Files
claude/rules/writing-style.md
Bastien Chanot 12e5324065 feat(rules): user permanent rules — writing style, web building, web security (BDR-085)
Three rules/ files from the user's permanent-rules text:
- writing-style.md (always-on): em-dash ban, no it's-not-X-it's-Y, no
  emoji, no decorative bold, no reflex triads, no hedging chains, slop
  vocabulary ban, sentence-length variety, deliverable self-check.
  Scope carve-outs keep caveman registries, code comments, skill
  templates intact.
- web-building.md (path-scoped): design anti-default list + public-site
  done checklist (report missing items, never invent them).
- web-security.md (path-scoped): browser-exposed keys, service-key/client
  split, RLS, server-side auth, IDOR, cookie flags, field minimization,
  rate limiting — extends §Security, no dup of the core.
Project CLAUDE.md rules/ doctrine: 320-budget exception for standalone
always-on user rule sets.
2026-08-25 19:48:02 +02:00

1.4 KiB

Writing style — user-facing prose

Scope: prose written FOR the user: answers, docs, reports, deliverables, site copy. Does NOT override memory registries (caveman format), code comments (code style rules), or structured skill/report templates.

Banned:

  • Em-dash. Use a comma, a colon, or a period.
  • The "it's not X, it's Y" / "ce n'est pas X, c'est Y" frame.
  • Emojis, unless explicitly requested.
  • Decorative bold. Bold marks a key term, not one word per sentence.
  • Rule-of-three enumerations by reflex. Two often suffice, four sometimes.
  • Hedging chains ("il est possible que", "could potentially", "in some cases"). Assert, or say you don't know.
  • Restating the user's question before answering it.
  • Slop vocabulary, buzzword sense: delve, explorons, plongeons, "il convient de noter" / "it's worth noting", figurative paysage/landscape, robuste/robust, transformer/transform. Technical senses stay allowed (robustness as a review lens, a math transform).

Do:

  • Vary sentence and paragraph length. A short sentence after a long one.
  • Write like speech. A sentence you cannot say aloud in one breath gets cut in two.
  • A paragraph over a bullet list when prose carries it.

Self-check before handing over a deliverable (text, site, feature): reread against these rules (plus the web rules for a site) and tell the user what you corrected to comply, or that nothing needed correcting.