bold-highlighter

name	bold-highlighter
description	Add restrained bold emphasis to a post's prose (index.md or a modality file) so skim readers catch the main argument, preserving the author's wording, voice, and structure. Use when asked to highlight key phrases, make a post more skimmable, add bold emphasis, or apply a "bold highlighter" pass in _journals/*/posts/*/.

Bold Highlighter

Goal

Add a restrained skim path through a post's prose using Markdown **bold** emphasis, so a reader skimming bold phrases catches the argument. Preserve the author's wording, voice, headings, and structure — this is an editorial pass, not a rewrite unless the user also asks for rewriting.

Operates on any prose file in a post folder: usually index.md, but also summary.md or dialog.md when asked. It does not generate images or touch comics.md panel art.

Contract rules

• spec.md is the contract; never edit it from this skill. Emphasis must respect the spec's Audience and tone. A private reflective note wants very light emphasis (it is read slowly, not skimmed); an ADR or strategy post can carry more. Match the post's register before reaching for bold.
• Preserve wording. Only make a tiny grammar fix if it is needed to make a highlighted phrase read cleanly, and say so.
• The renderer treats post content as trusted markdown (post.html), so **bold** works inline anywhere normal markdown does — including inside table cells and list items. It does not work inside fenced code.
• Edit only the requested prose file. Do not touch config.yaml, the spec, or other modalities unless asked.

Workflow

1. Read the target file (and skim spec.md for Audience/tone) enough to find the thesis, section claims, contrasts, risks, operating rules, and closing takeaway.
2. Add **bold** to the phrases that carry those ideas.
3. Prefer the shortest span that still reads — bold the decisive phrase, not the whole sentence.
4. Keep it readable for normal readers and useful for skimmers; most paragraphs need no bold at all.
5. Validate: ** markers balanced; links, lists, blockquotes, tables, and the ADR status-highlight blockquote still render; no bold leaked into code or front matter.
6. Run python3 _wiring/build.py and confirm [built] <journal>. Report that the pass was editorial only (unless you also changed content).

Highlighting rules

• Highlight the thesis, main distinctions, operating principles, warnings, decision criteria, and the final takeaway.
• Prefer 2–7 word highlights. Use longer ones only for a compact thesis or a decisive question.
• At most 1–2 highlighted phrases per dense paragraph; many paragraphs need none.
• In summaries or key-points blocks, 1–2 bold phrases per bullet.
• In lists, bold the label or governing idea, not every explanation.
• In tables, bold sparingly — only a decisive contrast.
• Preserve existing bold that works; only shorten or replace bold that is too broad.
• Do not bold headings (already prominent), code, command names, YAML front matter, or URLs.
• Do not split a Markdown link. If a linked title needs emphasis, wrap the whole link: **[Title](url)**. The same applies to cross-links — keep [[name]] intact; wrap the whole token if it must be emphasized.

What to highlight

Good targets:

• Clear claims — **relief is data, not a verdict**
• Contrasts — **reasons it is hard to leave, not reasons to stay**
• Operating questions — **would I freely choose this exact life again?**
• Constraints / rules — **prepare, do not leave**
• Stable concepts the post returns to — **the root**, **the funeral feeling**
• A decisive closing takeaway

Weak targets (avoid):

• Generic intensifiers — "very important", "significant", "major"
• Long clauses padded with filler
• Proper nouns, unless the name itself is the point
• Whole paragraphs or long sentences
• Every occurrence of a repeated term — highlight it once per section at most

Editing discipline

• Do not create a one-note post where every paragraph is bolded — that destroys the skim path it is meant to create.
• Keep highlighted phrases shorter when the surrounding sentence already gives context.
• Avoid stacking bold phrases back-to-back; it reads as shouting.
• Keep emphasis consistent: a core term bolded once in a section should not be bolded on every repetition.
• For posts with an existing opening highlight blockquote — the ADR Status / Decision block, or the essay KEY POINTS block — that block is already the scannable summary (and KEY POINTS already carries intentional bold); do not pile extra bold into it.

Anti-patterns

• Rewriting prose or "improving" wording under cover of a highlight pass.
• Editing spec.md, config.yaml, or unrequested modality files.
• Heavy emphasis on a private reflective post that is meant to be read slowly.
• Bolding inside fenced code, front matter, or URLs.
• Breaking a [link](url) or [[cross-link]] by bolding only part of it.
• Skipping the build / not reporting that the change was editorial only.