communication-style
The communication-style skill enforces concise, scannable formatting for Ralph specification artifacts including research, requirements, design, and task documents. It prioritizes brevity through fragments over sentences, tables over paragraphs, and bullets over prose, while structuring output with brief overviews, main content, unresolved questions, and action steps positioned last for bottom-up terminal reading.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph /tmp/communication-style && cp -r /tmp/communication-style/plugins/ralph-specum/skills/communication-style ~/.claude/skills/communication-styleSKILL.md
# Communication Style Be extremely concise. Sacrifice grammar for concision. ## Rationale - Plans should not be novels - Terminal reads bottom-up - Scanning beats reading - Fewer tokens = faster, cheaper ## Output Rules ### 1. Brevity First | Instead of | Write | |------------|-------| | "The user will be able to..." | "User can..." | | "This component is responsible for..." | "Handles..." | | "In order to achieve this, we need to..." | "Requires:" | | "It should be noted that..." | (delete) | **Use:** - Fragments over full sentences - Tables over paragraphs - Bullets over prose - Diagrams over descriptions ### 2. Structure for Scanning Every output follows this order: ``` 1. Brief overview (2-3 sentences MAX) 2. Main content (tables, bullets, diagrams) 3. Unresolved questions (if any) 4. Numbered action steps (ALWAYS LAST) ``` ### 3. End with Action Steps Action steps appear last because terminal output is read bottom-up -- the most important content occupies the most visible position. ```markdown ## Next Steps 1. Create auth module at src/auth/ 2. Add JWT dependency 3. Implement login endpoint 4. Add tests ``` ### 4. Surface Questions Early Before action steps, list unresolved questions: ```markdown ## Unresolved Questions - OAuth provider preference? (Google, GitHub, both) - Session duration requirement? - Rate limiting needed? ``` Catches ambiguities before they become bugs. ## Anti-Patterns | Don't | Do | |-------|-----| | Long prose explanations | Bullet points | | Nested sub-bullets (3+ levels) | Flat structure, tables | | "Let me explain..." | (just explain) | | Repeating context | Reference by ID | | Hedging language | Direct statements | ## References - **`references/examples.md`** -- Bad vs good output examples for each spec phase (research, requirements, design, tasks)
This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a slash command", "add a command", "write a custom command", "define command arguments", "use command frontmatter", "organize commands", "create command with file references", "interactive command", "use AskUserQuestion in command", or needs guidance on slash command structure, YAML frontmatter fields, dynamic arguments, bash execution in commands, user interaction patterns, or command development best practices for Claude Code.
This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a hook", "add a PreToolUse/PostToolUse/Stop hook", "validate tool use", "implement prompt-based hooks", "use ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}", "set up event-driven automation", "block dangerous commands", or mentions hook events (PreToolUse, PostToolUse, Stop, SubagentStop, SessionStart, SessionEnd, UserPromptSubmit, PreCompact, Notification). Provides comprehensive guidance for creating and implementing Claude Code plugin hooks with focus on advanced prompt-based hooks API.
This skill should be used when the user asks to "add MCP server", "integrate MCP", "configure MCP in plugin", "use .mcp.json", "set up Model Context Protocol", "connect external service", mentions "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} with MCP", or discusses MCP server types (SSE, stdio, HTTP, WebSocket). Provides comprehensive guidance for integrating Model Context Protocol servers into Claude Code plugins for external tool and service integration.
This skill should be used when the user asks about "plugin settings", "store plugin configuration", "user-configurable plugin", ".local.md files", "plugin state files", "read YAML frontmatter", "per-project plugin settings", or wants to make plugin behavior configurable. Documents the .claude/plugin-name.local.md pattern for storing plugin-specific configuration with YAML frontmatter and markdown content.
This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a plugin", "scaffold a plugin", "understand plugin structure", "organize plugin components", "set up plugin.json", "use ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}", "add commands/agents/skills/hooks", "configure auto-discovery", or needs guidance on plugin directory layout, manifest configuration, component organization, file naming conventions, or Claude Code plugin architecture best practices.
This skill should be used when the user wants to "create a skill", "add a skill to plugin", "write a new skill", "improve skill description", "organize skill content", or needs guidance on skill structure, progressive disclosure, or skill development best practices for Claude Code plugins.
Perform a non-destructive cross-artifact consistency and quality analysis across spec.md, plan.md, and tasks.md after task generation.
Generate a custom checklist for the current feature based on user requirements.