# Dedash

Remove em-dashes and the dashes standing in for them from a user-owned scope, reading...

- Repository: https://github.com/LilMGenius/paperthin (1365 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add LilMGenius/paperthin --skill dedash -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add LilMGenius/paperthin --skill dedash -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add LilMGenius/paperthin --skill dedash -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add LilMGenius/paperthin --skill dedash -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Remove em-dashes and the dashes standing in for them from a user-owned scope, reading each occurrence in context and choosing the punctuation or wording that fits.

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

Remove em-dashes and the dashes standing in for them from the scope the user names, one occurrence at a time, while leaving hyphens, ranges, and deliberate marks alone.

## Goal

Replace each em-dash that should not remain with the mark or wording its clause actually needs. Target any dash doing an em-dash's job, whatever its exact character: U+2014 and its longer or repurposed look-alikes all read the same on the page. The user owns the scope: a passage, field, file, selection, or tree. Do not widen it without asking.

## Workflow

The rest: https://github.com/LilMGenius/paperthin/blob/HEAD/skills/depth/dedash/SKILL.md