Devrites Prose Craft

---
name: devrites-prose-craft
description: Rewrite prose to remove AI tells while preserving meaning and voice. Use for artifacts, replies, commits, or PR copy; not code comments or UI craft.
user-invocable: false
---
<!-- loads: {"always":["devrites-lib/reference/standards/prose-style.md"],"triggers":{"word-choice":["devrites-prose-craft/reference/banned-phrases.md"],"structure":["devrites-prose-craft/reference/structures.md"],"examples":["devrites-prose-craft/reference/examples.md"]}} -->
> Read-set manifest: `devrites-engine context --skills-root .pi/skills <slug> --skill devrites-prose-craft` (no workspace: `--out <path>`) bundles every file named below into one deduplicated read. Trigger names map to the conditional rules in the sections that follow.

# devrites-prose-craft: prose that reads human

Write for a teammate who will rely on the result. Remove model-shaped filler without sanding
off the author's voice or weakening technical content.

## When this fires
- A text-generating phase composes an artifact: `/rite-spec` (overview, rationale),
  `/rite-define` / `/rite-plan` (plan narrative), `/rite-temper` / `/rite-vet` (review prose),
  `/rite-review` / `/rite-seal` (findings + verdict prose), `/rite-ship` (commit/PR body),
  `devrites-doubt` / `/rite-handoff` (notes).
- Any phase composes substantive **user-facing prose** beyond the shared reply
  labels.

## Two modes
- **Rewrite (default).** When DevRites writes the artifact/reply or polishes it, fix the prose
  in place.
- **Detect-only.** When auditing prose you shouldn't silently change, such as a user's existing
  `spec.md` at `/rite-adopt` or text under `/rite-review`, list the tells with quotes and leave
  the text untouched. Mirrors `devrites-audit`'s read-only stance.

Order findings by severity: **P0** credibility-killers (vague attribution, a marketing
adjective standing in for evidence, a false/unsourced claim, cutoff disclaimers, unfilled
placeholders, citation markup, AI-tool tracking URLs) → **P1** obvious tells (negative
parallelism, filler openers, em-dash tics, reasoning-chain scaffolding, narrated candor)
→ **P2** polish (rhythm, word choice, 1B clarity edits). A quick pass fixes P0 + P1 and
stops; a full pass takes P2 too. Flags are writing-quality signals, not authorship proof.
In detect-only, report Tier 1A (figurative filler) separately from Tier 1B (wordiness).

## Process

1. **Calibrate.** Choose rewrite or detect-only mode, split prose from technical sections, and
   set the voice baseline: an explicit user sample first, then neighboring project prose, then
   the source text itself. Fall back to flat, direct prose. Done when every section has a
   register and one voice baseline.
2. **Protect.** Apply the preservation contract in
   [`prose-style.md`](../devrites-lib/reference/standards/prose-style.md) before changing words.
   Leave tables, YAML frontmatter, URLs, and file paths untouched unless the caller asked to
   change them. Scan for clusters of tells; one isolated marker is not a verdict. Done when
   every claim, constraint, identifier, example, quotation, and deliberate uncertainty is
   accounted for. Admitted reviewer rows (`Finding:`/`Basis:`), `Outcome:`/`Verdict:`
   lines, counts, and the candidate binding are technical register: skip them, because
   [`agents.md`](../devrites-lib/reference/standards/agents.md#return-budget) § Return budget
   (the root never rewrites an admitted row) wins over this skill.
3. **Rewrite.** Remove P0/P1 tells and P2 when the caller asked for a full pass. Match the
   baseline's vocabulary and cadence without inventing facts, opinions, or quirks. Done when the
   same reader can make the same decisions from the rewrite as from the source.
4. **Audit.** Compare source and result, read the prose aloud, and run the relevant references
   below. Diff severity labels, REQ/AC/finding IDs, counts, verdict words, rankings,
   order/causality claims, and `file:line` pointers between source and result; any
   difference fails the pass. Done when the preservation contract passes, the technical
   register remains exact, and no in-scope tell remains. **Failing case:** a pass turns
   "3 Important" into "several issues" or upgrades a hedged note to "Critical".

## References

- Always read [`prose-style.md`](../devrites-lib/reference/standards/prose-style.md) for the two
  registers, preservation contract, and core checks.
- Load [`reference/banned-phrases.md`](reference/banned-phrases.md) when word choice or tone is
  the problem (trigger `word-choice`).
- Load [`reference/structures.md`](reference/structures.md) when sentence shape, rhythm, or
  formatting is the problem.
- Load [`reference/examples.md`](reference/examples.md) when the target artifact's shape is
  unclear.

## Boundaries

This skill edits language, not facts. When style and fidelity conflict, fidelity wins.

## Output

- **Rewrite:** replace the target prose; add no editing commentary unless the caller's contract
  asks for it.
- **Detect-only:** return ordered P0/P1/P2 findings with the exact phrase and a concrete fix.