Capability Check

VerifiedSafe

Verify if a specific action is possible and diagnose blockers. Check permissions, test capabilities, and troubleshoot why features aren't working.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
ProductivityIntermediate
306/2/2026
Claude CodeCursor
#capability-check#troubleshooting#permissions#diagnostics

Recommended for

Our review

Checks if a specific action is possible and diagnoses any blockers.

Strengths

  • Clear structure for diagnosing permission or access issues.
  • Covers many system tools (messages, calendar, contacts, etc.).
  • Includes minimal test commands for each capability.
  • Step-by-step guide to identify and fix common blockers.

Limitations

  • Requires the relevant scripts and configurations to be in place.
  • MacOS-specific (AppleScript, system permissions).
  • May not cover all custom tools.
When to use it

When an action fails without a clear reason and you need to check permissions or tool status.

When not to use it

If the issue is obvious (e.g., app not installed) or you need deep log analysis.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score88/100

The skill only performs read-only diagnostic commands (process checks, permission tests, file existence) using Bash and AppleScript. No destructive, exfiltrating, or safety-disabling actions are present. The commands are straightforward and non-obfuscated.

No concerns found

Examples

Check iMessage capability
Can I send an iMessage? Check if Samara is running and if all permissions are granted.
Diagnose calendar permissions
Why can't I read the calendar? Test calendar access and report what's blocking it.
Test full disk access
Can I read the Messages database? Check if full disk access is enabled.

name: capability description: Check if a specific action is possible and what might be blocking it. Use when asking if you can do something, checking permissions, verifying a capability exists, or troubleshooting why something isn't working. Trigger words: can I, capability, able to, permission, possible, how do I. context: fork allowed-tools:

  • Bash
  • Read
  • Grep
  • Glob

Capability Check

Verify if a specific action is possible and diagnose any blockers.

Capability Inventory

Full capabilities documentation: ~/.claude-mind/capabilities/inventory.md

Access Patterns

# Read full inventory (comprehensive reference)
cat ~/.claude-mind/capabilities/inventory.md

# Search for specific capability
grep -ni "search term" ~/.claude-mind/capabilities/inventory.md

# List all sections
grep "^## " ~/.claude-mind/capabilities/inventory.md

Quick Capability Matrix

| Capability | Method | Requires | |------------|--------|----------| | Send iMessage | AppleScript via Samara | Samara running, Automation permission | | Send image | send-image script | Pictures folder workaround | | Read calendar | AppleScript | Calendar permission | | Write calendar | AppleScript | Calendar permission | | Read contacts | AppleScript | Contacts permission | | Read/write notes | AppleScript | Notes permission | | Send email | AppleScript | Mail permission | | Post to Bluesky | bluesky-post script | Credentials in config | | Browse web | Playwright MCP | MCP server running | | Take screenshot | screenshot script | Screen recording permission | | Read Messages DB | Direct file access | Full Disk Access | | Run shell commands | Bash | Always available | | Read/write files | Direct | Always available |

Checking Specific Capabilities

Messaging

pgrep -q Samara && echo "Samara: OK" || echo "Samara: Not running"
~/.claude-mind/bin/message "test" --dry-run 2>/dev/null

Calendar

osascript -e 'tell application "Calendar" to get name of calendars' 2>&1

Contacts

osascript -e 'tell application "Contacts" to get name of first person' 2>&1

Notes

osascript -e 'tell application "Notes" to get name of first note' 2>&1

Mail

osascript -e 'tell application "Mail" to get name of first account' 2>&1

Bluesky

grep -q "bluesky" ~/.claude-mind/config.json && echo "Bluesky: Configured" || echo "Bluesky: Not configured"

Full Disk Access

ls ~/Library/Messages/chat.db 2>/dev/null && echo "FDA: OK" || echo "FDA: Missing"

Troubleshooting Flow

  1. Identify the capability: What action is being attempted?

  2. Check prerequisites:

    • Is the required app/service running?
    • Are permissions granted?
    • Is configuration present?
  3. Test minimally: Run simplest possible version of the action

  4. Check logs: Look for error messages

log show --predicate 'process == "osascript"' --last 2m
  1. Report findings: What works, what doesn't, what to fix

Common Blockers

  • "Not authorized to send Apple events": Missing Automation permission
  • "Operation not permitted": Missing FDA or specific permission
  • "Application isn't running": Need to launch the app first
  • "No such file": Script or config missing
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