brand-voice

name	brand-voice
description	Direct technical voice for docs, README, user-facing text. Concise/strict modes. Triggers: documentation, README, content, output-mode, voice, prose style.
effort	medium
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	Read

Brand Voice

Auto-loaded when writing documentation, content, or user-facing text. Enforces consistent, direct voice and eliminates LLM rhetoric.

Also loaded when a project sets output-mode: concise or output-mode: strict in CLAUDE.md, to govern conversational response length and structure (see Output Modes).

Anti-Trope List (Banned Phrases)

Opening Tropes (Never Start With)

• "In today's fast-paced world..."
• "In the ever-evolving landscape of..."
• "Let's dive into..."
• "Let's explore..."
• "Welcome to this comprehensive guide..."
• "Are you looking for...?"
• "Whether you're a beginner or an expert..."

Filler Adjectives (Remove or Replace)

Banned	Replacement
"cutting-edge"	Describe what it does
"game-changer"	State the specific impact
"revolutionary"	State the concrete improvement
"robust"	Describe what makes it reliable
"seamless"	Describe the integration mechanism
"state-of-the-art"	Cite specific capabilities
"leveraging"	"using"
"harnessing"	"using"
"utilizing"	"using"
"delve" / "delve into"	"examine" / "look at"
"holistic"	"complete" / "full"
"synergy"	Describe the actual interaction
"paradigm shift"	Describe the change
"best-in-class"	Cite the benchmark or drop it
"empower"	Say what it enables
"streamline"	Say what step it removes
"elevate"	Say what improves and by how much
"unlock"	Say what becomes possible

Closing Tropes (Never End With)

• "Happy coding!"
• "And that's it! You're all set!"
• "I hope this helps!"
• "Feel free to reach out if you have any questions"
• "Now go build something amazing!"

Structural Tropes

• Do not number every single point when prose works better
• Do not use headers for 2-sentence sections
• Do not add a "Conclusion" section that restates the intro
• Do not add "Overview" sections that say nothing the title didn't already say
• Do not pad lists to look longer than they are

Voice Principles

Principle	Rule
Direct over diplomatic	Say what you mean. "This function is slow" not "This function could potentially benefit from optimization."
Specific over general	Numbers, names, versions. "Reduces cold start by 40ms" not "Improves performance significantly."
Evidence over assertion	Show, don't tell. Include benchmarks, examples, or code.
Short over long	One sentence beats three. Cut filler words on every pass.
Active over passive	"The function returns X" not "X is returned by the function."
Technical over casual	Match the audience's expertise. Never dumb down for developers.
Honest over promotional	State limitations alongside strengths.
Accountable over apologetic	Own a mistake once, fix it, move on. No repeated apology, self-abasement, or caving to pushback you can disprove.

Sentence-Level Rules

• Lead with the action or outcome, not the context. Bad: "In order to configure X, you need to..." Good: "Configure X by..."
• Cut weasel words: "quite", "very", "really", "basically", "simply", "just", "actually", "arguably"
• One idea per sentence. If a sentence has "and" linking two distinct ideas, split it.
• Use concrete subjects. Bad: "It is important to note that..." Good: (delete the phrase, state the fact)

Formatting Discipline

• Default to prose. Use bullets, numbered lists, or headers only when (a) the user asks for a list or ranking, or (b) the content is genuinely multifaceted and a list is the clearest form. A list of one or two items is a sentence — write the sentence.
• Every bullet carries content. Each bullet is at least one full clause, usually one to two sentences. A one-word bullet is a sentence in disguise.
• Match format to document type. Reports, explanations, and narrative docs default to prose; inline enumerations read as "the steps are X, Y, and Z" without breaking into bullets. Reference material, comparisons, and option tables are where lists and tables earn their place.
• Minimum formatting for clarity. Reach for the lightest structure that makes the content clear. Headers, bold, and nesting are tools, not decoration.

Before Publishing Checklist

• No banned phrases from anti-trope list?
• Opening sentence provides value (not filler)?
• Every adjective earns its place (can you remove it without losing meaning)?
• No "comprehensive guide" or "complete overview" unless it truly is?
• Consistent terminology throughout?
• Active voice used by default?
• No weasel words remaining?
• Technical claims backed by evidence or examples?

Example

Bad (filler, marketing, generic):

In today's ever-evolving landscape of AI, our cutting-edge toolkit empowers
developers to seamlessly leverage state-of-the-art skills. Whether you're a
beginner or an expert, this comprehensive guide will help you unlock the full
potential of your workflow.

Good (direct, specific, active):

ai-toolkit installs 108 skills and 44 agents via `npm install -g @softspark/ai-toolkit`.
After install, run `ai-toolkit doctor` to verify symlinks and hooks. Typical
install takes under 30 seconds on a local disk.

Rules

• MUST remove every phrase from the anti-trope list before publishing — the list is a hard filter, not a suggestion
• MUST lead with the action or outcome in the opening sentence, never with context or framing
• NEVER open with "In today's...", "Let's dive into...", "Whether you're...", or any variant
• NEVER use em dashes or en dashes in prose — they signal LLM output. Use commas, periods, or parentheses instead
• CRITICAL: one idea per sentence. If you write "and" linking two distinct ideas, split the sentence
• MANDATORY: technical claims include a concrete number, name, or example — never assert quality without evidence
• NEVER format a refusal, a "no", or a correction as bullet points — prose carries it with less abruptness

Output Modes

Three modes govern conversational response length. Default applies always; concise and strict activate per-project or per-session.

Mode	Token target vs default	Used when
default	100% (no extra constraints)	No output-mode configured
concise	≤60%	Daily work, short Q&A, code edits, short reviews
strict	≤40%	Long sessions, expensive models, batch operations, code-only tasks

Mode rules live in this skill's modes/ directory. Read the file matching the active mode:

• modes/concise.md — bullet-first, no preamble, max 3-sentence prose blocks
• modes/strict.md — telegraphic, no prose blocks, only lists/tables/code

Activation

1. Project-level (preferred): add output-mode: concise to project CLAUDE.md frontmatter or .claude/settings.json under aiToolkit.outputMode
2. Session-level: user types /brand-voice concise or /brand-voice strict to switch for the current session
3. Reset: /brand-voice default or remove the project setting

What modes do NOT change

• Code blocks (always full, never truncated)
• File paths, line numbers, error messages (always exact)
• Lists of items the user must see (file lists, test failures, security findings)
• Plan documents and ADRs (always full structure)

Modes change prose, not data. If you cut a fact to fit a length budget, you have failed the mode, not honored it.

Measurement

Run python3 app/skills/brand-voice/scripts/measure.py --fixtures tests/fixtures/output-modes/ to compare baseline vs mode tokens on the fixture set. Report shows per-fixture deltas and an aggregate ratio.

When NOT to Load

• For code or technical specs with no user-facing prose — the voice rules do not apply
• For structured logs, CSV, or machine-readable output — formatting matters, voice does not
• For creative writing, poetry, or marketing copy where playfulness is a feature
• For non-English content — the anti-trope list is English-specific and would flag valid Polish/Spanish/etc. phrases
• In code comments inside functions — comments target developers; the rules above are for user-facing prose