refine

name	refine
description	Transform a brief or prompt into a structured, production-ready prompt via prompt-optimizer. File or text mode.

refine — Prompt Optimizer

Runtime syntax: invoke the plugin copy through the active runtime's owner-qualified skill selector; use a bare selector only when intentionally selecting a user-tier copy (a separately installed personal copy; Genie no longer seeds this tier). Cross-skill prose below uses bare names as portable semantic routes; the orchestrator resolves the selector for the active runtime.

Transform any brief, draft, or one-liner into a production-ready structured prompt.

When to Use

• User wants to improve a prompt or brief
• User references refine with text or a file path
• A worker needs to optimize a prompt before dispatching it

Flow

1. Detect mode: argument starts with @ → file mode; otherwise → text mode.
2. Read input: file mode reads the target file; text mode uses the raw argument.
3. Load the optimizer prompt: at dispatch time, Read prompts/optimizer.md (relative to this skill's directory — skills/refine/prompts/optimizer.md). Its full contents are the refiner's system prompt.
4. Dispatch refiner subagent: system prompt = the full text of prompts/optimizer.md; user message = the input. Single turn.
5. Write output: file mode overwrites the source file in place; text mode writes to /tmp/prompts/<slug>.md.
6. Report: lead with the path of the written file — that is the deliverable.

Modes

	File mode	Text mode
Invocation	refine @path/to/file.md	refine <text>
Input	file contents (strip @ prefix)	the raw argument
Output	overwrite the same file	/tmp/prompts/<slug>.md (mkdir -p /tmp/prompts/ first)
Report	the updated file path	the created file path

Slug: <unix-timestamp>-<word1>-<word2>-<word3> — first 3 words, lowercased, hyphenated. Example: 1708190400-fix-auth-bug.

Subagent Contract

The refiner is a single-turn subagent: input in, optimized prompt out.

• System prompt: the full contents of prompts/optimizer.md — passed whole, never summarized.
• Input: the raw text or file contents as the user message.
• Output: optimized prompt body only — no labels, meta-commentary, rationale, or follow-up questions.
• No tool calls. Receive input, produce output, terminate.

Rules

• Preserve the original intent — the simplest rewrite that satisfies the input, no added features or scope.
• Never execute the prompt — only rewrite it.
• Never enter a clarification loop — act on what you have, single turn.
• Never add wrapper text or status messages to the output file.
• File mode overwrites in place; text mode writes only to /tmp/prompts/.