Devrites prose craft

Codex compatibility

This is the Codex mirror of a DevRites skill. In Codex:

• Load DevRites engineering standards from .agents/skills/devrites-lib/reference/standards/. Read .agents/skills/devrites-lib/reference/standards/core.md before workflow work, then load the other .agents/skills/devrites-lib/reference/standards/*.md files exactly when this skill asks for them.
• Installed .agents/ mirrors may be Git-ignored. If a repository-aware file tool refuses an ignored path, read it with a native filesystem command instead; a tool refusal is not a completed task.
• For automatic Engram calls, omit optional project and session_id unless an exact value came from Engram or repository configuration. Never derive either from task_name, a run ID, directory name, or normalized slug. Call mem_session_summary without them by default; on unknown_session or unknown_project, retry once with both optional fields omitted. If auto-detection is ambiguous, ask the user instead of guessing.
• Use the installed devrites-engine binary as the canonical runtime helper surface for orientation, gates, and state mutation.
• Invocation and dispatch are different: invoke means run a skill in this context; dispatch means start a fresh agent with spawn_agent, await it, and reconcile its result. Never describe inline skill work as a dispatch.
• On MultiAgent V2, call spawn_agent with the exact named agent_type=devrites-<role>, a unique task_name, and fork_turns="none". A missing visible agent_type field is still V2—not capability loss, V1, or HITL—so send it anyway. If the named call rejects it, stop before any generic/default spawn. Codex loads the role TOML's developer_instructions natively; DevRites verifies the durable rollout, wait, completion, and delivered result.
• Only after the runtime explicitly identifies MultiAgent V1, use generic explorer for a read-only role with fork_turns="none" and name exactly one .codex/agents/devrites-<role>.toml contract in the message. Trusted .codex/hooks.json injects that contract's exact developer_instructions and binds the child to the fail-closed reviewer read-only guard.
• On explicitly identified MultiAgent V1, devrites-slice-wright uses generic worker with fork_turns="none" and the exact role TOML named in the message. Trusted .codex/hooks.json binds it to the active reconcile window and .wright-allowlist.
• The invoked skill's required-agent-roles frontmatter arms the fail-closed Stop receipt. Every listed role must have a confirmed start, wait, and non-empty result in this turn.
• If the required dispatch for the explicitly identified runtime is unavailable or rejected, stop for HITL. Never switch runtime lanes. Never execute a DevRites specialist role in the root context.
• Wait for every required fresh-context dispatch before reconciling or advancing. A backgrounded or lost result is incomplete.
• Codex project hooks are installed in .codex/hooks.json; declared-leaf hooks are scoped inside .codex/agents/devrites-*.toml. Review and trust them with /hooks before relying on hook enforcement.
• When this skill asks a HITL question via AskUserQuestion: Codex's equivalent (request_user_input) exists only in Plan mode. Outside Plan mode, render the option set as a plain numbered list in chat and end the turn so the human answers: NEVER silently pick an option yourself; auto-picking is AFK's contract, gated by the .devrites/AFK sentinel.

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 a substantive user-facing reply. Deterministic progress footers are script-rendered and exact by design.
• $rite-polish Phase 1 as the catch pass on prose that slipped through at write time.

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) → P1 obvious tells (negative parallelism, filler openers, em-dash tics) → P2 polish (rhythm, word choice). A quick pass fixes P0 + P1 and stops; a full pass takes P2 too.

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 before changing words. 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.
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. Done when the preservation contract passes, the technical register remains exact, and no in-scope tell remains.

References

• Always read prose-style.md for the two registers, preservation contract, and core checks.
• Load reference/banned-phrases.md when word choice or tone is the problem.
• Load reference/structures.md when sentence shape, rhythm, or formatting is the problem.
• Load 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.