| name | proofread |
| description | Proofread papers and manuscripts. Checks grammar, typos, layout, consistency, writing quality. Produces report without editing files. Use when finding surface-level errors, not substantive academic critique. |
| when_to_use | proofread, check typos, grammar check, look for errors, proofread all, polish this, check my writing, any mistakes, proofread before sending, clean-up pass |
| argument-hint | [filename, 'all', or path to manuscript] |
| allowed-tools | ["Read","Grep","Glob","Write","Task","AskUserQuestion"] |
Proofread Academic Writing
Run the mandatory proofreading protocol on papers or manuscripts. Produces a report of all issues WITHOUT editing any source files.
Steps
-
Identify files to review:
- If
$ARGUMENTS is a specific filename: review that file only
- If
$ARGUMENTS is all: review all files in manuscripts/ and Quarto/ (if it exists)
- If
$ARGUMENTS is a file in manuscripts/: treat as manuscript (not slides)
- If
$ARGUMENTS is empty or ambiguous and multiple files exist, use AskUserQuestion:
- header: "Files"
- question: "Which files should I proofread?"
- multiSelect: true
- options: list up to 4 found files (label: filename, description: directory and file type). User can select multiple or choose "Other" to specify a path.
-
For each file, launch the proofreader agent that checks for:
GRAMMAR: Subject-verb agreement, articles (a/an/the), prepositions, tense consistency
TYPOS: Misspellings, search-and-replace artifacts, duplicated words
LAYOUT ISSUES: Overfull hbox (LaTeX slides/manuscripts), content exceeding slide boundaries (Quarto), table/column overflow in manuscripts
CONSISTENCY: Citation format, notation, terminology, variable names matching table column names
ACADEMIC QUALITY: Informal language, missing words, awkward constructions
-
Produce a detailed report for each file listing every finding with:
- Location (line number or section heading)
- Current text (what's wrong)
- Proposed fix (what it should be)
- Category and severity
-
Save each report to quality_reports/:
- For
.tex slide files: quality_reports/FILENAME_report.md
- For
.qmd slide files: quality_reports/FILENAME_qmd_report.md
- For manuscript files:
quality_reports/FILENAME_proofread.md
-
IMPORTANT: Do NOT edit any source files.
Only produce the report. Fixes are applied separately after user review (see rules/proofreading-protocol.md).
-
Present summary to the user:
- Total issues found per file
- Breakdown by category
- Most critical issues highlighted