified when the review is complete.

RISKY Skills

Warning: This skill has been flagged for the following risks:
- References external domain: api.example.com
- Contains high-entropy content (possible obfuscation)

Do you want to proceed with installation? (y/N)

Checking Quarantine Status

You can check if a skill is quarantined before installing:

# Using the CLI
skillsmith info <skill-id>

# Response includes quarantine status
{
  "id": "community/suspicious-skill",
  "quarantineStatus": {
    "quarantined": true,
    "severity": "SUSPICIOUS",
    "reason": "Accesses sensitive file patterns",
    "reviewStatus": "pending"
  }
}

For Skill Authors

Checking If Your Skill Is Quarantined

Authors can check their skill's quarantine status:

skillsmith info <your-skill-id>
# Or via the MCP server
"Check the status of my-skill-name"

Resolution Process

If your skill is quarantined, follow these steps to resolve it:

Review the findings: Check the quarantine reason to understand what triggered it
Fix the issues: Update your skill to address the security concerns
- Remove or justify external URL references
- Avoid accessing sensitive file patterns
- Remove any code that could be misinterpreted as malicious
Push updates: Commit your changes to the skill repository
Request re-scan: The skill will be automatically re-scanned on the next index cycle (typically within 24 hours)
Wait for review: For SUSPICIOUS or MALICIOUS severity, manual review is required even after fixes

Appeal Process

If you believe your skill was incorrectly quarantined (false positive):

Document your case: Explain why the flagged patterns are legitimate and necessary
Open an issue: Create an issue atGitHubwith label quarantine-appeal
Include evidence: Provide the skill ID, quarantine reason, and your justification
Await response: Appeals are typically reviewed within 2-5 business days

Review Timeline

Severity	Initial Triage	Full Review	Appeal Resolution
MALICIOUS	24 hours	3-5 days	5-10 days
SUSPICIOUS	24-48 hours	2-5 days	3-7 days
RISKY	Automatic	N/A	1-3 days
LOW_QUALITY	Automatic	N/A	1-2 days

Preventing Quarantine

To avoid having your skill quarantined:

Follow the security best practices for authors
Run skillsmith validate locally before publishing
Avoid external URLs unless absolutely necessary
Never access sensitive files (.env, credentials, keys)
Include complete metadata in your SKILL.md
Submit for verification to get the Verified badge

Quarantine System

What is Quarantine?

Quarantine Severity Levels

What Triggers Quarantine

User Experience

When Installing a Quarantined Skill

Checking Quarantine Status

For Skill Authors

Checking If Your Skill Is Quarantined

Resolution Process

Appeal Process

Review Timeline

Preventing Quarantine

Related Documentation