americanize

name	americanize
description	Converts British English spelling to American English in a file or directory. Scans text files for common British variants and rewrites them in-place. Accepts a file path or directory path as $ARGUMENTS.
argument-hint	<file-or-directory-path>
disable-model-invocation	true
allowed-tools	["Read","Edit","Glob","Grep","Bash(find *)"]
model	sonnet

Americanize

Convert British English spelling to American English across a file or directory.

File Operation Rules

Read and follow .agents/skills/file-operations/SKILL.md.

Your Task

Scan the target path for British English spelling variants and replace them with American English equivalents. Edit files in-place. Report a summary of what changed.

Steps

1. Resolve Target Path

Read $ARGUMENTS. If empty, tell the user to provide a file or directory path and exit.

The path may be absolute or relative. Treat it as-is.

2. Collect Files to Scan

If the target is a single file: scan that file only.

If the target is a directory: use Glob to collect all text files recursively. Skip binary files and these paths regardless of content:

• *.png, *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.gif, *.webp, *.svg, *.ico
• *.pdf, *.zip, *.tar, *.gz, *.woff, *.woff2, *.ttf, *.eot
• *.lock (e.g. composer.lock, package-lock.json, yarn.lock)
• node_modules/, vendor/, .git/

3. Scan and Replace

For each collected file, use Grep to check if any British spellings are present before reading. Only read and edit files that have at least one match.

Apply all substitutions from the reference table below. Replacements are case-sensitive and case-preserving: match the casing pattern of the found word and apply the same pattern to the replacement.

Casing patterns to handle for each substitution:

Found form	Replace with
word	word
Word	Word
WORD	WORD

Do NOT alter words inside URLs, import paths, package names, or version strings (e.g. node_modules, colour-js, en-GB locale identifiers). Use judgment — if changing the spelling would break a reference to an external identifier, skip it.

4. British → American Reference Table

Apply every substitution in this table. This list is not exhaustive — use it as a seed. If you encounter an obvious British variant not listed here, apply the correct American spelling.

-our → -or

British	American
colour	color
colours	colors
coloured	colored
colouring	coloring
colourful	colorful
behaviour	behavior
behaviours	behaviors
behavioural	behavioral
favour	favor
favours	favors
favoured	favored
favourite	favorite
favourites	favorites
flavour	flavor
flavours	flavors
honour	honor
honours	honors
honourable	honorable
humour	humor
humours	humors
humorous	humorous
labour	labor
labours	labors
neighbour	neighbor
neighbours	neighbors
neighbourhood	neighborhood
rumour	rumor
rumours	rumors
saviour	savior
tumour	tumor
tumours	tumors
vapour	vapor
vigour	vigor

-ise → -ize / -isation → -ization

British	American
organise	organize
organises	organizes
organised	organized
organising	organizing
organisation	organization
organisations	organizations
organisational	organizational
recognise	recognize
recognises	recognizes
recognised	recognized
recognising	recognizing
recognisable	recognizable
authorise	authorize
authorises	authorizes
authorised	authorized
authorising	authorizing
authorisation	authorization
authorisations	authorizations
realise	realize
realises	realizes
realised	realized
realising	realizing
realisation	realization
specialise	specialize
specialises	specializes
specialised	specialized
specialising	specializing
specialisation	specialization
minimise	minimize
minimises	minimizes
minimised	minimized
minimising	minimizing
maximise	maximize
maximises	maximizes
maximised	maximized
maximising	maximizing
optimise	optimize
optimises	optimizes
optimised	optimized
optimising	optimizing
optimisation	optimization
optimisations	optimizations
utilise	utilize
utilises	utilizes
utilised	utilized
utilising	utilizing
utilisation	utilization
prioritise	prioritize
prioritises	prioritizes
prioritised	prioritized
prioritising	prioritizing
prioritisation	prioritization
synchronise	synchronize
synchronises	synchronizes
synchronised	synchronized
synchronising	synchronizing
synchronisation	synchronization
initialise	initialize
initialises	initializes
initialised	initialized
initialising	initializing
initialisation	initialization
normalise	normalize
normalises	normalizes
normalised	normalized
normalising	normalizing
normalisation	normalization
serialise	serialize
serialises	serializes
serialised	serialized
serialising	serializing
serialisation	serialization
deserialise	deserialize
deserialises	deserializes
deserialised	deserialized
deserialising	deserializing
deserialisation	deserialization
customise	customize
customises	customizes
customised	customized
customising	customizing
customisation	customization
standardise	standardize
standardises	standardizes
standardised	standardized
standardising	standardizing
standardisation	standardization
categorise	categorize
categorises	categorizes
categorised	categorized
categorising	categorizing
categorisation	categorization
characterise	characterize
characterises	characterizes
characterised	characterized
characterising	characterizing
characterisation	characterization
summarise	summarize
summarises	summarizes
summarised	summarized
summarising	summarizing
summarisation	summarization
emphasise	emphasize
emphasises	emphasizes
emphasised	emphasized
emphasising	emphasizing
analyse	analyze
analyses	analyzes
analysed	analyzed
analysing	analyzing
analyse	analyze
paralysed	paralyzed

-re → -er

British	American
centre	center
centres	centers
centred	centered
centring	centering
fibre	fiber
fibres	fibers
litre	liter
litres	liters
lustre	luster
metre	meter
metres	meters
spectre	specter
theatre	theater
theatres	theaters

-ce → -se (nouns → verbs)

British	American
licence	license
licences	licenses
licenced	licensed
practise	practice

-ll- → -l- (single consonant)

British	American
labelled	labeled
labelling	labeling
travelling	traveling
travelled	traveled
traveller	traveler
travellers	travelers
cancelled	canceled
cancelling	canceling
modelled	modeled
modelling	modeling
signalled	signaled
signalling	signaling
fulfil	fulfill
fulfils	fulfills
fulfilled	fulfilled
fulfilling	fulfilling
fulfilment	fulfillment
enrol	enroll
enrols	enrolls
enrolled	enrolled
enrolling	enrolling
enrolment	enrollment

Miscellaneous

British	American
catalogue	catalog
catalogues	catalogs
catalogued	cataloged
dialogue	dialog
dialogues	dialogs
programme	program
programmes	programs
programmed	programmed
programming	programming
defence	defense
defences	defenses
offence	offense
offences	offenses
pretence	pretense
pretences	pretenses
ageing	aging
judgement	judgment
judgements	judgments
acknowledgement	acknowledgment
acknowledgements	acknowledgments
colour-blind	color-blind
grey	gray
greys	grays
skilful	skillful
skilfully	skillfully
mould	mold
moulds	molds
moulded	molded
moulding	molding
smoulder	smolder
plough	plow
ploughs	plows
draught	draft
draughts	drafts
tyre	tire
tyres	tires
storey	story
storeys	stories
manoeuvre	maneuver
manoeuvres	maneuvers
pyjamas	pajamas
kerb	curb
kerbs	curbs
whilst	while
amongst	among
towards	toward

5. Apply Edits

Use the Edit tool to make replacements. Prefer a single Edit call per file when possible. If a file has many scattered replacements, make multiple Edit calls — one per unique replacement site to avoid conflicts.

Never alter:

• The file's indentation or whitespace beyond the changed word
• Code logic, variable names that match package/library identifiers, or locale strings like en-GB
• URLs, import paths, or dependency names (e.g. colour in a npm package name)

6. Report Summary

After processing all files, output a markdown summary:

## Americanize Summary

**Target:** `<path>`
**Files scanned:** X
**Files changed:** Y

### Changed Files

| File                | Replacements                              |
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| `path/to/file.md`   | colour→color (3), organised→organized (1) |
| `path/to/other.php` | behaviour→behavior (2)                    |

### No Changes Needed

Files scanned but already using American English (or no British variants found) are not listed here.

If no files needed changes, say so clearly.

Begin now. Read $ARGUMENTS and proceed.