Agent skill

Output Mode

by softspark in softspark/ai-toolkit

Answer concisely: lead with the result, no preamble, tables over prose, no trailing restatement of a diff the reader can already see.

Apache-2.0Auto-check passed

Install Output Mode

skills CLI
$ npx skills add softspark/ai-toolkit --skill output-mode -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install softspark/ai-toolkit output-mode --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/softspark/ai-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/app/skills/output-mode .claude/skills/output-mode && 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/

Facts

Skill name
output-mode
GitHub stars
179
Token cost
~540 tokens
SKILL.md length
249 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
112
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
Apache-2.0

At a glance

Answer concisely: lead with the result, no preamble, tables over prose, no trailing restatement of a diff the reader can already see.

  • SKILL.md covers Concise Mode Directives, When to escalate to verbose and How to override
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Output Mode is an agent skill from softspark/ai-toolkit. Answer concisely: lead with the result, no preamble, tables over prose, no trailing restatement of a diff the reader can already see. Triggers: response style, verbosity, summary, explanation, report.

Its SKILL.md is about 540 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

The repository describes itself as: Professional-grade AI coding toolkit: 94 skills, 44 agents, multi-platform (Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, Gemini, Cline, Roo Code, Aider, Augment, Antigravity, Codex CLI… The licence is Apache-2.0.

Example prompts

  • “/output-mode”

Requirements

  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit e40ed87. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • Read

    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

Output Mode loads about 540 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 53 tokens; SKILL.md has 249 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~53
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~540

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

The full file from softspark/ai-toolkit at commit e40ed87, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© softspark). 249 words, ~540 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/output-mode/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
output-mode
description
Answer concisely: lead with the result, no preamble, tables over prose, no trailing restatement of a diff the reader can already see. Triggers: response style, verbosity, summary, explanation, report.
allowed-tools
Read
effort
low
user-invocable
false

Output Mode

This rule comes from app/rules/output-mode.md in ai-toolkit. It applies to every task in this workspace, not only when it is loaded.

Output Mode

output-mode: concise

Default response mode for this project is concise. The brand-voice skill (when present in ai-toolkit) auto-loads its concise rules; assistants without that skill should still apply the directives below.

Concise Mode Directives

  • No preamble. Skip "I'll now...", "Sure, let me...", "Great question!" and similar warm-ups. Start with the answer.
  • Lead with the result. Conclusion or output first; explanation only if asked or non-obvious.
  • Max 3 sentences per closed question. Yes/no, single-fact, or "where is X" answers stay under three sentences.
  • Tables and lists over prose when comparing options, listing steps, or showing values.
  • No trailing summaries. If the diff or output already shows what changed, do not restate it.
  • Drop filler adjectives. No "nice", "great", "powerful", "robust" unless the user asked for evaluation.
  • Cite file paths as path:line instead of paragraphs describing where things live.
  • Reserve longer prose for: architecture proposals, trade-off analyses, plans with risks. Everything else: terse.

When to escalate to verbose

  • User explicitly asks: "explain in detail", "walk me through", "give me the full picture".
  • Reporting a non-obvious failure mode where missing context would mislead.
  • Architecture / RFC / ADR / trade-off documents — those have their own structure.

How to override

  • Per-session: /brand-voice default (or /brand-voice strict for even tighter)
  • Per-project: change this rule's output-mode: value in the project's CLAUDE.md
  • Permanent removal: re-run ai-toolkit install --skip rules or strip the <!-- TOOLKIT:output-mode --> block manually

© softspark, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in app/skills/output-mode of softspark/ai-toolkit.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit e40ed87

Compare with similar skills

Output Mode 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.

Output Mode compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Output Mode this skillsoftspark/ai-toolkit179—~540Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Lead Magnetssickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k2 repos~2.8kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Table Fitasgeirtj/system_prompts_leaks69k—~772Automated safety check: PassCC0-1.0
Lead Magnetscoreyhaines31/marketingskills54k5 repos~2.8kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Apify Lead Generationsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k2 repos~1.2kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Lead Generation Research GuideRightNow-AI/openfang18k—~1.8kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Questions about Output Mode

What does Output Mode do?

Answer concisely: lead with the result, no preamble, tables over prose, no trailing restatement of a diff the reader can already see. Output Mode is an agent skill from softspark/ai-toolkit. Answer concisely: lead with the result, no preamble, tables over prose, no trailing restatement of a diff the reader can already see.

How do I install Output Mode in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add softspark/ai-toolkit --skill output-mode -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (app/skills/output-mode in softspark/ai-toolkit) into .claude/skills/output-mode in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Output Mode in Codex?

Run `npx skills add softspark/ai-toolkit --skill output-mode -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (app/skills/output-mode in softspark/ai-toolkit) into .agents/skills/output-mode in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Output Mode 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 softspark/ai-toolkit --skill output-mode -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/output-mode, .gemini/skills/output-mode, .github/skills/output-mode and .opencode/skills/output-mode in your project.

What does Output Mode need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Output Mode is instructions for the agent only. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read.

Does Output Mode 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 Output Mode 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 Output Mode use?

Output Mode is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Output Mode use?

About 540 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.2k 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 Output Mode?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Output Mode: Lead Magnets (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars), Table Fit (asgeirtj/system_prompts_leaks, 69k stars), Lead Magnets (coreyhaines31/marketingskills, 54k stars) and Apify Lead Generation (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Output Mode?

softspark (a GitHub user) maintains it in softspark/ai-toolkit, which has 179 GitHub stars. The repository holds 112 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

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