# Using Stronghelp

> Development and maintenance of StrongHelp manuals for RISC OS. Use when the agent needs to create, edit, or build StrongHelp manuals, or when processing help pages in the StrongHelp format.

- Skill: `gerph/using-stronghelp` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add gerph/using-stronghelp`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/gerph/using-stronghelp/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- License: MIT
- Author: gerph (https://skillmd.com/u/gerph)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/gerph/using-stronghelp

---


# StrongHelp Development

This skill provides guidance for developing StrongHelp manuals, which are the standard hypertext help format for RISC OS.

## Quick Start

1.  **List the container contents first**: `riscos-shextract --list <manual_file,3d6>`
2.  **Extract a manual for inspection or editing**: `riscos-shextract --extract-dir <dirname> <manual_file,3d6>`
3.  **Read the extracted page files, not the packed `,3d6` bytes directly**.
4.  **Build a manual**: `riscos-strongcopy -o <manual_file,3d6> <directory>`

## Developing Pages

Every StrongHelp page is a text file where the first line is the title. Use `#Parent` on every page to ensure navigation works correctly.

### Workflow

1.  **List the manual**: Use `riscos-shextract --list` to see the real page names and directories before making assumptions about the structure.
2.  **Extract the manual**: Use `riscos-shextract --extract-dir` and inspect the extracted files in the filesystem.
3.  **Identify the target page**: Find the existing page or determine the filename for a new one.
4.  **Apply Syntax**: Use the syntax guide in [references/syntax.md](references/syntax.md) for formatting and links.
5.  **Organize Structure**: Use the structure guide in [references/structure.md](references/structure.md) for directory organization and special files.
6.  **Verify Links**: Ensure all links point to valid page names or files.
7.  **Build**: Use `riscos-strongcopy` to package the directory into a `.3d6` manual file.

## Tools

-   **riscos-shextract**: Extracts contents from a StrongHelp `.3d6` container.
-   **riscos-strongcopy**: Packages a directory into a StrongHelp `.3d6` container.

## Best Practices

-   **Inspection**: Do not treat a packed `,3d6` manual as plain text and do not run unrelated decoders over it. Extract it first, then read the extracted page files.
-   **Navigation**: Include `#Parent !Root` (or the appropriate parent) on every page.
-   **Columns**: Use `TAB` for alignment instead of spaces to ensure correct rendering.
-   **Formatting**: Use `#fCode` for examples and `#H1` for main headers.
-   **Organization**: For manuals with many pages, use prefix directories (e.g., `Wimp_`) or first-letter ranges (e.g., `[a-z]`).
-   **Filenames**: Remember that StrongHelp uses special filenames for redirection (e.g., `OLD>NEW`).