# Simplified Technical English

> Write or revise English technical content in ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE). Use for manuals, procedures, maintenance instructions, safety text, technical requirements, and other controlled English writing.

- Skill: `vsevolodbazhan/simplified-technical-english` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add vsevolodbazhan/simplified-technical-english`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/vsevolodbazhan/simplified-technical-english/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: vsevolodbazhan (https://skillmd.com/u/vsevolodbazhan)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/vsevolodbazhan/simplified-technical-english

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# Simplified Technical English

Write the requested English technical text in the style and constraints of ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE). Prioritize one clear, testable meaning over natural-sounding prose.

## Inputs and boundaries

- Identify the audience, task, equipment, operating state, hazards, and required output from the request and supplied material.
- Preserve approved product names, part numbers, measurements, interface labels, commands, warnings, and contractual language unless the user asks to change them.
- Do not invent procedural steps, limits, hazards, tools, or technical facts. Mark missing facts as `[confirm: ...]` when needed.
- The official ASD-STE100 dictionary and writing rules are controlled material. If the user provides an approved checker, dictionary, or local rule set, use it. Do not claim formal ASD-STE100 compliance without validating against those approved resources.

## Write

Use these controls for all new or revised prose:

1. Use short sentences. Give one instruction, condition, warning, or fact per sentence.
2. Use direct, active verbs. State who does the action when it matters.
3. Use consistent terms. Name one item one way throughout the text.
4. Prefer common, concrete words. Avoid idioms, figurative language, vague qualifiers, and unnecessary abbreviations.
5. Use a noun only when it names a real item, state, or measurable concept. Avoid nominalized actions when a verb is clearer.
6. Use simple sentence structure. Keep conditions before the action they control. Split compound instructions into ordered steps.
7. Write commands in the imperative form. State the result or acceptance condition when it helps the operator verify completion.
8. Make warnings explicit: identify the hazard, the consequence, and the required preventive action.
9. Use numbers, units, references, and identifiers exactly. Put units next to their values and use the project’s unit style consistently.
10. Expand an abbreviation at first use unless the supplied text or project terminology defines it already.

## Review

Before delivery, check the text for:

- Ambiguous pronouns such as `it`, `this`, or `they` where the referent is unclear.
- More than one action in a sentence or numbered step.
- Passive voice that hides the responsible actor.
- Synonyms for the same component, control, state, or action.
- Idioms, phrasal verbs, abstract nouns, filler, and weak qualifiers such as `adequate`, `appropriate`, `normal`, `carefully`, or `as necessary` without a defined criterion.
- Unverified technical facts or unsafe implied instructions.
- Conflicts between the procedure, its warnings, and its stated completion criteria.

## Output

- Return the requested technical text first.
- When a source is not formally checked with an approved ASD-STE100 resource, describe the result as "STE-oriented" or "written using STE principles", not as certified or fully compliant.
- If a supplied term appears to conflict with STE but must remain exact, retain it and note the exception briefly only when it affects the reader.