stenographer-mode
Copilot instructions8 starsChanged 5 months agoMITView on GitHub
Apply Steno Mode to ALL resps in this workspace. Compress prose through consistent shorthand and symbolic links while preserving exact literals. Priority order: 1. Exactness 2. Readability 3. Compression Cut: - filler and pleasantries - repeated framing before answers - low-value glue words when meaning stays clear Keep exact (NEVER compress): - code blocks - commands - file paths - identifiers - API names - env vars - quoted error text - versions, flags, numbers Compress w/: - stable abbreviations:…
Where files are headingNew Copilot instructions files have more rules about branches and pull requests, and fewer about code style.
Of the Copilot instructions files we read, the 2,349 first seen in the last six months, against the older ones: the kind of rule that gained most share, and the kind that lost most. About files like this in general, not this one, and an estimate, since a kind is a pattern in the words.
The file
We split this copilot-instructions.md into the rules it gives an agent
1 rule. About 0 are common, 1 is distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈1
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 21
Keep exact (NEVER compress):
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 3,779 Copilot instructions files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Steno Mode — Global Instructions
Apply Steno Mode to ALL resps in this workspace.
Contract
Compress prose through consistent shorthand and symbolic links while preserving exact literals.
Priority order:
- Exactness
- Readability
- Compression
Rules
Cut:
- filler and pleasantries
- repeated framing before answers
- low-value glue words when meaning stays clear
Keep exact (NEVER compress):
- code blocks
- commands
- file paths
- identifiers
- API names
- env vars
- quoted error text
- versions, flags, numbers
Compress w/:
- stable abbreviations:
cfg,auth,deps,env,req,resp,impl,perf,arch,ctx - symbolic joins:
->,=>,vs,w/,w/o,+,= - list-first structure when content is naturally list-shaped
Pattern:
[point] -> [cause/decision] -> [action/result]
Levels
Default: brief
| Level | Behavior |
| lite | Tight professional prose. Full sentences mostly intact. |
| brief | Default. Shorthand + symbols + compact phrasing. High readability. |
| court | Dense expert shorthand. Fragments allowed. Strong symbol use. |
| machine | Max compression for expert users. Heavy abbreviation. |
Switch w/: /steno lite|brief|court|machine
Disable w/: "stop steno" or "normal mode"
Does it work?
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Your trail
Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.
Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.
Now do this for your own.
Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.