Testing vs Design · both proven

differential-review vs mcp-builder

Both skills were run through Claude twice: once on a fixed brief without the skill, once with it. The briefs differ because each is written for the job the skill claims to do, so compare each skill against its own baseline, then decide which difference matters for your work. They are in different categories, so this is a choice of job, not a head-to-head on the same job.

differential-review

Performs security-focused differential review of code changes. Adapts analysis depth to codebase size, uses git blame for context, calculates blast radius by counting callers, checks test coverage of modified code, and generates a markdown report. Use when reviewing a PR, commit, or diff for security vulnerabilities, checking whether a change re-introduces a previously fixed bug, asking what else…

Category: Testing
Source: trailofbits/skills
License: Other
Proof model: claude-opus-5-5
Brief: “Do a security-focused review of this change and present it as a single HTML page. Commit: "Allow admins to impersonate users for support" +app.get('/admin/impersonate/:id', async (req, res) => { + if (req.cookies.role !== 'admin') return res.sendStatus(403); + const user = await User.findById(req.params.id); + req.session.userId = user.id; + res.redirect(req.query.next || '/'); +});”
Skill commit: 2be6433

Without the skillWith differential-review

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Without, runWith differential-review, run3 independent runs per side, none selected by hand.

Download the with-skill page

mcp-builder

Guide for creating high-quality MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that enable LLMs to interact with external services through well-designed tools. Use when building MCP servers to integrate external APIs or services, whether in Python (FastMCP) or Node/TypeScript (MCP SDK).

Category: Design
Source: anthropics/skills
License: Not stated
Proof model: claude-opus-5-5
Brief: “Build an MCP server in TypeScript that gives an agent read access to a team's Linear-style issue tracker through a REST API: tools to search issues, get one issue with comments, and list a project's open issues by priority. Present it as a single HTML page with the full source of each file, the tool schemas, how errors and pagination are handled, and how to run and connect it.”
Skill commit: dbd4588

Without the skillWith mcp-builder

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Without, runWith mcp-builder, run3 independent runs per side, none selected by hand.

Download the with-skill page

We don’t pick a winner for you: the pages are the evidence. Both proofs can be repeated with the brief, model and commit shown above. See alternatives to differential-review or alternatives to mcp-builder.