# Plain English Rewrite

Rewrites English text into Simplified Technical English so it parses without ambiguity.

- Repository: https://github.com/danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill (5924 stars)
- Category: Writing
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill --skill asd-ste100 -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill --skill asd-ste100 -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill --skill asd-ste100 -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill --skill asd-ste100 -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill`

## Description

Use when English text must be parsed without a human to resolve ambiguity, tool descriptions, error messages, inter-agent instructions, system prompts, status reports, and misreading has a real cost, or when text reads as dense, hedged, or easy to misparse. Triggers: disambiguate, STE100 rewrite, apply Simplified Technical English, plain-language rewrite, controlled-language rewrite, rewrite so an agent cannot misread this. Not for creative or marketing copy.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Simplified Technical English (ASD-STE100)

ASD-STE100 is a controlled-language standard built by the aerospace and defense industry (ASD, the AeroSpace and Defense Industries Association of Europe) to stop maintenance technicians from misreading English instructions. The standard removes the two biggest sources of misreading: words with more than one meaning, and sentences with more than one possible structure.

This skill borrows that same discipline for a different reader: an **AI agent or a downstream system** that has to parse an English string, an error message, a tool description, an inter-agent instruction, a status report, without a human in the loop to resolve ambiguity. If a maintenance technician can misread "close the valve" as an adjective ("the valve that is near") instead of a command, so can a language model.

## When to Use This Skill

- An agent's output (explanation, instruction, log message, tool description) reads as dense, jargon-heavy, or ambiguous.
- Text will be consumed by another agent, a translation pipeline, or a non-native English reader, and misparsing has a real cost.
- You are writing a prompt, system message, or tool description and want to remove ambiguity before a model ever sees it.
- You want a **before/after** comparison showing exactly which rule was violated and how the rewrite fixes it. Ask for it, the default output is the rewritten text alone (see Output Format).

This skill is not for creative or marketing copy, STE is deliberately flat and literal. Do not apply it to text where voice, nuance, or persuasion is the point.

## Two Modes

Pick a mode before rewriting. If the user does not say which, infer it from the text type. Keep the choice internal unless the user asks for the rule table (see Output Format).

The rest: https://github.com/danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill/blob/HEAD//SKILL.md