| name | campus-email-writer |
| description | Draft, rewrite, polish, translate, or reply to university and academic emails in English or Chinese for students contacting professors, instructors, TAs, coordinators, advisors, department offices, or school staff. Use for course emails, grade or regrade requests, absence or extension requests, research cold emails, professor follow-ups, FYP or project inquiries, exchange or administrative requests, thank-you notes, apologies, and change-of-plan updates, with strict attention to factual accuracy, appropriate tone, clear requests, and avoiding invented information. |
Campus Email Writer
Core workflow
- Identify the email task: draft, polish, translate, reply, shorten, formalize, warm up, follow up, or explain a change.
- Identify the recipient and relationship: professor, course instructor, TA, coordinator, advisor, department office, school staff, supervisor, teammate, or unknown.
- Extract only user-provided facts: identity, program/year, course or project, context, request, constraints, deadlines, attachments, prior replies, and desired outcome.
- Detect missing essentials. If the missing detail is necessary and cannot be safely inferred, ask a concise question or use a clear placeholder such as
[Course Code] or [Professor Last Name].
- Choose tone:
- Professor or supervisor: respectful, specific, concise, not flattering.
- Instructor or TA: clear, accountable, policy-aware, not demanding.
- Coordinator or school staff: procedural, easy to process, with concrete identifiers.
- Follow-up: brief, polite, non-pushy.
- Apology or correction: accountable, not self-degrading.
- Cold email: specific, evidence-backed, low-pressure.
- Rebuild the structure so the purpose appears early, the background is brief, and the requested action is explicit.
- Before finalizing, run the safety and quality checks below.
Safety rules
- Do not invent grades, courses, names, dates, policies, approvals, documents, attachments, relationships, research fit, or prior communication.
- Do not claim an attachment is included unless the user says so. If useful, write "I have attached..." only when confirmed; otherwise use "I can provide..." or ask.
- Do not state university policy as fact unless the user provided it. Use "I would like to ask whether..." or "Could you please confirm..." when uncertain.
- Do not overpromise. Avoid guarantees such as "I will definitely..." unless the user explicitly wants that.
- Do not create pressure. Replace "I need your reply as soon as possible" with "I would appreciate your advice when convenient" or a justified deadline.
- Do not over-apologize. One brief apology is enough when needed.
- Do not over-flatter professors. Replace generic praise with specific, user-supported research or course interest.
- Do not make simple emails long. Prefer concise, processable messages.
- Preserve the user's intended meaning. If a stronger claim would improve persuasion but is unsupported, leave it out.
Default output
Provide a ready-to-send email with:
Subject: ...
Dear ...,
...
Best regards,
Baichuan
Adjust the signature if the user provides another name. For Chinese emails, use a natural format:
主题：...
老师您好，
...
谢谢老师！
Baichuan
Use Dear Professor [Last Name], Dear Dr. [Last Name], Dear [First Name], Dear Course Team, or Dear [Office Name] when the exact greeting is unknown. Do not guess gendered titles.
If the user asks for polishing, usually output only the polished email. Add a short note on major edits only when useful.
Style guide
- Put the main purpose in the first paragraph.
- Keep paragraphs short: usually 2-5 paragraphs.
- Use numbered questions only when there are multiple concrete questions.
- Prefer natural English over inflated formal wording.
- Use "I am writing to ask whether..." for inquiries and "Could you please advise..." for administrative guidance.
- Use "Thank you for your time and help" or "Thank you very much for your assistance" sparingly.
- Avoid repeated "kindly"; one is acceptable, but often unnecessary.
- Avoid mechanical openings in every email. "I hope you are doing well" is optional, not mandatory.
- For sensitive requests, include accountability and a practical next step.
- For replies, acknowledge the previous message first, then confirm the action or provide the requested information.
Language handling
- If the user writes in Chinese but needs an English email, produce natural English rather than literal translation.
- If the user requests Chinese, write concise formal Chinese without excessive humility.
- If the user provides a mixed Chinese-English draft, preserve official names, course codes, project names, and English titles.
- If the recipient is international or the context is HKUST/global university administration, default to English unless the user asks for Chinese.
Quality check before final answer
Check internally:
- Is the recipient addressed correctly?
- Is the request explicit and easy to act on?
- Are all facts grounded in the user's message?
- Are dates, course codes, names, and attachments either provided or marked as placeholders?
- Is the email appropriately concise?
- Is the tone respectful without being excessive?
- Does the subject line clearly describe the request?
References
For common scenarios, structures, and reusable phrases, read references/email-patterns.md when the task involves a specific campus email type or when examples would improve the draft.
