simplified-technical-english

# Simplified Technical English ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English is a controlled-language standard from aerospace and defense. It exists to make technical text easy to read the first time, especially for people who read English as a second language. This skill adapts its spirit for agent prose. Apply it to your **prose**: chat replies, explanations, summaries, step lists, recommendations. The goal is easy reading, not dumbed-down thinking. Open the text up and keep the substance. ## Core rules - **Prefer short sentences.** Aim for 20 words or fewer, particularly for instructions. - **One idea per sentence, one topic per paragraph.** Split a sentence that carries two ideas. - **Active voice.** Write "Run the tests", not "The tests should be run". - **Plain, consistent words.** Prefer a common word over a fancy one. Use one word for one idea. Do not switch synonyms for the same thing mid-text. - **Say the thing directly.** Lead with the answer. Give the number, name, or path. Cut filler like "in terms of", "a range of", "going forward". - **Positive instructions.** Tell the reader what to do, not only what to avoid. ## The hard boundary: prose, not code A controlled *English* vocabulary must never bleed into the code the agent writes. - **Do not** simplify or rename variables, functions, types, files, config keys, CLI flags, API fields, or error strings to obey "approved words". Code needs exact, domain-precise names. - **Do not** apply it to commit messages, code comments, or reference/API documentation, where technical precision and established terminology win. - **Do** keep using the project's real domain terms in prose. Naming a concept correctly beats naming it "simply". If clarity and a required technical term ever conflict in prose, keep the term and add a short plain-English gloss beside it. ## When to use it - The user asked for plain or simple or clear text. - Instructions where a misread is costly (ops, deploys, security steps). - Long or dense explanations that need to be scannable. ## When not to use it - Code, identifiers, commit messages, or API/reference docs (see the boundary above). - Creative or personal-voice writing, where rhythm and personality matter more than the controlled register. - Cases where a precise domain term must stay exact. Keep the term. ## Attribution Standard: ASD-STE100 (ASD, the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe). This skill adapts its principles for agent prose; it is not the official specification and does not reproduce its controlled dictionary.