# Notebook Proofread > Proofread Jupyter notebook markdown cells and the notebooks README for typos, grammar (UK English), inconsistencies, repetition, and incorrect cross-references. Use when the user wants to check, proofread, review, or lint notebook prose. Use when this capability is needed. - Skill: `tomevault-io/notebook-proofread` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/notebook-proofread` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/notebook-proofread/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/notebook-proofread --- # Notebook Proofread Skill ## Instructions ### 1. Determine Scope Decide which notebooks to process based on the user's request: - **All notebooks** (default): Find every `.ipynb` file in the `notebooks/` directory. - **Specific notebooks**: Process only the notebooks the user names. If no notebooks are found, report that and stop. Always check **all** notebooks for cross-reference and consistency issues, even if only a subset was explicitly requested — unchanged notebooks can have stale references or new inconsistencies introduced by changes elsewhere. ### 2. Discover Notebooks and README Files Use the Glob tool to list all `.ipynb` files in `notebooks/` at runtime. This is the authoritative list of notebooks — never hard-code filenames. Also locate the README file that describes the notebooks: `notebooks/README.md`. Read this file — it contains descriptions and links for each notebook and must be checked alongside the notebooks themselves. **Note**: The `docs/` folder is auto-generated by tox and should NOT be checked or edited. ### 3. Extract Markdown Cells For each notebook, read the `.ipynb` file and examine **only markdown cells** (`"cell_type": "markdown"`). Ignore code cells and raw cells entirely. ### 4. Check Each Notebook For every markdown cell, check for the following categories of issues: #### A. Typos and Spelling - Flag misspelled words. - Use **UK English** spellings as the standard: - "colour" not "color", "favour" not "favor" - "-ise" endings preferred: "organise", "specialise", "recognise" (not "-ize") - "-our" endings: "behaviour", "neighbour" - "-re" endings: "centre", "metre" (but "meter" for measuring instruments is acceptable) - "-ence"/"-ance" where UK differs: "defence", "licence" (noun), "practise" (verb) - "whilst", "amongst" are acceptable but not required - Do NOT flag domain-specific terms, function/class/variable names, or library names as typos. Use judgement for medical and data-science terminology. #### B. Grammar and Style - Check for grammatical errors (subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, dangling modifiers, etc.). - Follow UK punctuation conventions (e.g. single quotes for quotation marks in prose, full stops and commas outside closing quotation marks unless part of the quoted material). - Flag passive voice only when it makes meaning unclear; passive voice is acceptable in technical writing. #### C. Inconsistencies - **Terminology**: Flag cases where the same concept uses different names across cells or notebooks (e.g. "patient snapshot" vs "patient-level snapshot" vs "snapshot" used interchangeably without definition). - **Formatting**: Inconsistent heading levels, list styles (mixing bullet and numbered lists for similar content), or emphasis patterns (bold vs italic for the same purpose). - **Capitalisation**: Inconsistent capitalisation of domain terms (e.g. "Emergency Department" vs "emergency department"). #### D. Repetition - Flag paragraphs or sentences that convey the same information already stated in the same notebook. - Note if a concept is re-explained at length when a brief cross-reference would suffice. #### E. Cross-References - Check any mention of another notebook (by name, number, or description) against the actual list of `.ipynb` files discovered in step 2. - Flag references to notebooks that do not exist. - Flag references where the notebook number/letter is correct but the description is wrong (e.g. referring to "notebook 2a" as "Predict using patient snapshots" when it is actually "Create patient snapshots"). - Flag broken markdown links to other notebooks. ### 5. Check the README Files Apply the same checks (A–E above) to `notebooks/README.md`. In addition: - **Completeness**: Verify that every notebook discovered in step 2 is listed in the README, and that no README entry refers to a notebook that no longer exists. - **Descriptions**: Check that the description next to each notebook link matches what the notebook actually covers (compare against the notebook's title and opening markdown cells). - **Links**: Verify that all links point to valid paths/URLs and use the correct file extension. ### 6. Report Findings Produce a report for each notebook and README with issues, grouped by category. Use this format: ``` ## ### Typos and Spelling - Cell N: "recieve" → "receive" - Cell N: "behavior" → "behaviour" (UK English) ### Grammar - Cell N: "The data are processed and then it is stored" — mixed singular/plural reference to "data". ### Inconsistencies - Cell N uses "patient snapshot" but Cell M uses "patient-level snapshot" — pick one and use consistently. ### Repetition - Cell N repeats the explanation of X already given in Cell M. ### Cross-References - Cell N: References "notebook 3a" as "Evaluate group snapshots" but 3a is "Prepare group snapshots" (3b is "Evaluate group snapshots"). ``` Omit any category that has no issues for a given file. ### 7. Summary Table After the per-file reports, provide a summary: | File | Typos | Grammar | Inconsistencies | Repetition | Cross-Refs | Total | | ------------------------------- | ----- | ------- | --------------- | ---------- | ---------- | ----- | | 0_Set_up_your_environment.ipynb | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | notebooks/README.md | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ### 8. Offer Fixes After reporting, ask the user whether they want you to apply fixes. If yes: - Fix typos and spelling automatically. - For grammar, inconsistencies, and cross-references, propose the fix and apply it after confirmation. - Use the EditNotebook tool to make changes in notebook cells; use the StrReplace tool for README files. - Do NOT modify code cells. --- > Source: [UCL-CORU/patientflow](https://github.com/UCL-CORU/patientflow) — distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io).