Asd Ste100
danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill
A skill your agent uses when English text must be parsed without a human to resolve ambiguity — tool descriptions, error messages, inter-agent instructions, system prompts, status reports — and…
A skill your agent uses when an agent is asked to draft, rewrite, edit, review, polish, copyedit, simplify, humanize, or create written prose, including creative writing, essays, posts, scripts…
Install Orwell Writing
$ npx skills add tamdogood/builder-essential-skills --skill orwell-writing -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install tamdogood/builder-essential-skills orwell-writing --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/orwell-writing .claude/skills/orwell-writing && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "orwell-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills/tree/main/skills/orwell-writing into .claude/skills/orwell-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "orwell-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 install https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills/tree/main/skills/orwell-writingType 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.
$ npx skills add tamdogood/builder-essential-skills --skill orwell-writing -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install tamdogood/builder-essential-skills orwell-writing --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/orwell-writing .agents/skills/orwell-writing && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "orwell-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills/tree/main/skills/orwell-writing into .agents/skills/orwell-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "orwell-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.
$ npx skills add tamdogood/builder-essential-skills --skill orwell-writing -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install tamdogood/builder-essential-skills orwell-writing --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/orwell-writing .cursor/skills/orwell-writing && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "orwell-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills/tree/main/skills/orwell-writing into .cursor/skills/orwell-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "orwell-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 https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills.git --path skills/orwell-writing--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add tamdogood/builder-essential-skills --skill orwell-writing -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install tamdogood/builder-essential-skills orwell-writing --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/orwell-writing .gemini/skills/orwell-writing && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "orwell-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills/tree/main/skills/orwell-writing into .gemini/skills/orwell-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "orwell-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.
$ gh skill install tamdogood/builder-essential-skills orwell-writingInstalls 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).
$ npx skills add tamdogood/builder-essential-skills --skill orwell-writing -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/orwell-writing .github/skills/orwell-writing && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "orwell-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills/tree/main/skills/orwell-writing into .github/skills/orwell-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "orwell-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.
$ npx skills add tamdogood/builder-essential-skills --skill orwell-writing -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install tamdogood/builder-essential-skills orwell-writing --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/orwell-writing .opencode/skills/orwell-writing && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "orwell-writing" agent skill from https://github.com/tamdogood/builder-essential-skills/tree/main/skills/orwell-writing into .opencode/skills/orwell-writing/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "orwell-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
orwell-writing- GitHub stars
- 221
- Token cost
- ~1.1k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 638 words
- Files
- 3
- Skills in repo
- 18
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
A skill your agent uses when an agent is asked to draft, rewrite, edit, review, polish, copyedit, simplify, humanize, or create written prose, including creative writing, essays, posts, scripts…
- Works in 6 steps: Never use a metaphor, simile, or other… → Never use a long word where a short one… → If it is possible to cut a word out,… → …
- An agent is asked to draft
- SKILL.md covers Overview, Core Rules, ASD-STE100 baseline and Workflow, plus 1 more section
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Orwell Writing is an agent skill from tamdogood/builder-essential-skills. Use when an agent is asked to draft, rewrite, edit, review, polish, copyedit, simplify, humanize, or create written prose, including creative writing, essays, posts, scripts, speeches, emails, documentation, product copy, and other style-sensitive text. Apply George Orwell's six rules and ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English as a plain-English discipline while preserving the user's intended meaning, audience, tone, and explicit constraints.
Its SKILL.md is about 1.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 3 other files (for example `README.md` and `agents/openai.yaml`).
It sits in Writing & Content, covering Creative writing and fiction, Copywriting and Humanizing AI text. The repository describes itself as: A repository for skills that are essential to my daily work. The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- An agent is asked to draft
- Create written prose
- Including creative writing
- Other style-sensitive text
Example prompts
- “/orwell-writing”
Workflow steps
6 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 1be9984. 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
Orwell Writing loads about 1.1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 116 tokens; SKILL.md has 638 words of instructions outside code blocks.
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 tamdogood/builder-essential-skills at commit 1be9984, republished under its MIT licence (© tamdogood). 638 words, ~1,133 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/orwell-writing/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 2 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.- name
- orwell-writing
- description
- Use when an agent is asked to draft, rewrite, edit, review, polish, copyedit, simplify, humanize, or create written prose, including creative writing, essays, posts, scripts, speeches, emails, documentation, product copy, and other style-sensitive text. Apply George Orwell's six rules and ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English as a plain-English discipline while preserving the user's intended meaning, audience, tone, and explicit constraints.
Orwell Writing
Overview
Use Orwell's rules and ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) as practical filters for clear, direct, and honest prose. Use STE by default for technical, instructional, business, and product prose. Apply the rules to both drafting and revision, but do not erase deliberate voice, character, rhythm, humor, or genre when the user clearly wants them.
STE has writing rules and a controlled dictionary. Use an approved word with its approved meaning when the dictionary is available. Do not claim strict STE conformance without checking the current ASD-STE100 issue and dictionary.
Core Rules
Remember these rules from "Politics and the English Language":
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
ASD-STE100 baseline
For technical and instructional prose:
- Use short sentences. Put one main action or statement in each sentence.
- Use a clear subject and an active verb. Name the actor when the actor matters.
- Use the same term for the same thing. Do not change a term only to avoid repetition.
- Use familiar words with one precise meaning. Avoid idioms, slang, figurative language, and vague verbs.
- Use a specific technical term when it is necessary for accuracy. Define it or link to its definition.
- Keep noun groups short. Use prepositions to show relationships between terms.
- Write procedures as direct instructions. State the condition, action, and expected result.
- Use positive instructions when they are clear. State what the reader must do.
- Use consistent American English spelling unless the user's style guide requires another variety.
- Preserve code, commands, identifiers, product names, legal text, and required quotations. Do not simplify them silently.
When strict STE is not possible, keep the text clear and mark the terms or passages that need a domain-specific exception.
Show full SKILL.md (265 more words)Show less
Workflow
When writing from scratch:
- Identify the audience, purpose, and promised tone from the user's request.
- Draft in concrete, direct English.
- Remove stock phrases, dead metaphors, filler, pompous diction, needless abstraction, and avoidable jargon.
- Prefer active verbs and clear subjects unless passive voice better serves emphasis, tact, suspense, or technical accuracy.
- Keep necessary nuance; do not make prose crude, false, or flat just to make it short.
- Apply the ASD-STE100 baseline. Check terms, sentence structure, instructions, and technical exceptions.
When revising existing text:
- Preserve the user's meaning and any explicit tone or format constraints.
- Cut words, clauses, and sentences that do no work.
- Replace stale figures of speech with plain phrasing or a fresh, specific image.
- Replace long, foreign, scientific, or jargon terms with everyday English when accuracy permits.
- Convert passive constructions to active ones when the actor matters and is known.
- Flag any remaining jargon, passive voice, or ornate phrasing that is necessary rather than silently removing important precision.
- Run a final STE pass. Check that each technical term is consistent, each instruction states the required action, and each exception is intentional.
Creative Writing
For fiction, poetry, memoir, scripts, and lyrical prose, treat STE as a clarity aid, not a requirement that overrides the user's form. Keep intentional ambiguity, cadence, dialogue style, imagery, and character voice when they create a real effect. Remove only language that feels inherited, inflated, evasive, or lazy. Use strict STE when the user explicitly requests it, and note when that request conflicts with a creative effect.
© tamdogood, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
SKILL.md and 2 other files in skills/orwell-writing of tamdogood/builder-essential-skills.
- SKILL.md
- README.md
- agents/openai.yaml
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 1be9984
Compare with similar skills
Orwell Writing 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.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orwell Writing this skilltamdogood/builder-essential-skills | 221 | — | ~1.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Asd Ste100danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill | 4.3k | — | ~4.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Natural Japanese Business Writingcoji/natural-japanese | 1.9k | — | ~2.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| SepiaNanako0129/sepia | 3.1k | — | ~3.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| AI Copywritermikiarlo3/ai-copywriter | 1.2k | — | ~12k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Web Novel AI-Trace Removerzenstory-ai/oh-story-claudecode | 7.4k | 1 repos | ~2.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
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Natural Japanese Business Writing
coji/natural-japanese
Writes and edits Japanese business documents so they read clearly and naturally, removes AI-sounding phrasing and can score how AI-like a text reads.
Sepia
Nanako0129/sepia
Make AI-generated writing read as human-written, in fiction and in professional prose.
AI Copywriter
mikiarlo3/ai-copywriter
Write copy that converts and doesn't sound like a robot. An agent skill from mikiarlo3/ai-copywriter.
Web Novel AI-Trace Remover
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Rewrites AI-sounding Chinese web novel text so it reads naturally, changing as little as possible and keeping plot, names and numbers intact.
Web Novel AI-Flavor Remover
uu201/character-arc
Finds and rewrites AI-sounding passages in Chinese web novel text, changing as few words as possible while keeping plot, characters and names intact.
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Questions about Orwell Writing
What does Orwell Writing do?
A skill your agent uses when an agent is asked to draft, rewrite, edit, review, polish, copyedit, simplify, humanize, or create written prose, including creative writing, essays, posts, scripts…. Orwell Writing is an agent skill from tamdogood/builder-essential-skills. Use when an agent is asked to draft, rewrite, edit, review, polish, copyedit, simplify, humanize, or create written prose, including creative writing, essays, posts, scripts, speeches, emails, documentation, product copy, and other style-sensitive text.
When should I use Orwell Writing?
Orwell Writing fits situations like: an agent is asked to draft; create written prose; including creative writing; other style-sensitive text.
How do I install Orwell Writing in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add tamdogood/builder-essential-skills --skill orwell-writing -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/orwell-writing in tamdogood/builder-essential-skills) into .claude/skills/orwell-writing in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Orwell Writing in Codex?
Run `npx skills add tamdogood/builder-essential-skills --skill orwell-writing -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/orwell-writing in tamdogood/builder-essential-skills) into .agents/skills/orwell-writing in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Orwell Writing 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 tamdogood/builder-essential-skills --skill orwell-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/orwell-writing, .gemini/skills/orwell-writing, .github/skills/orwell-writing and .opencode/skills/orwell-writing in your project.
What does Orwell Writing need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Orwell Writing is instructions for the agent only.
Does Orwell Writing 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 Orwell Writing 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 Orwell Writing use?
Orwell Writing is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Orwell Writing use?
About 1.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.5k 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 Orwell Writing?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Orwell Writing: Asd Ste100 (danyuchn/asd-ste100-skill, 4.3k stars), Natural Japanese Business Writing (coji/natural-japanese, 1.9k stars), Sepia (Nanako0129/sepia, 3.1k stars) and AI Copywriter (mikiarlo3/ai-copywriter, 1.2k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Orwell Writing?
tamdogood (a GitHub user) maintains it in tamdogood/builder-essential-skills, which has 221 GitHub stars. The repository holds 18 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 16, 2026.
Source: tamdogood/builder-essential-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.