| name | style-pass |
| description | On-demand per-article stylistic review — sentence variety, emotional range, opening/closing quality. Invoked by /sift or the editor when narrative voice needs a closer look. NOT part of the three-lane reviewer chain (Phase 39.4, S147). |
| version | 1.0 |
| updated | "2026-04-17T00:00:00.000Z" |
| tags | ["media","active"] |
| effort | low |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
/style-pass — Per-Article Stylistic Review
Usage
/style-pass {article-path-or-headline} — Run on a single article.
/style-pass --section civic — Run on all articles in a section.
/style-pass --edition 91 — Run on every article in an edition.
Output is advisory flags only. No verdict, no gate on publication.
What This Is
This skill holds the stylistic checks that used to live in /cycle-review Pass 3.3–3.6.
Phase 39.4 narrowed cycle-review to the Reasoning Lane (internal consistency,
evidence-based deduction, argument quality). Stylistic flags don't belong in a
reviewer lane — they're editorial suggestions, not failures.
Checks
1. Sentence Variety
- Flag articles where 5+ consecutive sentences start with the same word or pattern.
- Flag articles where every sentence is the same length (monotone rhythm).
- Flag excessive "According to…" / "Sources say…" (> 2 per article).
2. Emotional Range
- Across the edition: flag if 4+ articles share the same dominant tone.
- Within letters: flag unanimous agreement — citizens should disagree.
3. Opening Quality
- First paragraph should hook with a scene, person, or moment.
- Flag openings that start with abstractions or cycle-summary language.
- Good openings name a person, describe a place, or start with action.
4. Closing Quality
- Articles should end with forward motion — a question, next step, or person looking ahead.
- Flag articles that just stop or end with generic summary ("Time will tell").
- Flag circular closings that repeat the opening without adding.
Output
Plain-text advisory list. No JSON, no score, no verdict.
STYLE PASS — [target]
- [article headline] — sentence variety: 6 consecutive sentences start with "The"
- [article headline] — opening: abstract ("Oakland faces…")
- [edition] — emotional range: 5 of 7 articles register as urgent
When to Use
- Sift requests it on a specific article before compile.
- Editor notices voice drift and wants a focused review.
- Regression check after reporter voice updates.
- Never as a publication gate — style-pass does not block.
What This Is NOT
- NOT a reviewer lane. The three lanes are Rhea (sourcing), cycle-review (reasoning), Mara (result validity).
- NOT a replacement for cycle-review. Cycle-review now handles reasoning only.
- NOT a scoring skill. No /100, no A/B/C/D/F grade.
