// Meta-skill that routes to the five focused writing skills in this plugin. Loads nothing substantive on its own — read this to decide which of grammar-fundamentals, punctuation-rules, tone-calibration, technical-writing, or common-non-native-mistakes to consult.
| name | writing-guide |
| description | Meta-skill that routes to the five focused writing skills in this plugin. Loads nothing substantive on its own — read this to decide which of grammar-fundamentals, punctuation-rules, tone-calibration, technical-writing, or common-non-native-mistakes to consult. |
| version | 0.2.0 |
This skill used to contain all English writing patterns in a single file. It has been split into five focused skills. This file is now a router: read it to pick the right sibling skill for the task at hand.
If you loaded writing-guide directly, you almost always want one of the five skills below instead. Load the specific one(s) your task needs — or load all five for a deep review.
| Trigger | Load this skill |
|---|---|
| Article (a/an/the) question, agreement, tense, preposition, comparative/superlative, countable-vs-mass noun | grammar-fundamentals |
| Comma, semicolon, colon, hyphen/en-dash/em-dash, apostrophe, quotation mark | punctuation-rules |
| "Does this fit a commit message / PR description / API doc / email / chat?" | tone-calibration |
| API reference wording, README shape, error-message phrasing, active vs passive in docs, terminology consistency | technical-writing |
| "I think this is a typical L2 pattern" — recurring non-native slips (article misuse, 'I am agree', preposition transfer, false cognates, word-order inversion) | common-non-native-mistakes |
| Task | Combination |
|---|---|
| Full deep review of any text | all five |
| Commit-message polish | tone-calibration + grammar-fundamentals + common-non-native-mistakes |
| README audit | technical-writing + grammar-fundamentals + punctuation-rules |
| Quick grammar check on a sentence | grammar-fundamentals + common-non-native-mistakes |
| Punctuation-only pass (e.g. pre-publication polish) | punctuation-rules |
Covers: articles (a/an/the), subject-verb agreement, its vs it's, who/that/which, prepositions, tense consistency, countable vs mass nouns, comparatives/superlatives.
Covers: serial (Oxford) comma, comma joining independent clauses, introductory comma, comma splice, semicolons, colons, hyphens vs en-dashes vs em-dashes, apostrophes (possession, contractions, plurals), quotation marks (US punctuation placement), periods in lists and headings.
Covers: imperative voice for instructions, concise phrasing (wordy → concise), per-context rubrics (commit message, PR description, code comments, API documentation, email, inline chat), tone calibration checklist.
Covers: active vs passive voice, API documentation five-part structure, README section order, error-message wording, terminology consistency, headings, lists, tables, cross-references, concise phrasing applied to docs.
Covers: article slips, preposition confusion, 'I am agree' copula stacking, subject-verb agreement, its/it's, tense mismatch, double comparatives, plural/uncountable confusion, word-order inversion, false cognates, commit-message-specific slips.
This meta-skill contains no grammar, punctuation, tone, documentation, or L2-pattern rules on its own. Every rule lives in one of the five sibling skills. If you are tempted to add content here, add it to the matching sibling skill instead.
Recurring error patterns from non-native English speakers in developer contexts: article misuse, preposition confusion, tense mismatch, 'I am agree'-style anti-patterns, and other frequent L2 slips. Use when scanning for patterns a reader can map back to familiar mistakes rather than rediscover from first principles.
Core English grammar rules most likely to trip non-native developers: articles, subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, prepositions, countable vs mass nouns, comparatives. Use when reviewing grammar correctness of prose written for developer contexts (commits, docs, emails).
Punctuation conventions for developer prose: commas (serial, Oxford, clause-joining), semicolons, colons, hyphens vs en-dashes vs em-dashes, apostrophes, quotation marks. Use when reviewing punctuation of documentation, commit messages, or any prose where mis-pointing changes meaning.
Technical writing patterns for developer prose: API documentation structure, README shape, error-message wording, terminology consistency, and the active vs passive voice trade-off. Use when the text under review is documentation, a README, an API reference, or an error string.
Per-context tone rubrics for developer communication: commit messages, PR descriptions, code comments, API docs, emails, inline chat. Use when judging whether the register and formality of a piece of text fit its destination, not just whether it is grammatical.