# Critic Apply > - Skill: `petar-djukic/critic-apply` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add petar-djukic/critic-apply` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/petar-djukic/critic-apply/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: petar-djukic (https://skillmd.com/u/petar-djukic) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/petar-djukic/critic-apply --- --- name: critic-apply description: >- Rule-based application of a converged critic sheet: accept every convergent target (2+ critics), skip split panels, decline constitution-protected spans with cause, prefer the omission when remedies conflict, and count reverse-outline cheap ranks as convergence for single-critic deletions. Rewrites route through the rewrite transport with a narrow one-sentence instruction and a mechanical gate (numbers, citations, em-dash/colon budgets, size band); deletions apply directly; rst markers round-trip. Reports applied/kept/declined-by-rule for the generation: block. Triggers: critic apply, apply the critic sheet, apply the panel, apply suggestions by rule, converged sheet application. argument-hint: '--article --sheet .critic-sheet.md' --- # Critic Apply (rule-based sheet application) critic-panel produces the sheet and never applies anything; the author used to pick by hand, and the auto-application policy (operator, 2026-09-01) ran twice as throwaway scratchpad scripts. This skill is that policy as versioned code: the author never reads drivel because the rules decide, and the rules are arguable because they are deterministic. ## The rules | rule | effect | |---|---| | convergent target (2+ distinct critics on one passage) | accepted | | split panel (a proposal beside a KEEP/NO CHANGE dissent) | skipped — proposal + dissent is not convergence | | constitution-protected span (`--protected` verbatim spans) | declined with cause, however many critics want it — the constitution outranks the panel | | remedy conflict inside a convergence, one remedy a CUT | the omission wins — a deletion authors no prose | | single-critic CUT on a paragraph reverse-outline ranked cheap (`--cheap-paragraphs`) | accepted — cross-instrument agreement counts as convergence for deletions | | any other single-critic finding | skipped; the author picks those by hand | ## The mechanics (learned the hard way) - **rst markers are stripped before the model call and reattached after** — their digits fail the number gate (measured on the first automated run). A deleted paragraph takes its marker line with it. - **One narrow instruction per rewrite target**, built from the critics' *why*, sent through the rewrite transport (`CRITIC_APPLY_MODEL`, default `cohere:command-a-03-2025`) — persona prose is never spliced; it is guidance at most. - **The gate**: number multiset (citations masked first), citation multiset (`[@key]` and `[n]`), em-dash and colon counts capped at the original's, candidate length within 0.5–1.35× of the original. A gated rejection keeps the original, recorded with its reason. - **Deletions apply directly** with mechanical punctuation normalization; omission is not authorship. ## Usage ```bash python3 /scripts/critic_apply.py \ --article draft.md --sheet draft.critic-sheet.md \ [--protected constitution-spans.txt] \ [--cheap-paragraphs 3,7] \ [--dry-run] ``` Output: `.applied.md` plus `.critic-apply.json` — per-target records and the applied/kept/declined-by-rule summary the `generation:` block wants. `--dry-run` decides and reports with no model calls and no writes. Offline tests: `scripts/test_critic_apply.py`. ## Position Caller's review phase (GH-208), directly after critic-panel's merge: sheet → critic-apply → the applied text re-enters the humanize chain as a new cycle (applied targets are unlaundered rewrite-transport prose). cold-review and voice-critic read the result; this skill never runs after the terminal stage of the same cycle.