syllabify-lyrics

name	syllabify-lyrics
description	Use when lyrics.txt needs to be parsed and syllabified into lyrics.json for downstream vocal alignment. Respects explicit hyphens and applies a heuristic syllabifier. Does not inspect or modify the score.
allowed-tools	Read Bash Grep Glob Write
argument-hint	["lyrics-txt"]
effort	low

Skill: syllabify_lyrics

Purpose

Turn lyrics.txt into a structured lyrics.json that downstream tools can align against a melody.

This step is lyrics-only. It should not inspect or modify the score.

Inputs

lyrics.txt

Optional config:

{
  "language_hint": "English"
}

Core responsibilities

1. Read lyric lines (preserve original text for each line).
2. Tokenize into words/syllables.
3. Respect explicit hyphenation in the input (e.g., Twin-kle).
4. If no explicit hyphens are present, apply a deterministic heuristic syllabifier.
5. Emit lyrics.json.

Output

Write lyrics.json matching schemas/lyrics.schema.json.

Suggested CLI

./bin/syllabify_lyrics lyrics.txt --language English --out lyrics.json

Failure modes

Warn (do not fail) if:

• the file is empty
• a line contains no usable tokens after cleanup
• syllabification is heuristic and may be inaccurate for the language