hai-rewrite-doc

name

hai-rewrite-doc

description

Verifies a drifted, patched-over document block by block — against the current conclusions, the codebase, and anything else checkable — then rewrites it around the evidence: blocks that survive verification keep their original wording, blocks that fail are removed (never repaired into a plausible-looking fix), and the result ships as the rewritten document plus a disposition table (keep / delete / undecided, each citing the check) and an open-questions list. Use whenever a document has accumulated messy, doubtful claims through rounds of discussion and the user wants it verified and cleaned, not patched again. Trigger on 重写这份文档, 这文档已经烂了, 文档已经不对了, 逐条核实这份文档, 把不对的内容删掉, 按最新结论重写, 文档跟讨论结论对不上, 别再缝缝补补了, 推倒重写, and English like "rewrite this doc", "verify this doc and strip what's wrong", "this doc has drifted". For a findings report without a rewrite use hai-audit-docs-internally; if the document is a PRD use hai-prd; if it is a plan or goal document use hai-goal.

Hai Rewrite Doc

For Chinese readers, see SKILL.zh_CN.md. The English SKILL.md is the execution source of truth.

Overview

Take one document that has rotted through rounds of discussion and patching, verify it block by block, and rewrite it around what survives. The old document is raw material and evidence — never the base to patch.

The default stance toward old content is preservation: every block gets verified, what passes keeps its original wording, and only what fails verification is removed. The skill's value is catching the many small wrong claims a messy document hides — one by one, with the check on record — not composing a prettier document.

Verification runs at two levels: macro (the document's frame — frontmatter/YAML metadata, title, stated purpose) and micro (every individual point). Both levels carry the same rule: fail means removal.

Deliver three things: the rewritten document, a disposition verdict for every block of the old one, and the open questions that cannot be verified without the user.

Core Principle

A document rots because the real consensus lives in the conversation while the document only receives patches — and each patch was written against a different snapshot of that consensus. More patching cannot fix this. The fix is to make the consensus explicit first, then re-derive the document from it.

So the order is fixed: anchor first, then rewrite. Never start writing before the anchor is written down, and never merge old text into the new document without a verdict.

And verdicts are earned by verification, not by smell. A claim that can be checked — against the anchor, the codebase, a config file, a schema, a runnable command — must actually be checked before it is kept or deleted. A claim that cannot be checked is never silently kept or dropped; it goes to Open Questions.

Verification failure means removal, not repair. The instinct to fix a failing block — to explain why it failed and write a corrected version — is exactly how rot enters: the "fix" is a guess wearing a fix's clothes, and it reads as authoritative. Remove the block. If its topic still needs covering, that coverage comes from the anchor; if the anchor has nothing to say, the gap goes to Open Questions for the user to fill deliberately.

Workflow

1. Build the anchor. Collect the conclusions that are true now: decisions made, decisions later reversed (the reversal wins), constraints still standing, and the document's target reader and job. Sources: the user's message, the discussion history, linked docs. Write the anchor as a numbered list of conclusions — it ships in the output so the reader can check the rewrite against it.

2. Interrogate the holes. If the anchor cannot answer "who is this document for" or "what did we finally decide about X", ask the user pointed questions before writing anything. A rewrite from a guessed anchor just produces the next rotten version.

3. Inventory the old document. Split it into blocks (sections, claims, tables, examples, commands, numbers). The inventory exists so that every block gets verified — none skipped.

4. Verify at two levels: macro first, then micro.

   • Macro — the document's frame. Verify the frontmatter/YAML metadata, title, stated purpose, and top-level framing before anything else. A frame that no longer fits the current scenario, or has simply fallen behind it, fails like any other block: remove it (replacement framing comes from the anchor). And a failed frame casts suspicion downward — content that existed only to serve the dead frame must be re-verified against the anchor, not against the frame.
   • Micro — every point, one by one. Check each block against the anchor, then against anything else checkable: the code, config, schema, the commands and paths it cites, linked documents. List-heavy documents are where rot hides: a list is never verified wholesale — it passes only when every item in it has passed individually, and failed items are removed individually.

   Record what was checked at both levels — the disposition table cites it.

5. Give every block exactly one verdict:

   • Keep — verified still true; reuse it with the original wording and voice.
   • Delete — failed verification: verified wrong, contradicts the anchor, or is patch residue nobody can explain. Cite the check that failed. Do not rewrite it into a version that would pass — remove it; any replacement coverage comes from the anchor, not from the failed block.
   • Undecided — unverifiable without the user; park it in Open Questions. Never silently keep or drop it.

6. Decide the structure deliberately. Keep the old structure when it still serves the anchor — preservation extends to structure, not only wording. Re-derive it from the anchor only when the structure itself is patch residue.

Output

Replace the original file in place — version control and the disposition table carry the history; a sibling copy just becomes the next piece of patch residue. Write to a separate file only when the user explicitly asks to keep the original untouched. The reply carries the rest:

# Hai Rewrite Doc: <document>
## Anchor               — numbered current conclusions the rewrite derives from
## Rewritten Document   — path to the rewritten file (inline only when the document is short)
## Disposition Table    — old block → Keep / Delete / Undecided, each citing the check it passed or failed
## Open Questions       — what the anchor cannot settle, and which section each one blocks

Read references/output-template.md before finalizing.

Use a different skill when

• The user wants a findings report, not a rewritten document — use hai-audit-docs-internally.
• The truth source is the code, not the discussion — use hai-audit-docs-against-code.
• The document is a PRD — use hai-prd; its Craft mode owns PRD repair and rewrite.
• The document is a plan or goal document — use hai-goal; its rewrite mode re-anchors plans around a target.
• Only structure and formatting are wrong and the content is fine — use readme-beautifier.
• The real question is which concepts deserve to exist at all — run hai-razor first, then rewrite.

What this skill is NOT

• Not a beautifier — it changes content and judgment, not just formatting.
• Not a patch merger — it never produces "the old doc plus the latest edits".
• Not a summarizer — the output is a full working document, not a digest.
• Not a fresh composition — verified-true content is preserved, not paraphrased.
• Not a repair shop — a failing block is removed, never patched into a passing one.
• Not silent — nothing from the old document disappears without a line in the disposition table.

Common Mistakes

• Writing before the anchor is explicit — the rewrite inherits guesses instead of conclusions.
• Judging blocks by smell instead of checking them — checkable claims get checked.
• Passing a list wholesale — a list passes only when every item in it passed individually.
• Skipping the frame because it "looks structural" — stale frontmatter/YAML metadata fails and gets removed like any other block.
• Repairing a failing block instead of removing it — explaining why it failed and writing a "corrected" version reintroduces guesses; failure means removal.
• Deleting without citing the check that failed; a Delete verdict is earned, not asserted.
• Treating "it was discussed once" as consensus; only the latest standing decision counts.
• Silently dropping blocks instead of recording a Delete verdict.
• Rewriting Keep blocks anyway and destroying the author's voice.