Official agent skill

Technical Writing Standard

Applies four layers of technical-writing rules to docs, RFCs, readmes, PR descriptions and commit messages so a tired engineer follows them on the first read.

OfficialNo licenceAuto-check passedWriting & Content

Install Technical Writing Standard

skills CLI

$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill technical-writing -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install cursor/plugins technical-writing --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/technical-writing .claude/skills/technical-writing && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "technical-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/technical-writing into .claude/skills/technical-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "technical-writing", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/technical-writing

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill technical-writing -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install cursor/plugins technical-writing --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/technical-writing .agents/skills/technical-writing && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "technical-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/technical-writing into .agents/skills/technical-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "technical-writing", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill technical-writing -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install cursor/plugins technical-writing --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/technical-writing .cursor/skills/technical-writing && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "technical-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/technical-writing into .cursor/skills/technical-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "technical-writing", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git --path pstack/skills/technical-writing

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill technical-writing -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install cursor/plugins technical-writing --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/technical-writing .gemini/skills/technical-writing && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "technical-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/technical-writing into .gemini/skills/technical-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "technical-writing", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install cursor/plugins technical-writing

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill technical-writing -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/technical-writing .github/skills/technical-writing && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "technical-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/technical-writing into .github/skills/technical-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "technical-writing", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill technical-writing -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install cursor/plugins technical-writing --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/pstack/skills/technical-writing .opencode/skills/technical-writing && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "technical-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/cursor/plugins/tree/main/pstack/skills/technical-writing into .opencode/skills/technical-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "technical-writing", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: technical-writing
GitHub stars: 10k
Used in: 10 other repos
Token cost: ~2.4k tokens
SKILL.md length: 1,538 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 99
Repo updated: Oct 6, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: None found

At a glance

Applies four layers of technical-writing rules to docs, RFCs, readmes, PR descriptions and commit messages so a tired engineer follows them on the first read.

Writing or rewriting a README or developer guide
SKILL.md covers Vary the rhythm, Pick the mode first (Diátaxis), Write sentences to the reader… and Make statements load one at a…, plus 3 more sections
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
Drafting an RFC or design document

What it does

The skill asks the agent to check a document against four layers, each answering one question: what kind of document it is, how sentences address the reader, how much each sentence carries, and whether any sentence can be read two ways. The layers draw on Diátaxis structure, Google developer style, STE instruction rules and Global English syntax.

Three rules sit above them: cut words that do no work, choose the short everyday word, and rewrite a sentence another way if a rule makes it worse. The agent is told to use real symbol, file, flag and command names from the codebase, not to invent jargon, and to vary sentence length and take a view where the mode allows so the prose does not read as machine-written. Diátaxis picks one mode per document, tutorial, how-to, reference or explanation, by asking whether the content serves action or understanding and learning or work.

When your agent uses it

Writing or rewriting a README or developer guide
Drafting an RFC or design document
Reviewing a PR description or commit message for clarity
Deciding whether a page should be a tutorial, how-to, reference or explanation

Example prompts

“Rewrite the README for our CLI so each section is either a how-to or a reference.”
“Review this PR description and cut anything that does no work.”
“Run /technical-writing on the migration guide in docs/migrate.md.”

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 9f451cf. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Technical Writing Standard loads about 2.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 67 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,538 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~67
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~2.4k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

Without a licence we can't republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 1,538 words (~2,448 tokens).

“The goal is writing a tired engineer understands on the first read. Four layers get you there, one question each: what kind of document is this, how do sentences address the reader, how much does each sentence carry, and can…”

— opening of SKILL.md by cursor

name: technical-writing
disable-model-invocation: true

Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub

Files

Just SKILL.md in pstack/skills/technical-writing of cursor/plugins.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 9f451cf

Used in 10 other repositories

We found 10 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 10 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in cursor/plugins, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Technical Writing Standard next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Technical Writing Standard compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Technical Writing Standard this skillcursor/plugins	10k	10 repos	~2.4k	Automated safety check: Pass	None	yesterday
Technical Writingcitypaul/.dotfiles	739	—	~2.5k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	5 days ago
Technical Writingsreichholf/dreamDroid	116	—	~199	Automated safety check: Pass	GPL-3.0	yesterday
Plain EnglishFallout-build/Fallout	164	—	~2k	Automated safety check: Pass	Custom licence	4 days ago
ISO 24495-3 Technical Plain LanguageGaZmagik/iso-24495	188	—	~1.6k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	yesterday
Writerrileyhilliard/claude-essentials	130	—	~2k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	1 mo ago

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Questions about Technical Writing Standard

What does Technical Writing Standard do?

Applies four layers of technical-writing rules to docs, RFCs, readmes, PR descriptions and commit messages so a tired engineer follows them on the first read. The skill asks the agent to check a document against four layers, each answering one question: what kind of document it is, how sentences address the reader, how much each sentence carries, and whether any sentence can be read two ways. The layers draw on Diátaxis structure, Google developer style, STE instruction rules and Global English syntax.

When should I use Technical Writing Standard?

Technical Writing Standard fits situations like: writing or rewriting a README or developer guide; drafting an RFC or design document; reviewing a PR description or commit message for clarity; deciding whether a page should be a tutorial, how-to, reference or explanation.

How do I install Technical Writing Standard in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill technical-writing -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (pstack/skills/technical-writing in cursor/plugins) into .claude/skills/technical-writing in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Technical Writing Standard in Codex?

Run `npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill technical-writing -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (pstack/skills/technical-writing in cursor/plugins) into .agents/skills/technical-writing in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Technical Writing Standard in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill technical-writing -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/technical-writing, .gemini/skills/technical-writing, .github/skills/technical-writing and .opencode/skills/technical-writing in your project.

What does Technical Writing Standard need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Technical Writing Standard is instructions for the agent only.

Does Technical Writing Standard access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Technical Writing Standard safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Technical Writing Standard use?

No licence was found for Technical Writing Standard or its repository. Without one, default copyright applies: ask the author before reusing or redistributing it.

How many tokens does Technical Writing Standard use?

About 2.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 9.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Technical Writing Standard?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Technical Writing Standard: Technical Writing (citypaul/.dotfiles, 739 stars), Technical Writing (sreichholf/dreamDroid, 116 stars), Plain English (Fallout-build/Fallout, 164 stars) and ISO 24495-3 Technical Plain Language (GaZmagik/iso-24495, 188 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Technical Writing Standard?

cursor (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in cursor/plugins, which has 10,130 GitHub stars. The repository holds 99 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 6, 2026.

Source: cursor/plugins on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Technical Writing Standard

Install Technical Writing Standard

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Files

Used in 10 other repositories

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills