preetamnath Tighten Instruction
Two passes in order: clarify the text into plain words, then tighten each distinct instruction or fact to one line — clarity first, so tightening never compresses back into jargon.
Steps
State the goal in one sentence: what should the reader do or know after reading it?
Clarify — make every phrase read cold (clear on its own). Decompose the line into phrases; name each phrase's intended meaning and fix any that won't land:
- Jargon → plain word ("down-weight" → "rank lower").
- Abstraction → concrete verb/noun ("optimize for" → "rank by").
- Ambiguous referent → name it ("them" / "the better one" → the actual subject).
- Mismatched verb → the true actor ("pick" when you only recommend → "favor").
- Cryptic compression → unpack it ("not least effort" → "not the easiest option").
Spend length here when it buys comprehension; preserve the meaning exactly.
Tighten — cut what the clear line doesn't need. Drop any line whose only purpose is "restate the goal," "hedge," or "explain why"; keep a non-derivable rationale as a fact in Step 4. Collapse clauses the positive form already implies, and rename a heading that misnames its content. Never trade a plain word back for jargon to save space.
Before: "Run tests after edits. Don't skip even for small changes — small changes break things too." After: "Run tests after every edit."
Land each distinct instruction or fact on one positive line — in the shape the content wants:
- Instruction → trigger + action: "When X, do Y." / "Use X for Y."
- Fact → subject + the non-derivable part: "X is Y, not the expected Z." / "X — the constraint/reason." (gotchas, couplings, conventions, rationale all take this shape)
- If it won't compress to one line: split — it's two.
Test it cold. Read the final line without surrounding context — every phrase obvious, the whole line actionable. If not, redo.
Score and gate the edit. Score confidence
0.00–1.00that the final line is clearer, tighter, and meaning-preserving. If a caller owns a file-level gate, return the score and proposal without editing. Otherwise, apply atc ≥ 0.75; below that, keep the current line and report the proposal as held.