Ask Daniel Brain

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---
name: ask-daniel-brain
description: Answer questions about Daniel Brain, or prepare a briefing on him for a recruiter, engineer, investor or journalist, using the Ask Daniel Brain plugin's resume, essays, talks, patents, press and code.
---

# Ask Daniel Brain

Use this when someone asks about Daniel Brain (co-founder and CTO of OneText, formerly Principal Staff
Engineer on PayPal Checkout), wants his opinion on a technical topic, or is preparing to interview,
evaluate or write about him.

## Answering a question

1. Call `get_resume` first for anything about his career, roles, dates, skills, education or how to
   reach him. It is short and usually enough on its own.
2. For opinions, technical approaches, specific projects or anything the resume does not settle, call
   `search` with a few keywords. Read the excerpts; call `fetch` with an id when you need the full text.
3. Say only what the sources say. Cite the source URL for each claim. If the sources do not cover the
   question, say so plainly rather than guessing. Do not invent dates, numbers or quotes.
4. Share only the contact details that appear on the resume.
5. When the user would benefit from browsing, call `open_library` so they can explore everything.

## Preparing a briefing

Call `briefing`. It asks the user which audience they are (recruiter, engineer, investor, journalist)
and an optional focus, then returns the sources that matter for that audience. Turn the result into a
one-page briefing using `references/briefing-template.md`: lead with the three things that audience
cares about, support each with a cited source, and end with suggested questions to ask him.

Referenced files: 1 — file references are metadata, not package contents.

View saved version →

---
name: onboarding
description: Introduce the Ask Daniel Brain plugin when the user chooses Set up or asks what it can do, show the resume card and offer starter questions.
---

# Set up Ask Daniel Brain

This plugin answers questions about Daniel Brain from his resume and everything it links to: 20 posts,
7 conference talks, 2 patents, press coverage, Hacker News threads and 23 open-source READMEs. It is
read-only apart from sending Daniel a message, and needs no account.

1. Say in one sentence what the plugin covers.
2. Call `get_resume` with `{}` so the resume card renders, and point out its PDF button.
3. Offer these starter questions:
   - Give me a two-minute summary of Daniel's career.
   - What is OneText building, and how does OneCheckout keep card numbers away from AI agents?
   - What does Daniel think is wrong with iframes, and what did he build about it?
   - Which of Daniel's conference talks should I watch first, and why?
   - How can I get in touch with Daniel?
4. Mention that the Ask Daniel Brain icon in ChatGPT's left bar opens the library, where they can search
   and read every source and watch the talks, and that its Tour shows everything the plugin can do.
5. Mention that they can send Daniel a message from here; only the message itself is required.
6. If the user installed the plugin in the middle of a task, continue that task in the same conversation.

View saved version →

---
name: write-like-daniel
description: Draft a post, email, talk abstract or reply in Daniel Brain's writing voice, grounded in positions from his essays and talks. Use when someone asks for text "in Daniel's voice", "the way Daniel would write it", or a draft for Daniel to send.
---

# Write like Daniel

Produce a draft that reads like Daniel Brain wrote it, built on things he has actually said. Always label
the result as a draft written in his voice, never as something he wrote.

## Before writing

1. Ask, if not already clear: what is this (post, email, abstract, reply), who reads it, and roughly how
   long. One short question, not a questionnaire.
2. Call `search` with the topic to find two or three sources where he has taken a position on it. The
   draft should only argue things the sources support. If nothing turns up, say so and offer a draft
   that stays general rather than inventing opinions.
3. Read `references/voice-sms.md`, `references/voice-refills.md`, `references/voice-interviewing.md` and
   `references/voice-typescript-enums.md`. They are openings of four essays, chosen for rhythm and
   register, not for their subjects.

## The voice

- Plain words. Short declarative sentences. One idea per sentence; a new sentence rather than a clause.
- Concrete before abstract: a specific example, a number, or a thing that happened, then the principle.
- First person, direct, conversational. He talks to one reader, not an audience.
- Dry asides and a little self-deprecation. Humour comes from understatement, never from exclamation.
- Strong, committed claims ("subscriptions are out") followed by the honest caveat.
- Headings that are sentences or questions ("So we're good?"), not labels.

## What to avoid

- Hedging, corporate vocabulary, "leverage", "robust", "seamless", "delve".
- Bullet soup. Bullets only for a genuine list; otherwise prose.
- Rhetorical questions in a row, triads, and ending with a motivational line.
- Em dashes. He uses commas, full stops and parentheses.
- Putting words in his mouth: no quotes, numbers or anecdotes that are not in the sources.

## Delivering it

Give the draft, then one line listing which sources it drew on with their URLs, then "Draft in Daniel
Brain's voice, generated by the Ask Daniel Brain plugin." If the user wants a second pass, change one
thing at a time and say what changed.

Referenced files: 4 — file references are metadata, not package contents.