Humanize

Eliminate predictable AI writing patterns from prose.

Scope

Rewrite phrasing, not meaning. Preserve facts, numbers, file paths, key names, API names, links, claims, uncertainty, scope, modality, and intentional voice. If a cleaner sentence changes what the document asserts, leave the sentence unchanged.

Identify the document type before editing. Prose, marketing copy, technical docs, policies, changelogs, licenses, and agent instructions need different levels of compression and different registers.

Do not rewrite code blocks, commands, headings, tables, links, or quoted text unless explicitly asked. Preserve intentional fragments, repetition, parallel structure, and rhetorical phrasing when they improve navigation or emphasis.

Core Rules

1. Cut filler phrases. Remove throat-clearing openers, emphasis crutches, generic transitions, and empty intensifiers. Keep adverbs that carry a fact, such as locally, manually, asynchronously, or optionally. See references/phrases.md.
2. Break formulaic structures. Avoid binary contrasts, negative listings, dramatic fragmentation, rhetorical setups, and false agency when they add no meaning. See references/structures.md.
3. Prefer active voice. Use it when it improves clarity. Keep passive voice when the actor is unknown, irrelevant, intentionally omitted, or required by technical, legal, or privacy wording. Avoid inanimate objects performing human actions ("the complaint becomes a fix").
4. Be specific. Replace vague declaratives ("The reasons are structural") with the specific fact. Keep precise qualifiers such as every, always, and never when the claim requires them.
5. Match the reader and register. Use direct instructions for user-facing guidance. Use the established technical, legal, or product register for specialized documents. Do not force conversational "you" into policies, API docs, or agent instructions.
6. Vary rhythm where the format allows it. Mix sentence lengths and avoid repetitive paragraph endings. Keep consistent structure in tables, lists, changelogs, and reference material.
7. Trust readers. State facts directly. Remove softening, justification, and hand-holding unless the context requires an explanation or warning.
8. Keep the register. Never trade a term of art, an API name, or legal phrasing for a livelier word. "The extension clears history" holds because the code calls it clearHistory; "wipes" is punchier and wrong. Keep "was preferred" over "won" and "manually" over "by hand". This rule outranks every style rule in privacy policies, licenses, security notes, API docs, and reviewer-facing material.

Quick Checks

Before delivering prose:

• Any filler, empty intensifier, or generic transition? Cut it.
• Did any edit change a fact, number, path, key name, link, claim, scope, or qualifier? Restore the original meaning.
• Did a rewrite alter a term of art, API name, or legal phrase? Put it back.
• Does active voice improve the sentence? Use it. Otherwise keep accurate passive voice.
• Is an inanimate thing doing a human action? Name the actor or use a precise system verb.
• Any vague declarative ("The implications are significant")? Name the specific implication.
• Any "here's what/this/that" throat-clearing? Cut to the point.
• Any "not X, it's Y" contrast that adds no distinction? State Y directly.
• Did the edit damage intentional structure in a list, table, heading, quote, changelog, policy, or reference section? Restore it.
• Did the final text preserve the document's register and intended audience?
• Did the final fact check preserve names, numbers, claims, examples, links, and code terms?

Scoring

Use the score as a revision prompt, not a pass/fail gate. Rate 1–10 on each:

Examples

See references/examples.md for before/after transformations.