diff --git a/scripts/validate-skills.sh b/scripts/validate-skills.sh
index 5030687..1073631 100755
--- a/scripts/validate-skills.sh
+++ b/scripts/validate-skills.sh
@@ -6,10 +6,16 @@
 #   1. SKILL.md exists in each skill dir
 #   2. YAML frontmatter is present (--- ... ---)
 #   3. `name:` field matches the directory name
-#   4. `name:` matches ^[a-z0-9-]{1,64}$ and is not "anthropic" or "claude"
+#   4. `name:` matches ^[a-z0-9-]{1,64}$ and is not a reserved word
+#      (anthropic, claude, meta, google)
 #   5. `description:` is present, non-empty, and <= 1024 chars
 #   6. `description:` contains "Use when" (or "use when") to signal trigger conditions
 #   7. SKILL.md body (after frontmatter) is <= 500 lines
+#   8. `description:` is in third person — no first/second-person pronouns or "can help"
+#      (quoted user trigger phrases are exempt — they're verbatim quotes, not narration)
+#   9. `description:` contains no XML-style angle brackets (breaks manifest parsing)
+#  10. `description:` should not open with a vague verb (Helps, Manages, Tools for, …) — WARN only
+#  11. Body (outside fenced code blocks) uses forward slashes, not Windows-style `\`
 
 set -e
 
@@ -78,9 +84,11 @@ for skill_dir in "$SKILLS_DIR"/*/; do
     if ! echo "$name_value" | grep -Eq '^[a-z0-9-]{1,64}$'; then
       fail "name '$name_value' must match ^[a-z0-9-]{1,64}$"
     fi
-    if [ "$name_value" = "anthropic" ] || [ "$name_value" = "claude" ]; then
-      fail "name '$name_value' is a reserved word"
-    fi
+    case "$name_value" in
+      anthropic|claude|meta|google)
+        fail "name '$name_value' is a reserved word"
+        ;;
+    esac
   fi
 
   # 5. description present, non-empty, <= 1024 chars
@@ -116,6 +124,47 @@ for skill_dir in "$SKILLS_DIR"/*/; do
   else
     ok "body is $body_lines lines"
   fi
+
+  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  # Conservative best-practice checks (added in v0.3).
+  # Each check passes on the current 7 in-repo skills; tighten in v0.4.
+  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+  if [ -n "$description_value" ]; then
+    # 8. Description in third person.
+    # Strip "quoted phrases" first — those are verbatim user triggers, not narration.
+    # Case-sensitive on pronouns so "US" (country) doesn't match "us".
+    desc_no_quotes="$(echo "$description_value" | sed 's/"[^"]*"//g')"
+    if echo "$desc_no_quotes" | grep -qE '\b(I|you|we|us|my|your|our)\b' \
+       || echo "$desc_no_quotes" | grep -qi 'can help'; then
+      fail "description uses first/second person — rewrite in third person (e.g., 'Analyzes', 'Designs')"
+    else
+      ok "description is in third person"
+    fi
+
+    # 9. No XML-style angle brackets in description (breaks manifest parsing).
+    if echo "$description_value" | grep -qE '<[a-zA-Z/]'; then
+      fail "description contains XML-style tags — these break manifest parsing"
+    else
+      ok "description has no XML-style tags"
+    fi
+
+    # 10. (WARN, doesn't increment errors.) Description opener should be specific.
+    case "$description_value" in
+      "Helps "*|"Manages "*|"Tools for "*|"Utility for "*|"Provides "*)
+        echo "  ⚠ description starts with vague verb — consider a more specific opener (e.g., 'Analyzes', 'Generates', 'Validates')" >&2
+        ;;
+    esac
+  fi
+
+  # 11. No Windows-style path separators in body (outside fenced code blocks).
+  # Matches a single literal backslash — Windows paths use `dir\file`.
+  body_no_code="$(awk -v end="$fm_end" 'NR > end { if ($0 ~ /^```/) { incode = !incode; next } if (!incode) print }' "$skill_md")"
+  if echo "$body_no_code" | grep -q '\\'; then
+    fail "body contains Windows-style path separators (\\) outside code blocks — use forward slashes"
+  else
+    ok "body uses forward-slash paths"
+  fi
 done
 
 echo ""