CRAN Submission Audit

Audit an R package against CRAN Repository Policy requirements and produce a structured gap report. This skill evaluates package structure, DESCRIPTION metadata, documentation, code quality, and test coverage against the full CRAN checklist.

Workflow

1. Locate the Package

Identify the R package to audit. Look for DESCRIPTION file in the current working directory or a specified path. If no R package is found, ask the user which package to audit.

1b. Load User Config

Read .claude/pub-pipeline.local.md if it exists (Read tool). Extract author metadata and package context from YAML frontmatter. If the file is missing, inform the user and offer to create one from the template at ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/docs/user-config-template.md.

2. Gather Package State

Run these checks in parallel where possible:

Package metadata (Read tool):

• •Read DESCRIPTION — check all required fields
• •Read NAMESPACE — verify auto-generation by roxygen2
• •Read LICENSE or LICENSE.md — verify OSI-approved license
• •Check for NEWS.md, cran-comments.md, README.md

Code quality (Grep/Glob tools):

• •Search for q() calls in R code
• •Search for .Internal(), ::: accessing base internals
• •Search for writes outside tempdir() / tools::R_user_dir()
• •Check that Suggested packages are used conditionally (if (requireNamespace(...)))
• •Verify no binary executables in source
• •Search for options() or par() calls that don't restore state via on.exit() or withr
• •Run urlchecker::url_check() to verify all URLs are valid and HTTPS

Documentation (Grep/Glob tools):

• •Check all exported functions have @returns roxygen tag
• •Check all exported functions have @examples roxygen tag
• •Verify man/ directory exists with .Rd files

R CMD check (Bash tool):

cd /path/to/package && Rscript -e 'devtools::check(args = "--as-cran")'

Test coverage (Bash tool):

cd /path/to/package && Rscript -e 'covr::package_coverage()'

3. Evaluate Against Checklist

Score each item from the CRAN checklist as PASS, FAIL, or WARN. Consult the full checklist in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/docs/cran-reference.md for detailed requirements.

Key categories to evaluate:

4. Produce Gap Report

Format the report as:

# CRAN Audit Report: {package name} v{version}

## Summary
- **Status**: READY / NEEDS WORK / NOT READY
- **Score**: X/Y checks passed
- **Blockers**: N critical issues

## Critical (Must Fix)
1. [Issue description] — [file:line] — [how to fix]

## Warnings (Should Fix)
1. [Issue description] — [file:line] — [recommendation]

## Passed
- [Check name] ✓

## R CMD Check Results
[Paste relevant output]

## Recommended Next Steps
1. [Ordered list of actions]

5. Offer to Fix

After presenting the report, offer to fix issues that can be automated:

• •Add missing @returns tags
• •Add cran-comments.md if missing
• •Fix Title/Description formatting
• •Add conditional requireNamespace() checks
• •Create NEWS.md if missing
• •Replace \dontrun{} with \donttest{} where appropriate

Reference Files

For the complete CRAN policy checklist and submission workflow, consult:

• •${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/docs/cran-reference.md — Full CRAN Repository Policy reference with pre-submission checklist, submission workflow, and common rejection reasons

Important Notes

• •NAMESPACE is auto-generated by roxygen2 — never edit manually. Run devtools::document() after any roxygen changes.
• •R CMD check --as-cran is the gold standard. If it passes with 0E/0W/0N, the package is very likely to be accepted.
• •First-time submissions face heightened scrutiny. The Description field is especially important.
• •CRAN reviewers are volunteers. Respect their time by fixing all automated issues before submission.