communication-guidelines

name	communication-guidelines
description	Communication templates and response formatting for AI coding assistants. Defines structured message formats with semantic indicators for status, errors, actions, and progress. Auto-loaded for all interactions.
category	protocol
user-invocable	false

Communication Templates

Predictable, semantically-colored message formats following CLI UX best practices.

Emoji handling: Templates below use emoji indicators by default. When config.yaml sets use_emojis: false, use plain-text prefixes instead:

Default	Plain alternative
✅ STATUS	[STATUS]
🔴 ACTION	[ACTION]
⚠️ WARNING	[WARNING]
❌ ERROR	[ERROR]
💡 INFO	[INFO]
📝 INPUT	[INPUT]
⚡ CONFIRM	[CONFIRM]
📋 TASK	[TASK]
💬 NEXT	[NEXT]
✓ / ⠋ / ○	[done] / [..] / [ ]

Quick Reference

INFORMATIONAL (no action):     ACTION REQUIRED (must respond):
  ✅ STATUS  - Results           🔴 ACTION  - Decision needed
  💡 INFO    - Context           📝 INPUT   - Info needed
  💬 NEXT    - Follow-up         ⚡ CONFIRM - Yes/no

ATTENTION (read carefully):    PROGRESS (during work):
  ⚠️ WARNING - Caution           ✓ Complete   ⠋ Working
  ❌ ERROR   - Fix suggestion    ○ Pending

Response Structure

════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
📋 TASK: [Brief task description]
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

✅ STATUS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
[Results, what changed]
  ✓ Item completed
  ✓ Another item

⚠️ WARNING (if applicable)
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
[Risk or caution]

🔴 ACTION REQUIRED (if applicable)
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
[Question or decision needed]

  (A) Option one
  (B) Option two

**Select:** (A) or (B)

Section Order

1. 📋 TASK — Header identifying current work
2. ✅ STATUS / 💡 INFO — Results, context
3. ⚠️ WARNING — Risks, cautions (non-blocking)
4. ❌ ERROR — Failures with cause + fix
5. 🔴 ACTION / 📝 INPUT / ⚡ CONFIRM — User response needed
6. 💬 NEXT — Suggested follow-up actions

Error Pattern

Always: What failed → Why → How to fix

❌ ERROR
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Build failed

  What:  Cannot read property 'name' of undefined
  Where: src/components/UserProfile.tsx:45
  Why:   user object is null when component mounts
  Fix:   Add null check: if (user?.name) { ... }

Progress Indicators

📋 Running validation
   ✓ Type check passed
   ✓ Lint passed
   ⠋ Running tests...
   ○ Build (pending)

General Style

For general communication principles (conciseness, action-focus, no-summary policy), see ai-assistant-protocol. For voice, tone, and human-AI interaction boundary rules, see interaction-boundaries.