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Purpose / Other

Persona Researcher Skill Security Audit

What the author says it does (original text)

Organize research — manage references, notes, and collaboration.

Independent security check

Do not install or run it yet

Files checked
1
Risks found
3
Could it run dangerous commands?Looks for programs run straight after downloading, remote control of your computer, and hidden commands.No risks found
Could it expose your files or keys?Looks for uploads of files containing passwords or keys, and keys written directly in the code.Risks found: 1
High risk

Research content may be disclosed without confirming recipients or disclosure scope

Source references: 3
What we found

The Skill directly instructs the agent to announce findings and send peer-review email, but does not require confirmation of recipients, attachments or link permissions, message content, or whether the material may be disclosed. Having Gmail and Drive capabilities together allows messaging and cloud sharing to form one outbound disclosure path.

Why this matters

Unpublished work, personal information, customer material, or internal data could be sent or made accessible to the wrong people. Sending email and granting external access are real account actions that may be difficult to fully retract.

These are live instructions, not examples or warnings: the skill directs the agent to announce files to collaborators and request reviews through Gmail. The visible instructions do not require prior confirmation of recipients, message content, link permissions, or whether the research may be disclosed. If executed with an authorized account, material could therefore reach unintended recipients or be shared too broadly. Users can require send-time previews, explicit recipient approval, and least-privilege link settings.

SKILL.md:20In the instructionsOpen original file
> **PREREQUISITE:** Load the following utility skills to operate as this persona: `gws-drive`, `gws-docs`, `gws-sheets`, `gws-gmail`
Show 2 other places
SKILL.md:31In the instructionsOpen original file
- Track research data in Sheets — use `gws sheets +append` for data logging.- Share findings with collaborators via `gws workflow +file-announce`.- Request peer reviews via `gws gmail +send`.
SKILL.md:32In the instructionsOpen original file
- Share findings with collaborators via `gws workflow +file-announce`.- Request peer reviews via `gws gmail +send`.
Could it delete files or keep running?Looks for broad file deletion, disk overwrites, and programs set to start automatically.Risks found: 1
Medium risk

The Skill can make persistent cloud-file changes without defined targets or confirmation

Source references: 4
What we found

The instructions call for organizing Drive folders, writing Docs, and appending to Sheets, but do not constrain target files, permitted change scope, use of copies, or pre-write review.

Why this matters

The agent could move or reorganize the wrong files, replace document content, or append incorrect or sensitive data to a shared spreadsheet, affecting material collaborators rely on.

These are active cloud-modification instructions: organize Drive content, write Docs, and append to Sheets. The visible text does not identify target files or folders, define editing boundaries, or require previews or confirmation; if the agent selects targets itself, it could alter the wrong material or contaminate shared records. The tip to keep a running shared-sheet log also supports repeated writes. Users can restrict operations to explicit file IDs and require a preview or copy before modification.

SKILL.md:28In the instructionsOpen original file
## Instructions- Organize research papers and notes in Drive folders.- Write research notes and summaries with `gws docs +write`.- Track research data in Sheets — use `gws sheets +append` for data logging.- Share findings with collaborators via `gws workflow +file-announce`.
Show 3 other places
SKILL.md:29In the instructionsOpen original file
- Organize research papers and notes in Drive folders.- Write research notes and summaries with `gws docs +write`.- Track research data in Sheets — use `gws sheets +append` for data logging.
SKILL.md:30In the instructionsOpen original file
- Write research notes and summaries with `gws docs +write`.- Track research data in Sheets — use `gws sheets +append` for data logging.- Share findings with collaborators via `gws workflow +file-announce`.
SKILL.md:36In the instructionsOpen original file
- Use `gws drive files list` with search queries to find specific documents.- Keep a running log of experiments and findings in a shared Sheet.- Use `--format csv` when exporting data for analysis tools.
Could it bypass safety checks?Looks for skipped website security checks, excessive file access, or actions that skip your approval.Risks found: 1
Medium risk

Basic research management is configured to require four categories of Google account capability

Source references: 3
What we found

The Skill makes Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Gmail prerequisites even though an individual task may only require finding a file or drafting a note. This gives the agent a combination of read, modification, and outbound communication capabilities.

Why this matters

If the agent misunderstands a request or processes malicious document content, the potential impact can expand from one file to multiple cloud repositories and the user's mailbox. The evidence does not show that permissions are automatically granted, but it explicitly requires loading the tools.

What this evidence establishes

The manifest and prerequisite do require Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Gmail skills, and the later instructions span discovery, modification, and outbound communication. However, the supplied source does not show their permission scopes, authorization flow, or implementations, and loading a skill does not necessarily grant every Google account permission at once. The capability bundle is broad, but actual over-privileging cannot be established from these lines alone. Users can ask for the OAuth scopes and whether Gmail and write access can be authorized separately per task.

This assessment concerns the code and conditions shown, not proof that harm has occurred.
SKILL.md:8In the instructionsOpen original file
    category: "persona"    requires:      bins:        - gws      skills:        - gws-drive        - gws-docs        - gws-sheets        - gws-gmail---
Show 2 other places
SKILL.md:20In the instructionsOpen original file
> **PREREQUISITE:** Load the following utility skills to operate as this persona: `gws-drive`, `gws-docs`, `gws-sheets`, `gws-gmail`
SKILL.md:29In the instructionsOpen original file
- Organize research papers and notes in Drive folders.- Write research notes and summaries with `gws docs +write`.- Track research data in Sheets — use `gws sheets +append` for data logging.- Share findings with collaborators via `gws workflow +file-announce`.- Request peer reviews via `gws gmail +send`.
Could it mislead the AI or hide text?Checks the skill instructions for requests to ignore you, influence the report, or hide text in invisible characters.No risks found
Could it change links or payment recipients without asking?Looks for forced referral or payment changes combined with instructions to hide the change.No risks found

Inside this skill

3 instruction sections

The Skill is presented as a research-management persona and requires Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Gmail utilities together.

View source
SKILL.md:20In the instructionsOpen original file
> **PREREQUISITE:** Load the following utility skills to operate as this persona: `gws-drive`, `gws-docs`, `gws-sheets`, `gws-gmail`
SKILL.md:22In the instructionsOpen original file
Organize research — manage references, notes, and collaboration.

Its normal workflow includes organizing cloud files, writing documents, appending spreadsheet data, and contacting collaborators through a workflow and email.

View source
SKILL.md:28In the instructionsOpen original file
## Instructions- Organize research papers and notes in Drive folders.- Write research notes and summaries with `gws docs +write`.- Track research data in Sheets — use `gws sheets +append` for data logging.- Share findings with collaborators via `gws workflow +file-announce`.- Request peer reviews via `gws gmail +send`.
Start here · InstructionsSKILL.md
persona-researcher
Lines connect the instruction file to its sections, not an observed execution order. Select a section to read the source.
Files and check records1 files

Coverage and gaps

Content covered in each file

These are the source ranges included in this check, not a guarantee that every issue has been resolved.

  • SKILL.mdFull text included

This report is for the version above. We read the available code and instructions without running the skill or checking extra packages it installs. This is not a promise of safety: a different version or setup may behave differently.

  • SKILL.mdInstructions
Lines read
39
File checksum (to compare versions)
6d4f8ab59b4f4e0a5c5b9c4458afed6a91823852150520662f28d40935c17fe3