Suno

---
description: "Generate and refine Suno AI music prompts (v5.5). Style prompts, tagged lyrics, genre templates, troubleshooting, tips, features, and genre research via an action router. Use when: 'suno prompt', 'write suno lyrics', 'style prompt for suno', 'BPM prompting', 'vocal tags', 'fix garbled lyrics', 'voice cloning suno', 'suno genre', 'suno studio', or any Suno prompt-craft request."
argument-hint: "[action] [args] (e.g., /suno prompt, /suno lyrics, /suno genre <name>). Full action list in body; default: menu"
user-invocable: true
disable-model-invocation: false
---

## Variables

Arguments: `$ARGUMENTS`

## Purpose

Suno is an AI music platform; the prompt is the instrument. This skill helps the user **generate, refine, and debug Suno prompts**, both the **style/genre** and **lyrics** fields, using v5.5-era best practices, the documented tag taxonomy, and community-validated performance tricks.

The skill is a **prompt-craft assistant**, not an audio generator. Suno produces audio; this skill makes sure the prompt going INTO Suno is sharp, on-format, free of common pitfalls.

Suno v5.5 (released March 26, 2026; verified 2026-07-18 against <https://suno.com/blog/v5-5>) preserved v5's prompt syntax but improved adherence to nuanced descriptors and added three personalization layers (Voices, Custom Models, My Taste). Everything below targets v5.5 unless noted; legacy v4 (~200-char style prompt) is out of scope.

> **Deprecation horizon:** Suno and Warner Music Group committed to launching licensed models in 2026 and deprecating the current models when those launch; they announced no date. Re-check Suno's release notes before relying on v5.5-specific behavior. Source: [joint WMG/Suno announcement, 2025-11-25](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/warner-music-group-and-suno-forge-groundbreaking-partnership-302626017.html).

## Action Router

Parse `$ARGUMENTS`: first token = action, remainder = args. If empty
(e.g. model-invoked from a natural-language request), infer the action
from conversation context; show this menu only when no actionable
context exists.

| Action | Purpose | Detail |
|--------|---------|--------|
| `prompt <intent>` | Build a complete style prompt + lyrics from a song idea | inline + [context/style.md](context/style.md) + [context/lyrics.md](context/lyrics.md) |
| `lyrics <intent>` | Generate or refine lyrics with section tags, vocal tags, **per-section style overrides**, performance cues | [context/lyrics.md](context/lyrics.md) |
| `style <intent>` | Generate a style prompt using the 6-layer formula | [context/style.md](context/style.md) |
| `clean <text>` | Review user's existing prompt, flag pitfalls, propose rewrite | [context/troubleshoot.md](context/troubleshoot.md) + [context/style.md](context/style.md) |
| `research <topic>` | **On-the-fly external research**. Artist sonic profiles, current trends, niche genres, specific reference songs (BPM/key/instrumentation). Translates findings into Suno descriptors. | [context/research-recipes.md](context/research-recipes.md) |
| `tags` | Show the full tag taxonomy (structural, vocal, instrument, mood, ending) | [context/lyrics.md](context/lyrics.md) |
| `genre <name>` | Genre handler. 4 modes: load template (12 built-ins), research a niche genre, suggest genres for a vibe, or show a genre family tree | [templates/<name>.md](templates/) + [context/genre-taxonomy.md](context/genre-taxonomy.md) |
| `troubleshoot <symptom>` | Diagnose a specific failure (hallucinated lyrics, BPM ignored, vocal artifacts, exclusions failing, a section absorbed / missing, choppy over-paused delivery) | [context/troubleshoot.md](context/troubleshoot.md) |
| `tips` | Community-validated lyric-side performance tricks (caps, vowel stretch, ellipses, parentheticals). MEDIUM confidence | [context/tips.md](context/tips.md) |
| `power-tips` | Power-user techniques (tag order, genre fusion anchor/accent, stem-loop refinement, two-pass vocal isolation, persona-as-draft, punctuation cadence, describe-this-song, Custom Model tricks). **Confidence is per section, not per file**: genre fusion anchor/accent sits between LOW-MEDIUM and MEDIUM (three guides, one corroborating Reddit post. Corroboration, not consensus); tag-order front-loading is LOW-MEDIUM on one Reddit post, **for terse comma-separated prompts only** and unverified for the v5.5 conversational style this skill targets; middle-tag softening and bare-position weighting stay unsourced | [context/power-tips.md](context/power-tips.md) |
| `features` | v5.5 feature index. Voices, Custom Models, Personas, Cover, Extend, Replace, Stems, Studio, Sliders, Duration | [context/v55-features.md](context/v55-features.md) + [context/advanced.md](context/advanced.md) |
| `voices` | Voice cloning deep dive. Recording, verification, conflict rules with style prompt | [context/voices.md](context/voices.md) |
| `studio` | Suno Studio (GAW). What's possible, clip ops, Take Lanes, Warp Markers, MIDI, stems | [context/studio.md](context/studio.md) |
| `workflow <recipe>` | Demo upload, edit/rearrange, add instruments, vocal comping, multi-genre cover chain. 8 recipes | [context/workflow-recipes.md](context/workflow-recipes.md) |

If the action is unknown, show this table and ask what the user wants.

---

## Load-bearing fundamentals (inline. Every action assumes these)

### The 6-layer formula (style prompt ordering)

Order matters. Early tags carry more weight. Front-load genre.

1. **Genre / subgenre**. Specific, not "pop" → `synth-pop, 80s-inspired`
2. **Mood**. 2-3 words → `nostalgic, hopeful` (not 9 conflicting moods)
3. **Instrumentation**. Specific → `fingerpicked acoustic guitar` (not just "guitar")
4. **Vocal direction**. Acoustic descriptors → `breathy, intimate, slight rasp` (not "amazing")
5. **BPM**. Numeric → `128 BPM` (not "fast")
6. **Production**. `polished mix`, `lo-fi tape hiss`, `compressed and aggressive`

Sweet spot: **5–8 distinct tags**. Fewer than 4 → generic. More than 10 → conflicting signals.

### Character budgets

| Field | Limit | Notes |
|-------|-------|-------|
| Style prompt (v5/v5.5) | **~1,000 chars** | Up from ~200 in v4. Late-prompt attention may decay; silent truncation is unverified. Front-load critical content. |
| Lyrics | **5,000-char hard cap** (v4.5/v5/v5.5) | 3,000 was the v4-era cap. Quality sweet spot stays **~3,000** (~40-60 lines / 200-300 words). Past that Suno rushes, skips sections, or cuts output short. |
| Title | **~100 chars** | Up from ~80 in v4. Minimal or no known effect on musical output; community reports differ |
| Exclude field | Free-text in Advanced Options (Custom mode) | Same vocabulary as inline negatives |

**Verified 2026-07-18**. No official Suno page states field limits; figures are third-party tester consensus ([hookgenius character limits](https://hookgenius.app/learn/suno-character-limits/), [aimusicapi cheat sheet, 2026-07-03](https://aimusicapi.ai/en/blog/suno-ai-prompt-character-limits)).

**Recheck trigger:** hookgenius or the aimusicapi cheat sheet revises the character-limit figures above, **or** an official Suno page states style-prompt / lyrics / title limits directly. Not a date.

### The lyrics field is a SECOND style channel

Power users treat the lyrics field as more than words to sing. **Per-section style overrides** in lyrics control instrumentation, dynamics, and production section-by-section. Something the global style prompt can't do.

```
[Verse: piano only, no drums, intimate]
First narrative beat...
The vocals carry the weight...

[Pre-Chorus: drums enter, building]
Tension rising...
Tension rising...

[Chorus: full band kicks in, distorted guitar lead, gang vocals]
THE HOOK
THE HOOK

[Bridge: stripped to vocals + acoustic, dry mix]
Most vulnerable moment...

[Chorus: bigger than before, double-tracked vocals, layered harmonies]
THE HOOK
```

Two separator syntaxes work. Both on the same `[Tag]` line:

- `[Verse: descriptor, descriptor]`. Colon + comma list
- `[Bridge | dark | introspective | sparse]`. Pipe-separated

Keep modifiers short (2-4 words each). Match section to tone. "explosive drop" only makes sense on `[Drop]`, not `[Intro]`.

This solves the **dynamics problem**, without it, every section sounds the same density. With it, you can build verse-chorus contrast, strip the bridge, blow up the final chorus.

### Worked example (synth-pop)

**Style prompt:**

```
synth-pop, 80s-inspired, nostalgic and hopeful,
shimmering analog synths, warm Moog bass, punchy drum machine,
ethereal female vocals with reverb tail, 95 BPM,
polished radio-ready production, no autotune
```

**Lyrics (skeleton):**

```
[Intro]
[Verse 1]
First narrative beat, present tense, concrete imagery...

[Pre-Chorus]
Building tension, single-line repetition encouraged

[Chorus]
The HOOK — peak energy, full instrumentation
Repeat the title or core phrase

[Verse 2]
Second narrative beat, contrast or escalation

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
Contrast section — often a key change or stripped-back

[Chorus]
[Outro]
[End]
```

The `no X` syntax works for negative prompts: `no autotune, no reverb wash`. Grouping negatives at the end is a readability convention, not a verified adherence rule. The `Exclude` field in Custom mode's Advanced Options is the structural alternative.

### Anti-patterns (always flag these in `clean` action)

| Anti-pattern | Why it fails | Fix |
|--------------|--------------|-----|
| Vague genre (`pop`, `rock`) | Generic AI sound | Specify subgenre + era + tonal cue |
| 5+ stacked genres | Muddy mix, incoherent style | Pick 1-2 max, or use a clear hybrid (`nu-metal dubstep`) |
| 9+ mood words | Conflicting emotional signals | 2-3 related moods |
| `amazing`, `epic`, `beautiful` | Zero effect on output | Replace with acoustic descriptors (`raspy`, `breathy`, `intimate`) |
| BPM as descriptor (`fast`) | ±20 BPM drift | Use numeric (`128 BPM`). ~90% adherence in v5.5 |
| `(x2)` after a lyric line | Repeat is largely ignored | Write the line twice with minor variation |
| Naming artists directly (`like Drake`) | Blocked or ignored | Use sound descriptors (`Toronto trap bounce`, `silk-smooth R&B falsetto`) |
| `no drums` in a drum-heavy genre alone | Drums still appear | Pair with positive (`piano only, no drums`) |
| Style prompt near / over ~1,000 chars | Later content may receive less attention; silent truncation is unverified | Front-load critical content |
| Capitalize EVERY word | Effect dilutes | Cap only turning-point words for emphasis |
| Vocal descriptor + active Voices/Custom Model | Conflict between clone and prompt | **Drop gender/tone descriptors when a Voice or Custom Model is selected** |

### Custom mode is required for tag syntax

Simple mode = unified prompt + auto-lyrics. **Custom mode** = separate fields (style, lyrics, title) + Advanced Options + tag syntax + Creative Sliders. Any time the user wants `[Verse]`/`[Chorus]`/`[Female Vocal]`-style tags, they must be in Custom mode. See [context/advanced.md](context/advanced.md).

---

## How to handle each action

**`prompt <intent>`**. Build both style and lyrics. Read [context/style.md](context/style.md) for layer detail, [context/lyrics.md](context/lyrics.md) for tag taxonomy. Produce two fenced blocks (style, lyrics), each labeled, within budget. End with 2-3 tweak suggestions.

**`lyrics <intent>`**. Load [context/lyrics.md](context/lyrics.md). Output a tagged lyrics block with section structure (`[Verse 1]`, `[Chorus]`, etc.). Include 1-2 performance cues (parentheticals, ellipses) where they fit naturally. Stay ≤3,000 chars, the quality sweet spot; the hard cap is 5,000, unless user asked for max.

**`style <intent>`**. Load [context/style.md](context/style.md). Walk the 6-layer formula. Output one fenced style-prompt block + character count. Suggest 2-3 alternatives (different mood, different production).

**`clean <text>`**. Load [context/troubleshoot.md](context/troubleshoot.md) and [context/style.md](context/style.md). Score the user's prompt against the anti-pattern table above. Surface flagged issues with specific quotes. Propose a rewrite. Do NOT silently rewrite. State what changed and why in your response.

**`tags`**. Load [context/lyrics.md](context/lyrics.md). Render the full taxonomy as tables (structural, vocal, instrument, mood, ending). Include parameterized syntax `[Tag: descriptors]` example.

**`genre <name>`**. 4-mode router. Detect intent from arguments:

1. **Template mode**. `<name>` matches one of the 12 built-in templates (pop, rock, hip-hop, trap, edm, jazz, classical, folk, metal, ambient, lofi, rnb): read [templates/<name>.md](templates/) and present.

2. **Research mode**. `<name>` is a real genre but no template exists (e.g., `dungeon synth`, `witch house`, `gqom`, `phonk`, `slowcore`, `vaporwave`, `nu-disco`):
   - Check [context/genre-taxonomy.md](context/genre-taxonomy.md) first, if cataloged, build a Suno prompt from the catalog entry
   - If not cataloged, invoke the `research` action's Phase 1 (WebFetch / Perplexity) to fetch BPM range, instrumentation, vocal style, production character
   - Synthesize into the standard template format: style prompt block + lyrics shell + 3 tweak knobs + 2-3 common variants
   - Cite sources

3. **Suggest mode**. `<name>` starts with `suggest` (e.g., `genre suggest dark moody chill`, `genre suggest dystopian aggressive`) OR is a vibe phrase rather than a genre name:
   - Read [context/genre-taxonomy.md](context/genre-taxonomy.md) "Vibe → genre mapping" section
   - Return 3-7 fitting genres, each with: 1-line distinguishing characteristic + the right BPM/key/instrumentation hints + which template to load OR which research target to chase
   - Ask user which one to expand into a full prompt

4. **Family mode**. `<name>` starts with `family` (e.g., `genre family hip-hop`, `genre family electronic`):
   - Read [context/genre-taxonomy.md](context/genre-taxonomy.md) family tree
   - Show the requested family's subgenres in tree form
   - Brief 1-line characteristic per subgenre
   - Ask user which leaf to expand

If `<name>` is ambiguous (could be template OR research OR suggest), ask user which mode they want.

**`troubleshoot <symptom>`**. Load [context/troubleshoot.md](context/troubleshoot.md). Match the symptom to a known failure mode. Give diagnosis + 1-3 specific fixes + a regenerate-with-this prompt rewrite if applicable.

**`tips`**. Load [context/tips.md](context/tips.md). Surface community-validated techniques (caps for vocal pressure, vowel stretching for melisma, ellipses for breath, parentheticals for inline directives, hyphenation for staccato, line breaks for melodic separation). Caveat: MEDIUM-confidence, consensus across multiple community sources but no official Suno doc, **except where an entry flags itself lower: the timing-cue entry is LOW-MEDIUM.**

**`features`**. Load [context/v55-features.md](context/v55-features.md) (what's new in v5.5) and/or [context/advanced.md](context/advanced.md) (modes, Personas, Cover, Extend, Replace Section, Stems, Sliders, Studio). Pick the section the user asked about. Don't dump everything.

---

## Confidence flags (be honest about source quality)

- **HIGH confidence**: claims confirmed by Suno's official help center (`help.suno.com`) or `suno.com/blog`. The 6-layer formula, structural and vocal tag names, Custom mode requirements, Voices/Custom Models/My Taste mechanics, and Creative Slider names and qualitative endpoints, all HIGH. Character budgets are NOT officially published, third-party tester consensus only (MEDIUM-HIGH).
- **MEDIUM confidence**: community-validated techniques across multiple guides + Reddit consensus, but no official Suno doc. Capitalization weighting magnitude, vowel-stretching letter counts, hyphenation staccato, `(x2)` failure mode, and **every numeric Creative Slider setting or range in this skill except the Audio Influence entry value** are community-empirical. Treat exact magnitudes and slider numbers as starting points for A/B tests, not official values.
- **LOW-MEDIUM confidence**: below MEDIUM because the multi-source consensus is missing. At most a single community post plus its own comment thread, and no official Suno doc. Current items: the Duration slider range, read from the UI and corroborated by one community post ([context/advanced.md](context/advanced.md#duration-slider-create-form)); the two-stage voice bootstrap for non-singers and the "make this voice public" toggle warning, both resting on a single r/SunoAI post ([context/voices.md](context/voices.md)); and the timing-cue nudge, whose basis is unsourced both in-repo and externally ([context/tips.md](context/tips.md)). Offer these as untested leads carrying their own caveat, never as procedure, and never in place of a better-supported route when one exists.
- **OFF the ladder. First-hand writer observation.** Every rung above grades **second-hand** sourcing: official docs, multiple community guides, a single community post. A finding the writer produced by driving Suno directly is a different evidentiary axis, not a rung of that one, so it is labeled in place with `writer-observed, single session (date), n=1 — not externally corroborated` (dated per finding) and **no new rung is invented for it**, the gap is named instead. First-hand does **not** outrank MEDIUM: one unreproduced session is not consensus, and where the reading is flow-scoped or setup-scoped the label must carry that scope with it. But an observed **failure** is existence evidence in a way a claimed success is not: it shows the failure *can* happen, which is enough to document a fix, and never enough to assert that it always happens or to state a mechanism. Surface these with the label and scope attached, and prefer the cheap safe default over the clever shape whenever one exists. Current items: the Audio Influence entry value ([context/advanced.md](context/advanced.md)), and tag-only section absorption plus short-line over-separation (both [context/troubleshoot.md](context/troubleshoot.md)). The Duration slider's range is **not** one of them: an independent community post corroborates the writer's reading, so it graduates onto the ladder at LOW-MEDIUM instead of staying off-ladder. A first-hand observation that finds external support graduates onto the ladder; it does not keep the off-ladder label as a badge.

When generating prompts, default to HIGH-confidence techniques. Surface MEDIUM-confidence tricks as opt-in suggestions, not commands. Surface LOW-MEDIUM items only with their caveat attached, and only after naming the better-supported route. Surface off-ladder writer observations with their label and their scope attached, and when one records a failure, give the safe default as the fix rather than a prohibition.

For dated search records and per-claim audit history behind every label above, see [reference/suno-drift-audit-ledger.md](reference/suno-drift-audit-ledger.md).

---

## Maintenance. Load on demand

Nothing below is needed to write a prompt. It is the maintainer surface for this skill's own claims.

| File | Load when |
|---|---|
| [reference/suno-drift-audit-ledger.md](reference/suno-drift-audit-ledger.md) | Re-rating a claim in a context spoke, answering whether a claim was ever audited, or shipping any change to a spoke. It is the committed record of which claims have been audited, which are unsourced, and which release last touched each. A row that moves is updated in the same PR as the claim |

---

## What this skill does NOT do

- **Generate audio**. Suno does that. This skill produces text prompts.
- **Cover legacy v4 prompting**, the ~200-char style-prompt era is out of scope. Targets v5.5.
- **Make commercial-use determinations**. Cover and Voices have commercial constraints noted in `context/advanced.md`; treat as informational, not legal advice.
- **Replace Suno's web UI workflow**. This is a prompt-craft assistant. Workflow steps requiring clicks in Suno's UI (Replace Section, Persona creation, Voice verification) are described, not automated.
- **Fix already-generated audio**. Suno's prompt is a generation-time control. Most issues (hallucinated lyrics, vocal artifacts, BPM drift) are prevention-only. The skill's troubleshoot action gives the prompt-side fix, then asks the user to regenerate.