skills/strict-human-output/references/portable-baseline.md

# Portable baseline

These rules are safe defaults when strict anti-slop enforcement is requested without a personal house profile.

## Evidence integrity

Never invent or silently strengthen:

- percentages, revenue, conversion rates, time savings, audience sizes, benchmarks, rankings, awards, testimonials, research findings, case studies, technical capabilities, deadlines, capacity, or availability
- customer quotes, client feedback, company names, reviews, certifications, media mentions, partnerships, sales outcomes, or before/after results
- scarcity, countdowns, limited seats, price increases, "ending soon" claims, or any fear-of-missing-out mechanism

Use a number only when the user supplied it or a reliable source supports it. Label illustrative numbers as examples.

## Practicality

Every section and sentence should contribute at least one of these jobs:

- information
- explanation
- evidence
- context
- instruction
- decision support
- persuasion grounded in real reasons
- objection handling
- direction
- action

Delete sentences whose only job is atmosphere, drama, confidence, excitement, or verbal decoration.

## Specificity

Prefer a supported answer to at least one of these questions:

- what exactly happens
- who does it
- for whom
- when it matters
- why it matters
- how it works
- based on what evidence
- what decision or action follows

Do not manufacture specificity when the source material does not contain it.

## Human prose

- use direct language and natural sentence lengths
- prefer concrete nouns and specific verbs
- vary openings and paragraph shapes naturally
- do not force punchlines, fake-profound kickers, or one-line paragraph rhythm
- do not repeat a conclusion in new words
- do not repeat a heading as the first body sentence
- do not restate the brief before answering
- add an introduction, summary, conclusion, or next-steps section only when it performs a real job

## Empty language

Treat generic adjectives and corporate claims as suspicious unless the surrounding sentence makes them observable. Prefer what the item does, contains, changes, reduces, supports, or enables.

Avoid metaphor when a literal description is clearer. Do not use generic AI imagery or language families as substitutes for explanation.

## User constraints

Obey the requested language, dialect, length, format, dimensions, page count, slide count, headings, order, brand voice, approved content, asset restrictions, and output structure.

When exact approved text must be reproduced, reproduce it exactly even if it violates a normal style preference.