# Tkersey Dotfiles Logophile > Logophile - Skill: `tomevault-io/tkersey-dotfiles-logophile` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/tkersey-dotfiles-logophile` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/tkersey-dotfiles-logophile/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/tkersey-dotfiles-logophile --- # Logophile ## Intent Replace generic, bloated phrasing with shorter, sharper phrasing without semantic drift. When asked for doctrine, derive semantically dense words that compress a useful operating mode for a task. ## Contract (invariants) - Preserve meaning, obligations (must/should/may), uncertainty, agency, and sequence. - Preserve must-keep tokens: numbers, proper nouns, quotes, code/identifiers, paths/flags/URLs. - Prefer substitution before deletion or reordering. A vague survivor is suspect if a safer, sharper phrase exists. - Precision can beat brevity and register when it is more exact for the audience and local context. - Context beats lexicon default. Use the lexicon as a strong default, not as hard law. - No thesaurus drift: if you cannot name the precision gain, do not swap the phrase. - Do not force one canonical repo term for every concept; prefer the most exact phrase for the local text. - Preserve structure by default (Markdown primitives, lists, code fences); reshape only when scan-clarity improves without changing meaning. - `fast` mode returns revised text only. No `Mode:`, no motto, no recap, no commentary. - `annotated` mode must call out major substitutions explicitly. - In doctrine mode, preserve the task's actual stakes, uncertainty, and scope; do not smuggle in stronger guarantees, stricter obligations, or repo jargon the task does not support. - In doctrine mode, each selected word must correspond to a distinct procedural gain: failure detection, reasoning discipline, scope control, execution control, or verification pressure. - Prefer compact stacks over exhaustive dumps; more words usually means more overlap. - A doctrine stack is incomplete without an unpacked doctrine block. - Do not silently turn doctrine mode into hidden policy for unrelated operational turns. ## Use when - The user asks to rewrite, reword, rephrase, tighten, sharpen, compress, or choose final wording. - Text is verbose, vague, repetitive, or full of generic verbs/nouns that should become more exact. - Names, titles, labels, headings, or skill names need refinement. - The user asks for rigor words, doctrine words, mode words, word stacks, compressed rubrics, or wording that will push an agent into a sharper thinking mode. - Another skill explicitly needs a wording pass or doctrine-word pass; compose with `$logophile` directly instead of assuming hidden style policy. ## Not for - Operational workflows, scope decisions, validation checklists, incident analysis, or code review unless the user explicitly requests wording, naming, or doctrine help. - Hidden default rewriting for all skills or all outputs in the workspace. - Cases where a sharper term would overstate certainty, change ownership, or smuggle in repo jargon that the surrounding text does not support. - Replacing implementation, review, or orchestration skills with doctrine synthesis. - Suggesting smart-sounding words that cannot be justified as a real procedural upgrade. ## Motto Precision through sophistication, brevity through vocabulary, clarity through structure. - Do not print the motto unless the user explicitly invokes `$logophile` or asks for it. - If printed, print it once per conversation and never in `fast` mode. ## CLI-tail-weighted output Assume the user may only see the last screenful of terminal output. - In multi-part outputs, place analysis earlier and the selected wording, doctrine block, or best pick at the end. - In multi-candidate outputs, end with `Best Pick:` or `Use This:` so the preferred option is visible at the tail. - In `fast` mode, keep the revised-text-only contract. ## Output - `fast` (default): revised text only. - `annotated`: `Edits:` first; `Revised Text:` last. - `delta`: minimal-diff rewrite in a `diff` block; use when asked or when reduction is large enough that the diff is clearer than prose. - naming tasks: return 3-7 candidates unless the user asks for a single name. If multiple candidates are shown, end with `Best Pick: `. - `doctrine-fast`: analysis omitted; end with the prompt-ready doctrine block. - `doctrine`: - Task Reading - Dominant Failure Pressures - Stricter Variant - Lighter Variant - Words to Avoid - Recommended Stack - Prompt-Ready Doctrine Block - Use This - `doctrine-annotated`: same as `doctrine` + per-word rationale before the final doctrine block and `Use This`. - Backward-compatible aliases: - `rigor-fast` -> `doctrine-fast` - `rigor` -> `doctrine` - `rigor-annotated` -> `doctrine-annotated` ## Examples ### fast Input: ```text We should iterate on improvements to the skill until it gets better. ``` Output: ```text Find accretive changes to the skill until the contract is tighter. ``` ### annotated Input: ```text We need to handle malformed inputs better. ``` Output: ```text Edits: - substitutions: `handle` -> `reject`; `better` -> `fail-closed`. - structural: removed the generic helper phrase. - meaning-safety: kept the same obligation and scope. Revised Text: We need to reject malformed inputs fail-closed. ``` ### delta Input: ```text In order to proceed, we need to verify access to staging. ``` Output: ```diff -In order to proceed, we need to verify access to staging. +To proceed, verify access to staging. ``` ### naming Input: ```text Things to Do Before Release ``` Output: ```text Pre-Release Checklist Release Prep Release Readiness Pre-Release Tasks Best Pick: Pre-Release Checklist ``` ### doctrine-fast Input: ```text Find the words to push a coding agent toward minimal, verified bug fixes. ``` Output: ```text unsound mechanistic accretive traceable Operate in UNSOUND, MECHANISTIC, ACCRETIVE, and TRACEABLE mode. - Reject unsupported conclusions and surface missing premises. - Explain the bug as a causal chain before editing. - Prefer the smallest additive change that fixes root cause. - Tie claims to tests, logs, diffs, or file evidence. ``` ### doctrine-annotated Input: ```text Find the doctrine words for a research memo on AI coding agents. ``` Output: ```text Task Reading - Produce a public-source research memo for an executive audience. Dominant Failure Pressures - shallow source quality - vague competitive framing - overclaiming from weak evidence - bloated synthesis Stricter Variant - adversarial - source-disciplined - calibrated - exhaustive Lighter Variant - source-disciplined - calibrated - concise Words to Avoid - insightful - nuanced - sophisticated Recommended Stack - adversarial - source-disciplined - calibrated - synthetic Prompt-Ready Doctrine Block Operate in ADVERSARIAL, SOURCE-DISCIPLINED, CALIBRATED, and SYNTHETIC mode. - Challenge first-pass claims before accepting them. - Prefer primary and authoritative sources over commentary. - Match confidence to evidence and label uncertainty. - Compress many signals into a concise comparative synthesis. Use This - adversarial - source-disciplined - calibrated - synthetic ``` Edits: - substitutions: selected words that change procedure, not just tone. - structural: split the answer into pressure map, stack, and doctrine block. - meaning-safety: kept the task's audience, uncertainty, and evidence burden intact. ## Inputs (ask only if blocked) Fields: must_keep; must_not_change; tone; audience; length_target; format; keywords_include; keywords_avoid; structure. Defaults: must_keep=all facts/numbers/quotes/code/identifiers; must_not_change=obligations/risks/scope/uncertainty/agency; tone=original; audience=local context; format=preserve; structure=preserve; length_target=min safe. Additional doctrine fields: task; stakes; target_agent; failure_pressures; stack_size; mode_strength; words_must_include; words_must_avoid. Doctrine defaults: stakes=infer; target_agent=local context; failure_pressures=infer; stack_size=4; mode_strength=balanced. ## Workflow (Distill -> Detect -> Substitute -> Shape -> Verify) - Distill: write a 1-sentence intent; mark must-keep tokens; identify obligations, risks, uncertainty markers, responsible actors, and audience. - Detect: mark vague verbs, vague nouns, weak modifiers, generic process phrases, scaffolding, and unclear pronouns. - Substitute: replace the weakest phrases first using [precision_lexicon.md](references/precision_lexicon.md). If no sharper phrase is clearly correct, keep the original wording. - Shape: tighten syntax after substitutions land; prefer shorter scaffolding only when the sharper phrase is already in place. - Verify: re-check semantic hotspots (negation, modality, numbers/units, comparatives, conditionals, scope words like `only`/`at least`, agency/ownership) and confirm required tokens + formatting survive. ## Naming mode (when the task is renaming) - Goal: shorter, more specific, and more distinctive. - Output: 3-7 candidates; put the best first; keep each <= 3 words unless the domain requires more. If multiple candidates are shown, end with `Best Pick:` repeating the preferred one. - Rubric: name the axis, then the object; avoid `util`, `manager`, `stuff`, or novelty abbreviations unless the surrounding repo already uses them. ## Doctrine mode (when the task is to find thinking-posture words) - Goal: find semantically dense words that compress a useful operating doctrine for a task. - Output: 1-3 doctrine stacks, best first; each stack should usually be 3-6 words. End with `Use This:` repeating the preferred stack. - Rubric: - each word must add a distinct procedural gain - prefer task-fit over novelty - prefer words that imply checks, constraints, action types, or verification pressure - avoid generic praise words unless they are made operational by surrounding text - Treat words as compressed rubrics, not as decorative synonyms. - Distinguish, when useful: - failure-mode words - reasoning-mode words - execution-mode words - verification-mode words - Reject ornamental, merely high-register, or thesaurus-driven words. - Pair every recommended stack with an unpacked doctrine block; a naked word list is incomplete. - Canonical mode name: `doctrine` - Accepted user aliases: `rigor`, `rigor words`, `rigor mode`, `mode stack`, `doctrine stack` ## Doctrine workflow (Read -> Pressure Map -> Candidate Bank -> Stack -> Unpack -> Verify) - Read: classify the task family, audience, stakes, and likely failure surfaces. - Pressure Map: rank the dominant failure pressures using [task_pressure_map.md](references/task_pressure_map.md) as a default, not a hard law. - Candidate Bank: generate semantically dense words that encode procedural behavior, not just tone, using [doctrine_word_bank.md](references/doctrine_word_bank.md). - Stack: choose 3-6 non-overlapping words; include different roles when useful (failure, reasoning, execution, verification). - Unpack: translate each chosen word into an instruction an agent can act on. - Verify: remove overlap, ornament, and jargon drift; confirm the doctrine block would change behavior, not merely style. ## Precision policy - Prefer phrase upgrades over cosmetic synonym swaps. - Ask: what got more exact? Valid gains include scope, ownership, failure behavior, evidence, sequence, or action type. - Allowed sharper terms in this repo include `accretive`, `fail-closed`, and `prove` when they are more exact than the generic phrase they replace. - Do not force those terms when nearby text points to a different, more exact phrase. - Keep the lexicon small, sharp, and revisable; bad mappings should be pruned quickly. - In doctrine mode, prefer words that imply checks, constraints, action types, or verification pressure. - In doctrine mode, reject generic praise words (`smart`, `deep`, `thoughtful`, `nuanced`) unless the user explicitly wants tone rather than procedure. ## Resources - [precision_lexicon.md](references/precision_lexicon.md): guarded phrase replacements and context rules. - [probe_cases.md](references/probe_cases.md): acceptance probes for substitutions, output shape, and safety. - [composition.md](references/composition.md): how other skills should compose with `$logophile` explicitly. - [doctrine_word_bank.md](references/doctrine_word_bank.md): rigor/doctrine words grouped by procedural gain. - [task_pressure_map.md](references/task_pressure_map.md): task-family defaults for dominant failure pressures. - [doctrine_probe_cases.md](references/doctrine_probe_cases.md): acceptance probes for doctrine stacks, mode fit, and overlap control. --- > Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/tkersey) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.