# Deslop

> Use when the user wants text to sound less AI-generated — "deslop", "de-AI", "make this not sound like ChatGPT/AI", "humanize this", "remove AI tells" — for cover letters, posts, articles, emails, or any prose. Also use when reviewing text that shows AI patterns (em-dash overuse, "it's not X, it's Y" mirrors, aphorism closers, words like delve/leverage/seamless).

- Skill: `0xsunseeker/deslop` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add 0xsunseeker/deslop`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/0xsunseeker/deslop/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: 0xSunSeeker (https://skillmd.com/u/0xsunseeker)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/0xsunseeker/deslop

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# Deslop

Strip AI tells from a text using a deterministic 60-rule checklist. **Never alter facts, claims, names, or the core message — only how it's phrased.**

## Process

1. Scan the text and tally violations per rule (cite rules by number).
2. Rewrite, fixing every violation while obeying Rule 58 (preserve voice lines).
3. Verification pass (Rule 60): re-scan the rewrite for Rules 1–5 — rewrites tend to reintroduce mirrors and closers.
4. Deliver: the rewritten text, then a short list of judgment calls made (what was cut and why, anything the user may want to reverse).

## Rules

### A. Structure patterns (1–8)

1. **Negation mirrors** — "It's not X, it's Y" / "isn't just X" / "not only... but also" / "more than just" / "I don't just X, I Y" / "won't be X. It will be Y." Maximum **one per piece**. Keep the one doing the most work (usually addressing a real objection); rewrite the rest as a single positive statement with the negated half deleted.
2. **Fragment cascades** — two-plus consecutive same-shape fragments ("Not the loudest. Not the most disruptive. Just..." / "No hashtags. No celebrities."). Zero allowed as standalone fragments. Concrete items fold into one inline sentence; abstract ones get cut.
3. **Aphorism closers** — a paragraph-final maxim restating the paragraph's point ("Everything else is noise."). Delete if the preceding sentence made the point. Max one aphorism per piece, and it must contain a concrete noun.
4. **Summary endings** — delete "In conclusion," "Ultimately," "To sum up," "Overall," "In summary," "At the end of the day" closers. End on the strongest concrete statement instead.
5. **Anaphora triads** — three-plus consecutive sentences opening with the same subject-shape ("The cards are... The stats are... The timing is..."). Break at least one.
6. **Essay scaffolding** — "First... Also... Finally...", "What makes this particularly compelling is...". Delete the signpost; keep the content.
7. **Duplicated meaning** — adjacent sentences expressing the same idea in different words: keep the stronger, delete the other.
8. **Rhetorical questions** — maximum one per 500 words.

### B. Sentence rhythm (9–16)

9. **Length cap** — no sentence over 28 words.
10. **Comma cap** — a sentence with more than three commas gets split.
11. **Conjunction cap** — max one coordinating conjunction (and, but, or) per sentence unless it's a list.
12. **Cadence variance** — across any 5-sentence window, sentence lengths must vary by at least 8 words. Uniform rhythm is the GPT cadence.
13. **No repeated openers** — no sentence starts with the same first word as the previous sentence.
14. **No cloned grammar** — no two consecutive sentences with identical grammatical structure (subject-verb-object twice in a row with matching shape).
15. **Pronoun-start runs** — three consecutive sentences starting with It/This/These/They: rewrite at least one.
16. **Passive voice** — maximum 10% of sentences.

### C. Paragraphs and layout (17–22)

17. **Paragraph cap** — maximum 3 sentences per paragraph in web/marketing prose (long-form may go to 4).
18. **Paragraph variance** — no three consecutive paragraphs within ±1 sentence of the same length. A one-sentence paragraph is legal.
19. **No "This." openers** — no paragraph begins with the bare pronoun "This".
20. **Concrete noun per paragraph** — every paragraph must contain at least one concrete noun (wallet, engineer, dashboard, invoice, API), not only abstractions.
21. **Bullet cap** — no bullet list longer than 7 items; group into subsets beyond that.
22. **Parenthetical cap** — maximum one ( ) aside per 400 words.

### D. Punctuation (23–25)

23. **Em-dashes** — maximum one per piece. Convert the rest to commas or periods.
24. **Semicolons** — no semicolon joins two independent clauses. Split into two sentences.
25. **Colons** — maximum one per paragraph. Colon-into-thesis setups allowed only when what follows is concrete.

### E. Banned openers (26–28)

26. Never open with "In today's...", "In a world where...", "As AI continues to...", "In an era of...". Reject and rewrite from the actual point.
27. Never open with "Whether you're / Whether you are".
28. Delete stock openers: "Throughout my career," "What caught my attention wasn't...".

### F. Word and phrase bans (29–51)

29. **delve** — replace.
30. **leverage / utilize** — replace with "use" (or build/run/on).
31. **furthermore / moreover / additionally** — replace with "also" or delete.
32. **thus / hence** — replace with "so". **therefore** — academic writing only.
33. **"it's worth noting" / "needless to say" / "without further ado"** — delete; say the thing.
34. **"at the end of the day"** — delete.
35. **"in order to"** — replace with "to".
36. **"due to the fact that"** — replace with "because".
37. **"a wide range of"** — replace with "many" or the actual count.
38. **various / numerous** — replace with the specific noun or a number.
39. **stands as / serves as / acts as** — replace with "is".
40. **"plays a crucial/important/key role"** — replace with what it literally does.
41. **robust / seamless** — replace ("robust" allowed only in a genuine technical spec).
42. **cutting-edge / state-of-the-art** — replace with what the thing literally is.
43. **innovative** — allowed only with proof in the same sentence; otherwise delete.
44. **game-changing / revolutionary / transformative** — delete.
45. **world-class / industry-leading / best-in-class** — delete unless quoted or backed by named evidence.
46. **Slop vocabulary** — landscape, navigate, unlock, elevate, empower, resonate, testament to, at the intersection of: replace with plain words.
47. **Empty intensifiers** — very, really, extremely, highly, incredibly, truly, absolutely, actually, particularly, deeply, filler "just": delete unless numerically justified.
48. **Latinate → spoken verbs** — facilitate→help, implement→set up.
49. **Superlative claims need evidence** — best, biggest, fastest, largest, leading, highest must have evidence in the same or adjacent sentence, or soften the claim.
50. **Grandiose framing** — "one of the most important X in Y": replace with what the thing literally is.
51. **Stock phrases** — "I'd welcome the opportunity," "That fundamentally changes," "exactly the type/kind of," "exactly that": delete or rewrite plainly.

### G. Density (52–56)

52. **Adjective chains** — maximum 2 adjectives before a noun ("powerful scalable intelligent autonomous platform" → pick two, or show a number).
53. **Stacked adverbs** — reject runs like "rapidly efficiently seamlessly."
54. **Abstract noun stacks** — no three consecutive abstract nouns ("growth strategy optimization"). Require a verb.
55. **Abstraction lists** — lists of 3+ abstract nouns ("independence, privacy, sovereignty"): cut to two or replace one with something concrete. Concrete-item lists may keep three.
56. **Noun repetition** — same noun three times within 80 words: vary or restructure.

### H. Substance and verification (57–60)

57. **One concrete anchor minimum** — the piece must contain at least one number, name, date, or specific event. Anchor the vaguest claim; if it can't be anchored, flag it for the user — never invent one.
58. **Preserve voice lines** — any sentence that is concrete, specific, and idiosyncratic is EXEMPT from all rules above. Deslopping strips patterns, not personality. Never overcorrect into blandness.
59. **Never alter facts, claims, quotes, or names** — only how they're phrased. Quotes stay verbatim. If a fix would require inventing a fact, flag it instead.
60. **Verification pass** — re-scan the rewrite for Rules 1–5, then the read-aloud test: any sentence you wouldn't say to a colleague across a desk gets rewritten in the words you'd actually use.

## Red flags — you're about to re-slop

- Your rewrite of a mirror produced a new mirror ("rather than" / "instead of" doing the same job as "not")
- You replaced an em-dash aside with a semicolon aside (Rule 24 still fires)
- You added a tidy summary sentence "to round off" a paragraph (Rules 3–4)
- You softened a voice line because it "didn't match the rest" (Rule 58 says keep it)
- You hit a word-count or variance rule by padding instead of cutting

## Common mistakes

| Mistake | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| Overcorrecting into bland corporate prose | Rule 58 — keep the idiosyncratic lines untouched |
| Fixing patterns by inverting them (positive→negative mirror) | State the point once, positively, and stop |
| Inventing numbers to satisfy Rules 49/57 | Flag the vague claim; ask the user for the real figure |
| Rewriting quotes or cited lines | Quotes are facts (Rule 59) — leave verbatim |
| Applying Rule 17's 3-sentence cap to long-form essays | Long-form gets 4; the cap targets web/marketing copy |