| name | wikipedia-en-biography-writing |
| description | Draft and edit English Wikipedia biographies following NPOV, verifiability, no original research, and biographies of living persons (BLP) policies |
| license | MIT |
| compatibility | opencode |
| depends_on | ["wikimedia-api-access"] |
| skill_discovery_hints | [{"keywords":["biography","BLP","living persons","article creation","drafting"]},{"keywords":["NPOV","biography writing","infobox person","WP:NOR","verifiability"]}] |
| last_verified | "2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z" |
⚠️ Important: AI-generated content on Wikipedia
Most language editions of Wikipedia have community policies that restrict or ban
the direct posting of content generated by large language models (LLMs). This
includes articles, sections, or substantial prose drafted by AI assistants.
This skill is designed to help you research, understand, and prepare content —
not to produce final text for direct submission. Treat any draft output as a
research aid and starting point, not a finished product. Any Wikipedia edit
you make remains your own responsibility and must comply with Wikipedia's
policies on verifiability, neutral point of view, and no original research.
Do not copy-paste AI-generated text directly into Wikipedia. Always rewrite,
verify every claim against reliable sources, and ensure the result reflects your
own editorial judgment.
SOP: Notability Assessment
Before drafting, evaluate whether the subject meets English Wikipedia's notability criteria. If notability is unclear, flag it for the user rather than proceeding.
General Notability (WP:GNG)
The subject must have received significant coverage in multiple reliable sources that are independent of the subject. Depth of coverage matters — brief mentions or directory listings do not count.
Subject-Specific Guidelines
- WP:ANYBIO — Received a major award, or been inducted into a notable hall of fame.
- WP:NACADEMIC — Professor with major academic awards, highly cited research, a named chair, or editorial role at a top journal.
- WP:NARTIST — Work exhibited at major museums, significant critical attention, or representation in notable galleries.
- WP:NCREATIVE — Subject's creative work has been the subject of multiple independent reviews or major awards.
When Notability Is Unclear
State: "This subject may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines. The provided sources should be checked for significant, independent coverage." Proceed only if the user confirms and supplies sufficient sources.
SOP: Article Structure
Use this standard biography structure. Do not deviate from the section ordering.
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| occupation =
| known_for =
| alma_mater =
| awards =
}}
Lead (unnamed, first paragraph)
- 2-4 paragraphs summarizing the subject's most important facts
- First sentence: "[Name] (born [date]) is a [nationality] [occupation] known for [key achievement]."
- Establish notability immediately
- No citations needed for facts restated from the body (WP:LEADCITE)
Body Sections
== Early life and education ==
Early years, family background, schooling.
== Career ==
Professional trajectory, major achievements. For academics: research, publications, teaching. For artists: exhibitions, works, critical reception.
== Personal life ==
Only include if well-sourced and relevant. For living subjects, keep minimal — spouse, children, notable residences. Exclude private details (address, phone).
== Awards and honors ==
List with inline citations. Use a bullet list or prose depending on quantity.
== Selected works ==
For authors, filmmakers, or artists. Use a numbered list or a table.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
SOP: Citations
Citation Templates
Always use inline <ref> tags with the appropriate citation template:
<ref>{{cite web |url= |title= |last= |first= |date= |website= |access-date=}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite news |url= |title= |last= |first= |date= |work= |publisher= |access-date=}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book |title= |last= |first= |date= |publisher= |isbn= |pages=}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite journal |title= |last= |first= |date= |journal= |volume= |issue= |pages= |doi=}}</ref>
Per-Section Rules
- Lead — No citations needed (facts are cited in the body)
- Body — Every substantive claim needs at least one inline citation directly after the sentence
- Controversial claims — Require multiple strong, independent, reliable sources
- Direct quotes — Must have an inline citation with page number
- Statistics — Must be cited to the specific source containing those numbers
Source Hierarchy
- Preferred: Academic journals, major news outlets, government publications, peer-reviewed books
- Acceptable with caution: Primary sources (for straightforward facts only), reputable magazines, documentaries
- Do not use: Self-published sources (blogs, social media, personal websites), Wikipedia mirrors, paid or sponsored content
- Never use for BLP: Tabloids, anonymous sources, rumor sites, user-generated content
SOP: Policy Guardrails
BLP (Biographies of Living Persons)
- Remove unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material immediately. Do not leave it in the draft even temporarily.
- Never include private information (home address, phone number, email, exact birth date without a source) for a living person.
- Give due weight — do not overemphasize minor controversies, lawsuits, or personal matters.
- Use neutral language — avoid loaded terms ("controversial," "alleged," "scandal," "rocky").
- Attribute negative claims explicitly: "According to a 2020 investigation by The Guardian, ..."
- Harm principle — If publishing a fact could cause harm and it is not essential to the biography, omit it.
NPOV (Neutral Point of View)
- Avoid promotional language: "renowned," "leading," "pioneering," "legendary," "world-class," "visionary."
- Present claims as claims, not facts: "Smith argues that ..." not "Smith proved that ..."
- Attribute opinions: "According to X, ..." or "X has described the work as ..."
- Give proportional weight — major views get more space, fringe views get minimal or no space.
- Do not take sides in disputes. Describe both sides' positions fairly.
NOR (No Original Research)
- No synthesis — Do not connect information across sources to imply a conclusion that neither source states.
- No analysis — Every fact in the article must be traceable to a published reliable source.
- No interpretation — Let the sources speak. Do not add your own reading of events.
Verifiability
- Use only published, reliable sources with editorial oversight.
- For academic subjects, prefer peer-reviewed journals and university presses.
- For current events, prefer major news outlets with fact-checking.
- Primary sources (interviews, official documents) are acceptable for straightforward factual claims but not for interpretive analysis.
SOP: Anti-Hallucination Rules
These are strict constraints — violating any of them produces a dangerously bad draft.
- Never fabricate a citation. Every
<ref> must point to a source the user provided or one you independently verified. If you lack a source, write {{citation needed}} and flag it.
- Never guess a URL. Do not invent a URL for a citation. If the user provides URLs, use them. If not, provide the citation metadata without a link.
- Never assume a source supports a claim. Read the source in the user's context. If you are unsure what a source says, ask the user.
- Never include dates, statistics, or quotes without a source. These are the most commonly hallucinated content.
- When in doubt, omit. If you cannot verify a detail, leave it out rather than inventing it.
- Flag gaps with
{{citation needed}}, {{clarify}}, or {{when}} instead of silently omitting needed citations.
- Review before output. Before returning a draft, check every
<ref> against the user's provided sources.
Workflow: Drafting a Biography
- Gather — Ask the user for: subject name, a short description to avoid disambiguation, and a list of reliable sources (URLs or full bibliographic detail).
- Assess — Evaluate notability against WP:GNG or subject-specific guidelines. Flag issues before drafting.
- Outline — Draft section headers based on what the user's sources cover. Skip sections with no source support.
- Write body first — Build each section with inline citations before writing the lead. This ensures the lead is grounded in sourced content.
- Write lead — Summarize the body's key points in 2-4 paragraphs. Do not introduce facts not in the body.
- Add infobox — Use the appropriate infobox template with only fields supported by sources. Most infoboxes should use a small fraction of available fields. When in doubt about a field's accuracy, appropriateness, or formatting, leave it out.
- Review — Check against BLP, NPOV, NOR, and every anti-hallucination rule. Flag any concerns to the user.
Tooling
This skill includes helper scripts, reference docs, and templates:
🔧 Notability Checker (scripts/check-notability.sh)
Walks through Wikipedia's notability criteria and produces a structured assessment.
./scripts/check-notability.sh "Albert Einstein"
./scripts/check-notability.sh --guide
🔧 Citation Validator (scripts/citation-check.sh)
Checks a draft file for citation issues.
./scripts/citation-check.sh my_draft.md
Reports:
- Total citation count and missing reference list
- Templates missing URLs or access-dates
- Empty template fields
- Hallucination risk flags ({{citation needed}}, {{clarify}}, etc.)
- Section-level citation gaps
📚 Policy Reference (references/policies.md)
Full policy excerpts for BLP, NPOV, NOR, and Verifiability, with checklists
and source reliability guide. Read when you need to verify policy compliance.
📚 Notability Guide (references/notability-guide.md)
Deep reference on all notability guidelines (GNG, ANYBIO, NACADEMIC, NARTIST,
NCREATIVE, NSPORT) with examples, a flowchart, and common pitfalls.
🧩 Biography Template (assets/biography-template.md)
Complete article skeleton with:
- Standard section ordering
- Infobox template
- Lead structure guide
- Section-by-section guidance
- Pre-submission checklist
🧩 Citation Templates (assets/citation-template.md)
Ready-to-use templates for all citation types (web, news, book, journal)
with required/recommended fields and anti-hallucination rules.
🧩 Infobox Templates (assets/infobox-templates/)
⚠️ Less is more. The infobox templates list dozens of possible fields, but most articles
should use only a handful — the ones the editor is confident in and that convey essential
information. It is better to leave a field out than to include one you are unsure about.
Subject-specific infobox variants:
| Template | For |
|---|
person.md | Generic/default — use when no subject-specific infobox fits |
scientist.md | Academics, researchers, scientists |
writer.md | Authors, journalists, poets |
artist.md | Visual artists, sculptors, photographers |
athlete.md | Athletes, coaches, sports figures |
officeholder.md | Politicians, government officials, diplomats, judges |
Cross-References
