citations

name

citations

description

Canonical rules and HTML/CSS contract for inline `[n]` citation references, end-of-document Citations blocks, and optional per-section citation recaps used across Moody's Agentic Solutions HTML report skills (earnings-brief, peer-analysis, issuer-brief, sector-brief, etc.). Parent skills must read BOTH this `SKILL.md` (rules, numbering, hyperlink behavior, source data shape) AND `assets/template.html` (canonical CSS block + literal HTML markup snippets) before emitting citations. The asset file is the single source of truth for the visual/markup implementation; this `SKILL.md` is the single source of truth for the authoring rules. Triggers when the user asks about citations, sources, references, footnotes, hyperlinking [n] markers, or the Sources/Citations block in any HTML report skill.

Citations Skill (shared)

This is the single source of truth for how citations are authored and rendered across the HTML report skills. Parent skills (earnings-brief, peer-analysis, issuer-brief, sector-brief, etc.) defer to this document for inline reference markup, the Citations block, numbering, hyperlinking, source data shape, and CSS. Each parent skill keeps only its own carve-outs (e.g. "no citations in .yoy-change cells", "no citations in financial table cells").

The canonical CSS and the literal HTML markup contracts live in assets/template.html. This SKILL.md describes the rules; the asset file ships the verbatim implementation. Parent skills must read both files before emitting citations.

Sibling skill. skills/shared/template/ owns the rest of the visual chrome (cover, TOC, section, sources-section wrapper, footer, outlook-badge, design tokens) and uses the same inlining pattern as this skill — parent templates reserve a CSS-comment marker region (/* BEGIN shared-template-css ... */ / /* END shared-template-css */) and copy the contents of <style id="shared-template-css"> from that skill's assets/template.html at emit time. Read both shared skills together when authoring or modifying any HTML report skill.

When to read this skill

Read this skill from a parent skill before emitting any [n] reference or the end-of-document Citations block. Parent skills must contain a directive near the top of their SKILL.md instructing the agent to read both this file and assets/template.html.

Output contract (single global rules)

1. Every report contains exactly one Citations block at the end of the document.
2. Numbering is a single global sequence [1], [2], … per document. The number n in any inline reference MUST equal the row position of the matching source inside #{prefix}-sources (1-indexed, in document order).
3. Internal MCP tool names are NEVER rendered in any citation row.
4. Plain [n] text in narrative content (not wrapped in <a class="cite-ref"> or <span class="cite-ref">) is not allowed.
5. Citations are not embedded inside numeric/data cells of financial, valuation, ratings, risk, ESG, or YoY tables. Parent skills may extend this carve-out list.

1. Inline reference markup

The literal markup ships in assets/template.html (<template id="cite-ref-anchor"> and <template id="cite-ref-span">). Rules:

• With URL: copy cite-ref-anchor and substitute {source_url} and [n]. This is the default form.
• Without URL: copy cite-ref-span and substitute [n]. Use this fallback only when the source has no URL — the span keeps the .cite-ref styling without an active link.
• n MUST match the row position of that source inside #{prefix}-sources. The same n may be reused multiple times throughout the document for repeat references to the same source.

2. End-of-document Citations block

Every report renders exactly one Citations block at the end of the document. The container markup ships in assets/template.html (<template id="sources-section">).

{prefix} is the parent skill's prefix (ecs, pa, pib, sa). The displayed heading is always the literal string Citations. The container <div> keeps its existing #{prefix}-sources id for backward continuity.

Three row variants ship in the asset; pick based on which fields are present:

variant template id	when to use
source-item-with-url	source has a URL and at least one of source / date.
source-item-no-url	no URL but at least one of source / date.
source-item-no-meta	source has a URL but no source and no date.

If only one of source or date is present, render only that field inside the () of .source-meta. If neither is present and a URL exists, drop the .source-meta span entirely (use source-item-no-meta).

3. Optional per-section recap (opt-in)

Some skills (currently earnings-brief, peer-analysis, issuer-brief, etc.) render a short recap of the citations referenced inside a given section, immediately below that section's content. This component is opt-in. Parent skills decide whether to use it; the canonical CSS in assets/template.html ships the styling unconditionally so the option is always available.

The recap markup ships in assets/template.html (<template id="section-citations-recap">). Parent skills that opt in also embed empty target placeholders inside each section using the <template id="section-citations-target"> shape (<div id="{prefix}-cite-{slot}"></div>), which the LLM later fills with a recap or leaves empty if the section has no citations.

The numbers inside a recap MUST be the same n values used inline and listed in the end-of-document Citations block. A recap NEVER introduces a new numbering sequence. If a section has no citations, omit the recap entirely (leave the target div empty).

4. Source data shape

Each source is described by:

field	required	notes
id	yes	1-indexed integer matching the row's position in #{prefix}-sources.
title	yes	Human-readable title. Rendered inside .source-title.
source	no	Publisher / system (e.g. "Moody's Research Assistant Library").
date	no	Display-formatted date (e.g. 2026-02-24 or 12 Sep 2026).
url	no	Absolute URL. If absent, use the URL-less row variant above.

Never render internal MCP tool names (e.g. getEntityCreditOpinion) in .source-meta.

5. Canonical CSS

The canonical CSS lives only in assets/template.html inside the <style id="shared-citations-css">…</style> block. Parent templates do not carry a duplicate copy of these rules. Each parent template instead reserves a marker region inside its own <style> tag bracketed by CSS comments (not HTML comments — the markers sit inside <style>, where <!-- … --> would produce CSS parse errors):

/* BEGIN shared-citations-css (inlined at emit time from skills/shared/citations/assets/template.html) */
/* END shared-citations-css */

At emit time, the agent copies the contents (not the <style> wrapper) of <style id="shared-citations-css">…</style> from the shared asset and inserts them between those two marker comments in the final emitted HTML. Treat the canonical CSS as a single block — do not edit values per-skill. If a parent skill needs to restyle citations, change assets/template.html and the next emit picks it up automatically.

CSS variable contract

The block above relies on these CSS custom properties being defined elsewhere in the parent template's :root (they already are in every current template):

• --accent — link / inline-cite color
• --navy — heading and source-num color
• --g100 — light background for .section-citations
• --g200 — border color for .source-item separator and .section-citations border
• --g400 — meta text color
• --g700 — body text color for source rows
• --gray-100, --gray-200, --gray-400, --gray-700 — legacy aliases used by ECS / peer- analysis templates. Either set of names works; templates that already define --gray-* may alias them to --g* (or vice-versa) so the canonical block renders without edits.

If a template defines only one naming scheme, add aliases at the top of the <style> block so both name families resolve. Example alias snippet (add only the side you are missing):

:root {
  /* if template uses --gray-* but not --g*, alias them: */
  --g100: var(--gray-100);
  --g200: var(--gray-200);
  --g400: var(--gray-400);
  --g700: var(--gray-700);
}

6. Quick checklist (use before submitting a report)

• Every inline [n] is wrapped in <a class="cite-ref"> (with href + target="_blank") or, if no URL exists, <span class="cite-ref">.
• All n values resolve to a row inside #{prefix}-sources at position n.
• The Citations block heading reads exactly Citations.
• Each .source-item row uses .source-num + .source-title + optional .source-meta.
• No .source-meta renders an internal MCP tool name.
• No citation markup inside numeric/data cells excluded by the parent skill.
• Optional .section-citations recap, if used, reuses the same n values — it never starts a new numbering sequence.
• The canonical CSS from <style id="shared-citations-css"> in assets/template.html has been inlined into the emitted HTML between the /* BEGIN shared-citations-css */ / /* END shared-citations-css */ CSS-comment markers that ship in the parent template.