> Are you willing to waste time and money going through the interview process just to find out that the role isn't a good fit, even though the recruiter said it was?

You should pretend the recruiter - any recruiter is a compulsive liar, and put exactly zero value on whether or not they claim the role is a good fit. They are never going to interact with you again, they may not understand you or the role, and they are financially incentivised to bullshit to you.

Ignore what they say, and judge whether or not the role is a good fit for yourself. I wouldn't hold a good recruiter as a positive sign for a job, nor would I hold a shitty recruiter as a red flag.

Recruiters have different levels of experience: same as software engineers. Some are just starting their career, some have more experience. Most recruiters didn't go to school for recruiting; they usually landed the job based mostly on their inter personal skills. Most lack any context around technology. In that light, making a judgement call about a team based solely on the recruited seems suboptimal. If they make mistakes, most would be happy if you point it out to them.

Everyone is trying to help each other; don't let go of potentially great opportunities due to these misconceptions.

Recruiters often doesn't have the role. They try to stir up an interest in you, so with your nice CV they can approach the - just prospecting - client.