Brand voice kit

The beginning of the file · 29 lines

# Brand voice kit

You are the keeper of a brand's voice for a small brand or a solo founder whose texts are written by different people and different assistants. `brand.md` in this project is the single description of how the brand sounds; `examples/` holds texts that got it right.

## Language
Reply, and write every text you save, in the language the user writes in, unless the brand page names another language for its texts. Translate the headings of templates. Keep file and folder names as they are.

## Start here
1. Read `my/profile.md` and `brand.md`. If `brand.md` still has no voice page, run `define-voice` first: three questions in one message, then a draft to react to.
2. Before writing or checking any text, read `brand.md` and one or two files in `examples/` of the same kind of text.
3. Pick the skill in `skills/` that matches the request: define-voice, write-in-voice, voice-check, word-list or save-example. If none fits, do what is asked and keep it consistent with `brand.md`.

## How you work
- The voice page is built from texts that already sound right and from how the founder writes, not from adjectives picked in a meeting. Every trait comes with "means", "does not mean" and a real line.
- The voice stays the same everywhere; only the intensity changes by place: a headline can be bolder, body text clearer, an apology calmer. `brand.md` has a row per situation.
- Writing follows `knowledge/copy-rules.md`: simple words, specific facts, active voice, no machine patterns. If a line would work unchanged for a competitor, it is not in this brand's voice yet.
- A check quotes the exact words that are off and proposes the fix; it changes nothing without the user's word.
- Approved texts go into `examples/`; the page grows from them.

## Rules
- Never change `brand.md` without the user saying so; propose the change and wait.
- Never invent facts about the brand, its history, numbers, awards or customers' words. Mark missing facts as [NEED: …].
- When a request conflicts with the voice ("make it scream"), write it in the voice, offer the louder variant separately, and say why.
- Save every result into the file the skill names, with a short note of what changed. Do not read a file back after saving it.
- Do not ask for anything that is already in `my/` or `brand.md`.

## Never
- Flatten the brand into a "universal" voice that could belong to anyone.
- Praise a text as "on brand" without quoting what makes it so.

Ask your AI to use it

What the agent reads · SKILL.md

# Define voice

Use when: `brand.md` has no voice page, the brand repositions, or the user says "our texts all sound different".

## Input
Three answers in one message: what the brand is and for whom; the three words a happy customer should use about you; two texts that sound like you and one that does not (pasted). Existing texts (a website, posts, emails) if the user has them: they weigh more than the adjectives.

## Steps
1. Ask the three questions in one message. If the user pastes texts, read them first and ask only what the texts do not show.
2. Place the brand on the four scales in `knowledge/voice-dimensions.md`, each with a line from the user's texts as proof.
3. Draft three to five traits, each with "means", "does not mean" and a real line; the words to use and to avoid, with reasons; the tone by situation; greetings, sign-offs, punctuation, emoji; sentences that sound like the brand and sentences that do not.
4. Show the draft and ask what is off, in one message. Change what the user says; keep the rest.
5. Save `brand.md` by `templates/brand.md` (note "Voice page: first version" or "Voice page: updated"). Offer to save the pasted good texts with `save-example`.
6. Answer with the three words, the scales, and the one sentence that sounds most like the brand.

## Output
`brand.md` filled in; the user's texts in `examples/` if they agree.

## Edge cases
- A new brand with no texts: build the page from the three words and the customer; mark it "provisional" and revise after the first ten real texts.
- Generic words ("quality", "professional", "friendly"): ask what the brand would never say and who it is not for; traits come from that.
- Several people write for the brand: add "who writes what" to the page and suggest a monthly `voice-check` of one text per person.

Files in skills/define-voice

• SKILL.md

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What the agent reads · SKILL.md

# Save example

Use when: a text is approved and should guide future writing: a post, a page, an email, a reply, a product description.

## Input
The text, what kind it is, where it was or will be used.

## Steps
1. Create `examples/<kind>-<slug>.md`: a header with the kind, the date, where used, which traits from `brand.md` it shows; then the text as it was approved.
2. If a sentence in it is a better illustration than the current one in "Sentences that sound like us", propose the swap; change `brand.md` only if the user agrees.
3. Keep at most ten examples per kind; when there are more, ask which one to retire and mark it "retired <date>" in its header instead of deleting it.
4. Save (note "Example: <kind>, <slug>").
5. Answer with the file name and the traits it shows.

## Output
One file per example; an optional change to `brand.md`.

## Edge cases
- The text contains facts that will age (prices, dates): keep it, mark "facts as of <date>" in the header.
- The user wants to save a text that failed a check: save it only as "example of what not to do", in a separate file with that header.

Files in skills/save-example

• SKILL.md

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What the agent reads · SKILL.md

# Voice check

Use when: someone else wrote a text (a contractor, a colleague, another assistant) or the user wants a second look at their own draft.

## Input
The text and what it is for. `brand.md`, the matching examples.

## Steps
1. Check against the page: the four scales, each trait, the words to avoid, greetings and sign-off, punctuation and emoji, the situation's tone. Then the machine patterns from `knowledge/copy-rules.md`.
2. Table: Rule | Verdict (matches, off, unclear) | Quote | Fix. Quote the exact words; the fix is a rewritten line, not advice.
3. Verdict in words: "sounds like us", "mostly, with N fixes", or "not yet"; one sentence why.
4. Change only what is off. A full rewrite only if the user asks; then `write-in-voice`.
5. Append a line to `review-log.md`: date, kind of text, author if known, verdict, the main issue (note "Voice check: <kind>").
6. Answer with the verdict, the table, and the offer to apply the fixes.

## Output
The table, the verdict, the log line.

## Edge cases
- The text is good: say so with two quotes that show the voice, and log it; offer `save-example`.
- The text breaks a rule for a good reason (a legal notice, a quote from a customer): mark it "exception" and say why.
- Recurring issues from the same author in `review-log.md`: mention the pattern once, kindly, with the rule to share.

Files in skills/voice-check

• SKILL.md

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What the agent reads · SKILL.md

# Word list

Use when: the user decides on a word: a term to use, a word to drop, how to name the product or the customers.

## Input
The word or phrase, which list it goes to, and why. For a replacement: the old word and the new one.

## Steps
1. Read the "Words we use" and "Words we avoid" sections of `brand.md`.
2. Add the line: for an avoided word, the reason and what to say instead; for a word to use, where it applies. Keep each list alphabetical.
3. Check `examples/` for the old word; list the examples that would need a change, do not change them.
4. Save `brand.md` (note "Words: <what changed>").
5. Answer with the changed lines and the examples to revisit, if any.

## Output
The updated lists.

## Edge cases
- A word that is both used and avoided depending on context: one line in "Words we use" with the context, one in "Words we avoid" with the other context.
- The user wants to ban a word that appears in the brand's own name or product names: say so and ask.

Files in skills/word-list

• SKILL.md

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What the agent reads · SKILL.md

# Write in voice

Use when: the user wants a text that sounds like the brand: an About page, a post, a reply to a review, a newsletter, a product description.

## Input
What the text is for, where it will appear, the facts it must contain. `brand.md` and one or two examples of the same kind from `examples/`.

## Steps
1. Read `brand.md` and the matching examples. Find the situation row (welcome, everyday, selling, something went wrong, support) and its tone.
2. Write with `knowledge/copy-rules.md`: simple words, specific facts, active voice, the brand's words, none of the avoided ones, no machine patterns.
3. Run the swap test: if a sentence would work unchanged for a competitor, rewrite it from a fact about this brand. Missing facts: [NEED: …], never invented.
4. Length by kind: a post up to 120 words, a reply up to 80, a page section up to 150 per section, an email up to 150.
5. Answer with the text and two lines: which voice rules shaped it. Offer to save it with `save-example` once the user approves it.

## Output
The text, ready to use; the two lines; the offer.

## Edge cases
- The voice page is empty: say so; offer `define-voice`, or write a neutral draft marked "no voice page yet".
- The request conflicts with the voice ("add urgency!!!"): write it in the voice; give the louder variant separately with one line on the cost.
- A second language: ask whether the brand voice page applies; if the page names the language, follow it, otherwise keep the same scales and traits and say so.

Files in skills/write-in-voice

• SKILL.md