Writing Semantic Markdown (.smd)

.smd is Markdown plus a small, validated vocabulary: callouts, decisions, risks, API blocks, tasks with owners and due dates, KPIs, diagrams, and audience blocks. People read it in a styled preview, AI agents through a compact "agent view". Write for both.

Tool (Node 22+, no install): node <this-skill-dir>/scripts/smd.cjs <command> (or smd if it's on PATH).

Workflow

1. Start from a template when one fits: smd init docs/name.smd --template prd --title "Saved searches" (today's date filled in; raw files in assets/templates/).

   Request	Template
   Product requirements, feature spec	prd
   Architecture/technical decision	adr
   Design proposal, RFC, tech spec	rfc
   On-call / operational procedure	runbook
   Endpoint reference	api
   Weekly/monthly update	status-report
   Meeting summary with actions	meeting-notes
   Incident review	postmortem
   Release announcement, upgrade guide	release-notes
   Objectives and key results	okrs
   New team member guide	onboarding
   Test scope, strategy and cases	test-plan
   Pull request description	pr-description
   Spec-driven work for an agent: spec → plan → tasks	spec, plan, tasks

   Otherwise start from front matter + headings. For a status report on work tracked in .smd docs, draft it with smd report docs/ --since 2026-09-01 -o docs/status.smd --title "Checkout squad" (or --since <git-ref>): tasks done and added, open and overdue tasks, decisions and high-impact risks, each linked. Then write the summary and cut what doesn't matter.

2. Fill it with real content. Delete sections that don't apply; never leave placeholders such as —, @owner or YYYY-MM-DD. If you don't know a value, ask, or leave a :::question that says what's missing.
3. Format, validate and fix: smd fmt docs/name.smd, then smd validate docs/name.smd --fix. fmt changes only layout. --fix repairs what has one clear repair (typos in names and values, colors, yes/no booleans, date formats, unclosed ::: or fences at the end). Fix the rest yourself from each error's line:column, message and rule code. A document is done only at 0 errors.
4. Check what agents will see: smd agent docs/name.smd --brief. If it's long, move narrative into {agent=skip} sections or :::human blocks.

Spend tokens on meaning

Output tokens cost about 5× input tokens. Write meaning: decisions, risks, tasks, :::agent rules, {agent=skip} on narrative. Leave colors, badges and layout (tabs, columns, cards) to people unless asked. The syntax reference is split by topic: read references/syntax.md (a short index), then only the topic file for the construct you're unsure of, and let smd validate --fix catch the rest.

Rules you must follow

1. Front matter first: smd: 2 (new documents; keep an existing document's value), title, a precise one- or two-sentence summary, status (draft · review · approved · deprecated · archived), owners, updated (YYYY-MM-DD). Don't repeat the title as a # H1; start at ##. Another language adds lang: (de, es, fr, ja, pt, zh, or a tag like pt-BR).
2. Blocks are :::name{attrs} Title … :::. Attributes go directly after the name, no space. A bare ::: closes the innermost block. Write outer containers with more colons (::::tabs).
3. Only known names. Blocks: note info tip success warning danger question details card box tabs/tab columns/column steps timeline figure glossary quote decision risk risk-matrix changelog api agent human include. Inline: :badge :status :priority :due :metric :progress :kbd :mention :ref.
4. Values exactly as specified: decision status proposed · accepted · rejected · superseded · deprecated; risk impact/likelihood low · medium · high · critical; api method GET, POST… and a required path; priority P0–P4; dates YYYY-MM-DD. Figures, glossary, quotes and changelogs have their own forms (syntax/figures-and-notes.md, syntax/project.md).
5. Named colors only (red orange amber yellow green teal cyan blue indigo purple pink gray muted accent) unless a brand hex is required.
6. Tasks: - [ ] Verb-first task :priority[P1] @owner :due[2026-10-15], one owner where possible.
7. Code: give fences a language; embed real source with file="../src/x.ts" lines="10-24" (empty body) instead of pasting it. Shared text goes in one file, pulled in with :::include (syntax/developer.md).
8. Diagrams: ```mermaid with a valid first line (flowchart LR, sequenceDiagram, gantt, …).
9. Facts that repeat (version, product name, date) go in the front matter once and appear as {{version}}. Quote versions (version: "2.10"; syntax/inline.md).
10. Spec v2 shows text as written: straight quotes stay straight (type — or add typography: true), only https://…, www.… and e-mail addresses become links, any :name[…] is a directive (\:name[…] is text). Don't change an smd: 1 document's value while editing; smd migrate FILE --to 2 moves it (syntax/spec-v2.md).

Writing for both audiences

references/style-guide.md covers this in depth. In short:

• Meaning over decoration. Use :::warning, :::danger or :::decision for things that matter. Color must never be the only signal.
• Hard constraints for implementers go in one :::agent block near the end. Agents always receive it, even when they read one section.
• Narrative, history and research go under ## Background {agent=skip} or in :::human. People still see it; agents skip it.
• Unresolved decisions go in :::question, with who decides and by when; the interim fallback goes in the :::agent block.
• Headings name the content ("Requirements", "API", "Rollout") because agents select sections by heading.