Plainly

A copy desk for Claude-lish.

Paste AI writing. The desk marks throat-clearing, brochure words, and Google style faults as you type. Rewrite keeps the facts and cuts the lish. Export a drop-in skill for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or Windsurf.

Inspired by Nate B. Jones: a skill file is hope; a linter is proof.

What you get

Surface	Job
Desk	Live lint, clarity / slop scores, rewrite with a red-pencil diff
Stylebook	Google-derived rules plus the anti-slop appendix. Try a phrase.
Skill factory	Host-specific SKILL.md, optional house banned words

The linter runs in the browser. Nothing is sent until you press Rewrite.

Install the skill only

If you just want the agent skill:

git clone https://github.com/anwhelan01/plainly.git
cp -R plainly/skills/plainly .claude/skills/plainly

Host	Path
Claude Code	.claude/skills/plainly/
Codex	.agents/skills/plainly/
Cursor	.cursor/skills/plainly/
Windsurf	.windsurf/skills/plainly/

Start a new agent task, then:

Use $plainly to revise this draft. Keep the facts. Cut the Claude-lish.

Full install notes: docs/install-skill.md. The tell list: skills/plainly/references/appendix.md.

Run the desk

Needs Node 22.

git clone https://github.com/anwhelan01/plainly.git
cd plainly
npm install
cp .env.example .env   # add XAI_API_KEY if you want Rewrite
npm run dev

Open the URL Vite prints. Routes: / desk, /stylebook, /skill.

Rewrite uses XAI_API_KEY on the server (model grok-4.5). Without a key, lint and the skill factory still work.

npm run typecheck
node --experimental-strip-types --test src/lib/plainly/lint.test.ts

Anti-slop appendix

Google's guide never listed model English. Plainly does:

Group	Cut these	Keep
Openers	I'd be happy to, Great question, Let's dive in	The answer
Wrappers	It's important to note, Needless to say	The fact
Brochure	robust, seamless, tapestry, unlock the potential	What happens
Hedges	feel free to, you may want to	The imperative
False ease	simply, just click, please note	The step
Padding	in order to, in this guide we will	to, or start

Dialects: Plainly (Google + appendix) or Google only.

How a rule is born

1. src/lib/plainly/rules.ts — regex the linter runs.
2. src/lib/plainly/appendix.ts — human tells the stylebook shows.
3. skills/plainly/ — the file you drop into an agent host.

See docs/architecture.md and CONTRIBUTING.md.

Attribution

Operationalizes the Google developer documentation style guide (CC BY 4.0). Independent. Not endorsed by Google.

Anti-slop rules are original to this project. See NOTICE.md.

License

MIT for original code and the anti-slop appendix. Google's source material stays under its licenses.

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Hermes Bot Mode

This desk is a named Hermes Bot — own model slot, memory, skills, routines, and @mentions.

# once
curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash

# this repo
./scripts/install-hermes-bot.sh
hermes -p plainly chat

In Hermes Desktop the Bot lands under Bots. Type @plainly from any chat; group it with the rest of the k3ss roster (desks).

File	Role
AGENTS.md	Project harness Hermes loads at session start
.hermes/SOUL.md	Bot personality
.hermes/bot.yaml	Roster, skills, groups
.hermes/skills/plainly/SKILL.md	Portable skill

Docs: Bot Mode · Context files · Skills