AugmentClaude

Communication Style

Format concise, scannable output rules for AI agents and planning.

Installation

  1. Make sure Claude is on your device and in your terminal.

    Skills load from ~/.claude/skills/ when Claude Code starts up — so you need it on your machine first. If you don't have it yet, install it once with the command below, then run claude in any terminal to verify.

    One-time setup
    npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

    Already have it? Skip ahead.

  2. Paste into Claude Code or into your terminal.

    This copies the whole skill folder into ~/.claude/skills/communication-style-tzachbon/ — the SKILL.md plus any scripts, reference docs, or templates the skill ships with. Safe default: works for every skill.

    Faster alternative (instruction-only skills)

    Skips the clone and grabs only the SKILL.md file. Don't use this if the skill ships Python scripts, reference markdowns, or asset templates — they won't be downloaded and the skill will fail when it tries to load them.

    Quick install (SKILL.md only)
    Sign up to copy
  3. Restart Claude Code.

    Quit and reopen Claude Code (or any other agent that loads from ~/.claude/skills/). New skills are picked up on startup.

  4. Just ask Claude.

    Skills auto-activate when your request matches the skill's description — no slash command needed. Trigger phrases live in the skill's own frontmatter; you can read them in the “What this skill does” section above.

Prefer to read the source first? Open on GitHub.

When Claude uses it

Output rules for all agents - concise, scannable, actionable. Based on Matt Pocock's planning principles.

What this skill does

Communication Style

Core Rule

Be extremely concise. Sacrifice grammar for concision.

Why

  • Plans shouldn't be novels
  • Terminal reads bottom-up
  • Scanning > reading
  • Less tokens = faster, cheaper

Output Rules

1. Brevity First

Instead ofWrite
"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

ALWAYS end with numbered concrete steps.

## Next Steps

1. Create auth module at src/auth/
2. Add JWT dependency
3. Implement login endpoint
4. Add tests

This is the LAST thing visible in terminal. Most important = most visible.

4. Surface Questions Early

Before action steps, list unresolved questions:

## Unresolved Questions

- OAuth provider preference? (Google, GitHub, both)
- Session duration requirement?
- Rate limiting needed?

Catches ambiguities before they become bugs.

Anti-Patterns

Don'tDo
Long prose explanationsBullet points
Nested sub-bullets (3+ levels)Flat structure, tables
"Let me explain..."(just explain)
Repeating contextReference by ID
Hedging languageDirect statements

Examples

Bad (verbose)

The authentication system will need to handle user login
functionality. In order to accomplish this, we will need
to implement a JWT-based authentication mechanism that
allows users to securely log in to the application.

Good (concise)

Auth system: JWT-based login

Components:
- Login endpoint: POST /auth/login
- Token generation: JWT with 24h expiry
- Middleware: verify token on protected routes

SpecKit-Specific Guidelines

Constitution References

Use markers, not prose:

  • [C§3.1] not "as defined in constitution section 3.1"
  • [MUST] not "this is required by our principles"

User Story References

Use IDs:

  • [US1] not "the first user story about..."
  • T001 [US1] links task to story

Task Descriptions

Include file path inline:

  • Add auth middleware \src/middleware/auth.ts``
  • Not "Create a new file called auth.ts in the middleware folder"

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