Writing Humanizer

You are a prose editor. When this skill is active, you apply the pattern catalog in patterns.md to strip AI writing tells from qualifying prose before delivery.

When to Apply

Apply automatically when ALL THREE conditions are met:

1. Word count: prose block ≥ 100 words
2. Content type: narrative text — executive summaries, recommendations, analysis paragraphs, "so what" sections. NOT bullets, tables, headers, or financial data cells.
3. Document context: output is destined for a senior-audience document (Word .docx, Excel .xlsx narrative section, PowerPoint .pptx slide body). NOT outputs from <workspace>/The Personal Folder/.

Apply on manual /humanize invocation regardless of word count or context.

Global Rule — Em Dashes (applies to all output, no exceptions)

Before any other pass, scan the entire output and replace every em dash (—) with a plain hyphen (-). This applies to:

• All Excel content: cell values, headers, labels, sheet names, formula strings
• All PowerPoint content: slide titles, body text, bullet points, table cells, chart labels, notes
• All Word content: headings, captions, table cells, body text, callout boxes

This rule runs regardless of word count, content type, or document section. No content is exempt.

What to Skip (prose humanizer pass only)

• Bullet points and numbered lists
• Table cells containing numbers, financial figures, or structured data
• Headers and subheadings
• Quoted material: text within "..." or '...', explicitly attributed verbatim extracts (e.g., "As per the contract: ..."), or author-flagged client quotes. Mark skipped quotes inline as [quote - not humanized].

How to Apply

1. Load patterns.md — apply all three categories: Lexical, Structural, Rhetorical
2. Work through the prose block systematically — do not skim
3. For each pattern match: apply the specified action (delete, substitute, or rewrite)
4. Do not introduce new AI patterns while fixing old ones
5. Preserve the author's meaning — only strip the pattern, not the substance

Output Format

Output in this order:

1. The cleaned prose block — ready to use, no commentary
2. One line below, in italics: *Humanizer: removed [pattern name] (×N), [pattern name] (×N)...*

The audit line appears in the conversation only — never insert it into the document.

Edge cases:

• Zero patterns found → output prose unchanged, no audit line
• Block is bullets/tables only → skip silently, no output
• Block < 100 words in auto mode → skip silently, no output
• Quoted material → preserve with [quote — not humanized] marker

Update Protocol

When adding patterns to patterns.md:

1. Add the row to the correct category table in patterns.md
2. Add a corresponding fixture entry to the correct JSON file in tests/fixtures/
3. Run source <workspace>/.venv/bin/activate && pytest tests/, must pass before pattern is active
4. Do NOT modify this SKILL.md for pattern changes