cover-letter

name	cover-letter
description	Write a tailored, concise cover letter (150-250 words) from a job description and the user's resume, humanized for natural tone.
argument-hint	<job_description>

Cover Letter Generator

Write a short, tailored cover letter connecting the candidate's resume to a specific role.

Setup

Follow ../_shared/setup.md to load profile and resume. Then Read the resume file at primaryResumeSourceAbsolutePath for full context (identity, education, experience, skills, projects, research, awards).

Step 1: Analyze the JD

From the argument, identify: company + what they do, role title and level, key responsibilities, required/preferred qualifications, tech stack and domain, culture cues.

Step 2: Read Your Last 5 Letters

Do not skip. Letters that are individually fine and collectively identical are what reads as AI - not word choice.

curl -fsS -H "authorization: Bearer $JOBPILOT_API_TOKEN" "$JOBPILOT_API/api/cover-letters?page=1&pageSize=5" | jq -r '.items[].id'

The list is metadata only, so GET /api/cover-letters/<id> each for the body. No history (first letter, or the call fails) → Step 3.

Note three things: which experience each one led with, every metric phrasing, and each closing sentence. They become the constraints in Step 3.

Step 3: Select Relevant Experience

From the resume, pick the most relevant: 2–3 work experiences, 2–3 projects, research (if AI/ML/CV), education (if relevant to level).

Apply rules 14-16 here, against Step 2's letters. Rotating the lead is a selection decision - make it before drafting, not by patching a draft that already opened with the usual paragraph.

Step 4: Write

Header - values strictly from user.*, never from the resume file (resumes carry stale addresses). Omit any line whose fields are empty:

[Full Name]
[City, State] | [Phone] | [Email]
[LinkedIn] | [GitHub] | [Website]

Body - 150–250 words, 3–4 paragraphs of uneven length.

Pick ONE lead angle - the strongest for this JD, not a stack of all three:

• a result that matches their core need (senior/lead roles: scope, architecture, team output)
• direct experience with their exact stack, domain, or product (AI/ML/research roles: publications)
• a genuine, specific reason for this company - only if you actually have one

Then write:

• Lead (1–3 sentences): the role + your angle. No "I'm excited to apply" / "I'm writing to express my interest".
• Proof (1–2 short paragraphs): 1–2 proof points from the resume - a named project or outcome with one concrete detail each. Pick the points that fit this JD, not your two best overall. Let each stand on its own; don't explain why it's relevant - if you picked right, it's obvious.
• Close (1–2 sentences): you'd like to talk, thanks. No recap of fit.

If the draft came out as opening → experience → tech depth → why-company → closing, that's the template every AI letter follows - merge or cut a section and vary where the company mention lands.

Sign-off:

Best regards,
[Full Name]

Step 5: Apply Humanizer

Invoke the humanizer skill on the full text in embedded mode - final rewrite only, no draft or audit bullets.

Then re-check against Step 2's letters: no shared sentence, different lead, different closing. The humanizer sees one document at a time, so this check is yours.

Step 6: Save to History

Persist the final letter so it's reviewable in the web app. Best-effort - if the call fails, continue:

curl -fsS -H "authorization: Bearer $JOBPILOT_API_TOKEN" -X POST "$JOBPILOT_API/api/cover-letters" -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d "$(jq -n --arg c "<final letter text>" --arg u "<job url>" --arg t "<role title>" --arg co "<company>" --arg s "<source>" \
        '{content:$c, jobUrl:($u|select(.!="")), jobTitle:($t|select(.!="")), company:($co|select(.!="")), source:$s}')"

jobUrl/jobTitle/company come from the JD argument ($DIGEST fields when present). source is the invoking context - apply, auto-apply, or manual (default manual when the caller didn't specify).

Rules

1. 150–250 words for the body. Short reads as confident.
2. No fluff - drop "passionate", "dedicated", "committed", "excited", "thrilled", "leverage", "utilize", "innovative", "cutting-edge", "eager", "dynamic".
3. No generic openings.
4. Be specific. Real project names, metrics, technologies from the resume.
5. Tailor by selection, not narration. Prove fit by choosing the right material. Quote back at most ONE short JD phrase in the whole letter. Never end a paragraph by mapping yourself onto the JD - no "which is exactly what your team needs", "the same kind of X that Y requires", "which is basically the job description".
6. End paragraphs on the fact - what you did or why you're interested - not a tie-back or a flourish.
7. One dash clause max per letter (em dash or " - "); restructure the rest into commas or separate sentences.
8. One contrast max per letter - "X rather than Y" / "not X, but Y" is a crutch; usually delete the negative half.
9. No rule-of-three. Don't default to three-item lists; name one thing, or two, or four.
10. Show, don't tell. No "I'm a strong communicator" - demonstrate it through the writing.
11. Match tone. Startup → conversational; enterprise/gov → formal.
12. No fabrication. Only reference projects/skills from the resume.
13. First person as the candidate.

Anti-repetition (against Step 2's letters)

14. Rotate the lead. Don't open with the experience either of the last two letters opened with, unless the JD makes it the only honest choice (a healthcare role genuinely wants the healthcare project). A recruiter comparing two of your letters is comparing openings.
15. No sentence reused verbatim, metric phrasings included. A reused number is fine; a reused sentence about it is the tell. Rephrase the result or lead with a different one.
16. Vary the closing and the shape. No repeated closing, and never "how this maps to/onto ". Move the company mention too - same skeleton with different nouns is still a template.

Output

Plain text with header and sign-off, ready to paste or convert to PDF.