Respond To Message

Respond to Message

Craft responses to messages in your voice, matched to the platform. Copies to clipboard for pasting.

Preferences

Before starting, use the Read tool to read ~/.claude/skills/respond-to-message/preferences.md. If the file does not exist, treat as "no preferences set" and use defaults.

Tone Profile

Use the Read tool to read ~/.claude/skills/respond-to-message/reference/tone-profile.md. If it does not exist, fall back to preferences tone keywords. If neither exists, ask the user to describe their tone.

Platform Context

Use Glob to check which platform files exist at ~/.claude/skills/respond-to-message/reference/platforms/*.md. For the active platform, read its context file. If no file exists for the requested platform, use sensible defaults for that platform's conventions.

Command routing

Check $ARGUMENTS:

• help → display help then stop
• config → interactive setup then stop
• reset → delete ~/.claude/skills/respond-to-message/preferences.md, confirm, stop
• tone → open tone profile editing flow then stop
• anything else (including empty) → run the skill

Help

Respond to Message — Craft replies in your voice, matched to the platform

Usage:
  /respond-to-message <platform>           Craft a response (then paste the message)
  /respond-to-message                      Auto-detect platform or ask
  /respond-to-message --refine             Re-draft the last response with feedback
  /respond-to-message --formal             Override tone to more formal
  /respond-to-message --casual             Override tone to more casual
  /respond-to-message config               Set up tone, platforms, and context
  /respond-to-message tone                 Edit your tone profile with examples
  /respond-to-message reset                Clear preferences
  /respond-to-message help                 This help

Platforms: linkedin, slack, gmail, teams, whatsapp, twitter, generic

Examples:
  /respond-to-message linkedin             Then paste the LinkedIn message in chat
  /respond-to-message slack                Then paste the Slack message + optional draft
  /respond-to-message gmail --formal       Reply to an email with formal tone override

Current preferences:
  (from preferences.md or defaults)

Config

Use AskUserQuestion to collect:

Q1: Tone keywords — How would you describe your communication style? (e.g., "direct, warm, professional but not stiff, uses analogies")

Q2: Your role/title — Used for professional context in responses (e.g., "VP of Engineering at Acme Corp")

Q3: Active platforms — Which platforms do you want configured? (multiSelect: LinkedIn, Slack, Gmail, Teams, WhatsApp, Twitter/X)

Q4: Sample messages — "Would you like to paste 2-3 example messages you've written so I can learn your tone? (recommended)" (Yes/No)

If Q4 is Yes, use AskUserQuestion to collect sample messages, then analyze them for:

• Sentence length patterns
• Greeting/closing conventions
• Level of formality
• Use of humor, emojis, or directness
• Vocabulary tendencies

Save tone analysis + samples to reference/tone-profile.md.

For each platform selected in Q3, ask:

Platform-specific Q — "Any specific context for {platform}? (e.g., your LinkedIn headline, Slack workspace role, email signature)" — save to reference/platforms/{platform}.md.

Save overall preferences to ~/.claude/skills/respond-to-message/preferences.md.

Tone

Interactive flow to update the tone profile:

1. Read current reference/tone-profile.md (if exists, show summary)
2. Ask: "Paste 2-3 messages you've recently sent that represent your voice."
3. Analyze patterns and update reference/tone-profile.md
4. Confirm: "Tone profile updated. Key traits: {traits}."

Reset

Delete ~/.claude/skills/respond-to-message/preferences.md and confirm: "Preferences cleared. Using defaults. (Tone profile and platform contexts are preserved — delete them manually if needed.)"

First-time detection

If no preferences file AND no tone profile exist, show:

First time using /respond-to-message? Run /respond-to-message config to set up your tone and platforms, or just continue — I'll ask what I need as we go.

Then proceed normally.

Workflow

Step 1: Detect platform

If $ARGUMENTS contains a platform name (linkedin, slack, gmail, teams, whatsapp, twitter, generic), use it.

If no platform specified, check the pasted message for cues:

• "via LinkedIn" / LinkedIn formatting → linkedin
• Slack-style formatting (channel names, @mentions, threads) → slack
• Email headers (From:, Subject:, etc.) → gmail
• Teams-style formatting → teams

If still ambiguous, ask:

What platform is this message from?

Options: LinkedIn, Slack, Gmail, Teams, WhatsApp, Twitter/X, Other

Step 2: Parse the input

From the conversation context, extract:

• Incoming message — the message the user received and needs to respond to
• Draft response (optional) — the user's initial attempt, to be refined
• Sender context — who sent it (name, title, relationship if apparent)
• Thread context — is this a reply in an ongoing conversation?
• Specific instructions — any guidance like "decline politely" or "express interest but ask about timeline"

If the incoming message isn't clear, ask:

Paste the message you want to respond to. You can also include a draft response if you have one.

Step 3: Load tone and context

1. Tone profile — read from reference/tone-profile.md
2. Platform context — read from reference/platforms/{platform}.md
3. Preferences — read from preferences.md

Merge into a response framework:

• Voice: tone keywords + sample patterns
• Format: platform-specific conventions (see Step 5)
• Context: role, company, expertise areas

Step 4: Analyze and strategize

Before drafting, consider:

• Intent: What does the sender want? What should the response achieve?
• Relationship: Professional contact, colleague, recruiter, client, friend?
• Stakes: Casual conversation, business opportunity, sensitive topic?
• Action needed: Accept, decline, defer, negotiate, inform, ask?

If the user provided a draft, identify what to keep and what to improve.

If the intent is unclear, ask one clarifying question:

This looks like [interpretation]. Do you want to [suggested action], or something else?

Step 5: Craft the response

Write the response following platform conventions:

LinkedIn:

• Professional but personable
• Keep under 300 words for DMs
• No markdown (LinkedIn strips it) — use line breaks for structure
• Opening: acknowledge their message specifically
• Close: clear next step or warm sign-off

Slack:

• Concise, conversational
• Use emoji sparingly (match workspace culture)
• Bold for emphasis, code blocks for technical content
• Thread-aware — reference what was said above
• No formal sign-offs

Gmail:

• Proper email structure (greeting, body, sign-off)
• Match formality to the sender's style
• Keep paragraphs short (2-3 sentences)
• Clear subject line suggestion if starting a new thread
• Include email signature if configured

Teams:

• Similar to Slack but slightly more formal
• Support for mentions (@Name)
• Keep it scannable

WhatsApp:

• Short, casual
• Emoji-friendly
• Break into multiple short messages if content is long

Twitter/X:

• Under 280 characters (or note if a thread is needed)
• Punchy, direct
• Hashtags only if relevant

Generic:

• Match the sender's format and length
• Default to professional-casual

Apply tone profile throughout. The response should sound like the user, not like AI.

Step 6: Copy to clipboard

1. Write the response to /tmp/respond-to-message-output.md using the Write tool
2. Run pbcopy < /tmp/respond-to-message-output.md via Bash
3. Report:

Copied to clipboard. Ready to paste.

---

{the response, displayed for review}

/respond-to-message --refine to adjust, or just paste it.

Step 7: Handle refinement

If --refine flag is set or the user asks to adjust:

1. Ask what to change (shorter, more formal, different angle, etc.)
2. Re-draft
3. Copy new version to clipboard
4. Show diff summary: "Made it [shorter/more formal/etc.]"

Principles

• Sound like the user, not like AI — the response must match the user's actual voice. Generic, overly polished AI-speak is a failure. Use the tone profile religiously.
• Platform-native formatting — a LinkedIn DM should look like a LinkedIn DM, not a formatted email. Match conventions exactly.
• Clipboard-first — always pbcopy. The user should be able to Cmd+V immediately after the skill runs.
• Clarify when unsure — if the intent or desired action isn't clear, ask ONE focused question rather than guessing wrong.
• Minimal not maximal — shorter responses are usually better. Don't pad with pleasantries or filler unless that's the user's actual style.