House Writing Style
Core Principle
Use plain technical English for prose the agent authors. Style is a judgment
surface, not a publication regex. Clarity, fidelity, audience, and the artifact's
purpose outrank any isolated preference.
When to Use / NOT
- Use when: drafting or reviewing public docs, release notes, PR text, issue
text, or other important prose.
- NOT when: the user requests another style, or the material is protected.
Protected content
Keep source code, commands, identifiers, paths, URLs, hashes, structured data,
logs, compiler errors, exact quotations, citations, and fidelity-sensitive
upstream text byte-exact.
Review guidance
Prefer direct sentences, concrete verbs, necessary terminology, and varied but
natural cadence. Remove filler, throat-clearing, performed enthusiasm,
unnecessary hedging, and decorative conclusions when they obscure the point.
Use parallel structure for lists and protocols. Keep technical contrasts when
they prevent ambiguity. An em dash, long sentence, nominalization, or domain
term is acceptable when it is the clearest faithful choice.
Workflow
- Identify the audience, purpose, and protected spans.
- Read the whole passage for meaning before editing individual words.
- Improve clarity, precision, structure, cadence, tone, and economy with one
bounded pass.
- Re-read against the source and restore any lost qualification or technical
distinction.
Red Flags
- Rewriting protected content to satisfy taste.
- Treating a vocabulary list or sentence length as proof of quality.
- Flattening all prose into uniform short sentences.
- Claiming formal ASD-STE100 compliance.
Verification
The model reads the final prose in context, checks protected content for exact
fidelity, and explains any consequential style tradeoff. Style preferences do
not block publication mechanically.
References
references/rules.md, detailed review considerations.references/examples.md, contextual examples.references/exceptions.md, protected and justified exceptions.
1---2name: house-writing-style3description: Use when rewriting, polishing, or auditing natural-language prose in the house style: agent output, docs, release notes, PR and issue text, or when a style choice needs explanation.4---56# House Writing Style78## Core Principle910Use plain technical English for prose the agent authors. Style is a judgment11surface, not a publication regex. Clarity, fidelity, audience, and the artifact's12purpose outrank any isolated preference.1314## When to Use / NOT1516- **Use when:** drafting or reviewing public docs, release notes, PR text, issue17 text, or other important prose.18- **NOT when:** the user requests another style, or the material is protected.1920## Protected content2122Keep source code, commands, identifiers, paths, URLs, hashes, structured data,23logs, compiler errors, exact quotations, citations, and fidelity-sensitive24upstream text byte-exact.2526## Review guidance2728Prefer direct sentences, concrete verbs, necessary terminology, and varied but29natural cadence. Remove filler, throat-clearing, performed enthusiasm,30unnecessary hedging, and decorative conclusions when they obscure the point.31Use parallel structure for lists and protocols. Keep technical contrasts when32they prevent ambiguity. An em dash, long sentence, nominalization, or domain33term is acceptable when it is the clearest faithful choice.3435## Workflow36371. Identify the audience, purpose, and protected spans.382. Read the whole passage for meaning before editing individual words.393. Improve clarity, precision, structure, cadence, tone, and economy with one40 bounded pass.414. Re-read against the source and restore any lost qualification or technical42 distinction.4344## Red Flags4546- Rewriting protected content to satisfy taste.47- Treating a vocabulary list or sentence length as proof of quality.48- Flattening all prose into uniform short sentences.49- Claiming formal ASD-STE100 compliance.5051## Verification5253The model reads the final prose in context, checks protected content for exact54fidelity, and explains any consequential style tradeoff. Style preferences do55not block publication mechanically.5657## References5859- `references/rules.md`, detailed review considerations.60- `references/examples.md`, contextual examples.61- `references/exceptions.md`, protected and justified exceptions.
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