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Agent skill

Skill Tighten

by techygarg in techygarg/lattice

Audit any Lattice SKILL.md for language compliance — removes rationale prose, converts soft language to imperatives, adds STOP: gates on hard rules, and cuts redundant repetition.

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Skill Tighten

skills CLI
$ npx skills add techygarg/lattice --skill skill-tighten -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install techygarg/lattice skill-tighten --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/techygarg/lattice.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/dev-skills/skill-tighten .claude/skills/skill-tighten && 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
skill-tighten
GitHub stars
199
Token cost
~1.6k tokens
SKILL.md length
772 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
33
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Audit any Lattice SKILL.md for language compliance — removes rationale prose, converts soft language to imperatives, adds STOP: gates on hard rules, and cuts redundant repetition.

  • Works in 4 steps: Read the skill → Apply the tighten checklist → Make edits → …
  • Says tighten this skill
  • SKILL.md covers Step 1: Read the skill, Step 2: Apply the tighten…, Step 3: Make edits and Step 4: Report
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Skill Tighten is an agent skill from techygarg/lattice. Audit any Lattice SKILL.md for language compliance — removes rationale prose, converts soft language to imperatives, adds STOP: gates on hard rules, and cuts redundant repetition. Complements skill-review (which finds behavioral gaps) by fixing phrasing that causes agents to skip or underweight instructions at runtime. Use after writing or significantly changing any skill, or when the user says 'tighten this skill', 'clean up the language', 'make this more effective', 'reduce the bloat', 'tighten the language'…

Its SKILL.md is about 1.6k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development. The repository describes itself as: Install engineering discipline into any AI coding assistant. Composable skills for design, implementation, review, and team standards. Better process, not just better prompts. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Says tighten this skill
  • Clean up the language
  • Make this more effective
  • Reduce the bloat

Example prompts

  • “tighten this skill”
  • “clean up the language”
  • “make this more effective”
  • “/skill-tighten”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Read the skill
  2. Apply the tighten checklist
  3. Make edits
  4. Report

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 4d6c35f. 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

Skill Tighten loads about 1.6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 148 tokens; SKILL.md has 772 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~148
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.6k

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 techygarg/lattice at commit 4d6c35f, republished under its MIT licence (© techygarg). 772 words, ~1,648 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/skill-tighten/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
skill-tighten
description
Audit any Lattice SKILL.md for language compliance — removes rationale prose, converts soft language to imperatives, adds STOP: gates on hard rules, and cuts redundant repetition. Complements skill-review (which finds behavioral gaps) by fixing phrasing that causes agents to skip or underweight instructions at runtime. Use after writing or significantly changing any skill, or when the user says 'tighten this skill', 'clean up the language', 'make this more effective', 'reduce the bloat', 'tighten the language', or 'skill tighten'. Standalone — does not call other skills.

Skill Tighten

Core responsibility: Fix language that causes agents to skip or underweight instructions. Not behavioral gaps — that is skill-review's job. Only phrasing: rationale prose, soft language, missing enforcement signals, redundant repetition.

Input: One or more of:

  • A file path: source/atoms/clean-code/SKILL.md
  • A skill name: clean-code (resolves to the correct path automatically)
  • A tier: atoms (tightens all skills in that tier)
  • No argument: tightens all skills across all tiers

Output: Edited files + a report per skill:

## skill-tighten — {skill-name}
Lines: {before} → {after}
Changes:
1. {what changed} — {one-line reason}
2. ...
Result: TIGHTENED ({N} changes) | CLEAN (no changes needed)

How to verify this skill did its job:

  • Every cut section had zero commands — only rationale
  • Every softened phrase was "consider / think about / you may want to / it is recommended"
  • Every added STOP: was on a hard rule that previously had no enforcement signal
  • No rule, gate, checklist item, or branching logic was removed
  • Re-running after edits returns CLEAN

Step 1: Read the skill

Read the full SKILL.md. Also read all sibling files: references/defaults.md, references/methodology-detail.md, assets/template.md, or any file referenced by a Read instruction in the skill body.

Do not edit yet — complete the full audit first.

Step 2: Apply the tighten checklist

For each item, scan the entire file. Mark every instance found — do not stop at the first.

T1 — Non-actionable sections

Sections that explain why the skill exists, describe the problem, or narrate context without issuing a single command. Cut the entire section. Preserve the pointer to a referenced file if one exists.

Patterns that always qualify:

  • Section titled "Core Principle", "Purpose", "Problem", "Background", "Why This Matters", "How It Is Used", "Integration with Other Skills"
  • Opening paragraph before a numbered list that restates what the numbered list will do
  • Closing paragraph after a gate that explains what happens if the gate were skipped

Pass: Section contains at least one imperative instruction (do, read, write, verify, check, apply, stop, flag). Fail: Section contains only declarative statements, rationale, or scope commentary.

T2 — Soft language

Words and phrases that agents treat as optional:

PatternReplace with
consider XX (imperative) or remove
think about Xremove
you may want to Xremove
it is recommended to XX
should (as soft suggestion)must or remove
try to XX
where possible, XX or remove

Pass: Instruction is an imperative verb with no hedging qualifier. Fail: Instruction contains any of the patterns above.

T3 — Missing STOP: gates

Hard rules that must not be skipped — gates on advancing to next steps, checklist preambles, non-negotiable constraints — stated as bold prose without a **STOP:** prefix.

Pass: Hard gate reads **STOP:** as the first token of its line or sentence. Fail: Hard gate is phrased as "Do NOT...", "Never...", "Always verify...", "Must not..." without the STOP: prefix.

Add **STOP:** prefix. Do not rewrite the instruction itself.

Show full SKILL.md (326 more words)Show less
T4 — Redundant repetition

The same point stated twice in different words. Keep the sharper version; cut the other.

Patterns:

  • Section heading restated in the section's opening sentence
  • Instruction followed by a sentence explaining what the instruction means
  • Rationale sentence after a clear gate ("Without this, X would happen")
  • Same rule in two adjacent bullets

Pass: Each statement appears once in its sharpest form. Fail: Two sentences convey the same instruction or the same constraint.

T5 — Table column bloat

Columns whose content explains why a trigger exists, rather than being the trigger.

Common offenders: columns titled "Why", "Reason", "Rationale", "Because", "Notes" in a table whose other columns already encode the actionable information.

Pass: Every column in the table is actionable — the agent does something with it. Fail: A column contains only explanatory prose the agent reads but cannot act on.

Drop the column. Do not drop the row.

T6 — Trailing rationale sentences

Sentences appended to a clear instruction that explain why the instruction exists. The instruction is already sufficient — the explanation adds tokens without adding compliance.

Patterns:

  • "Without this, agents will X"
  • "This ensures that X"
  • "This is because X"
  • "X is important because Y"
  • Any sentence beginning with "This" that follows a complete imperative

Pass: Instruction ends at the action. No trailing explanation. Fail: Instruction is followed by a sentence that begins with "This", "Without", "Because", or restates the consequence of not following the instruction.

Step 3: Make edits

Apply all findings. Edits in order of checklist item (T1 first, T6 last) — structural cuts before phrasing fixes.

Rules:

  • Cut sections entirely when T1 applies — do not rephrase them
  • Add **STOP:** as a prefix — do not rewrite the surrounding instruction
  • Do not remove checklist items, branching logic, gates, or output format specifications
  • Do not restructure sections — targeted cuts and additions only
  • If a T1 section contains one buried imperative, extract that line and discard the section wrapper

Step 4: Report

After all edits:

## skill-tighten — {skill-name}
Lines: {before} → {after} ({delta})
Files changed: SKILL.md [, defaults.md, ...]

Changes:
1. [T1] Cut "{section name}" — no commands, pure rationale
2. [T3] Added STOP: to "{rule}" — was bold prose, now enforced gate
3. [T5] Dropped "Reason" column from {table name} — rationale, not instruction
...

Result: TIGHTENED ({N} changes)

If no changes needed:

Result: CLEAN — no language compliance issues found

© techygarg, MIT. 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 dev-skills/skill-tighten of techygarg/lattice.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 4d6c35f

Compare with similar skills

Skill Tighten 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 Tighten compared with similar skills
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Skill Tighten this skilltechygarg/lattice199—~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
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Typescript Advanced Typesrolling-scopes/rsschool-app10k25 repos~4.2kAutomated safety check: PassMPL-2.0
PR Babysitteropeninterpreter/openinterpreter69k3 repos~4.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Code Review ChecklistshareAI-lab/learn-claude-code78k5 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about Skill Tighten

What does Skill Tighten do?

Audit any Lattice SKILL.md for language compliance — removes rationale prose, converts soft language to imperatives, adds STOP: gates on hard rules, and cuts redundant repetition. Skill Tighten is an agent skill from techygarg/lattice.md for language compliance — removes rationale prose, converts soft language to imperatives, adds STOP: gates on hard rules, and cuts redundant repetition.

When should I use Skill Tighten?

Skill Tighten fits situations like: says tighten this skill; clean up the language; make this more effective; reduce the bloat.

How do I install Skill Tighten in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add techygarg/lattice --skill skill-tighten -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (dev-skills/skill-tighten in techygarg/lattice) into .claude/skills/skill-tighten in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Skill Tighten in Codex?

Run `npx skills add techygarg/lattice --skill skill-tighten -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (dev-skills/skill-tighten in techygarg/lattice) into .agents/skills/skill-tighten in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Skill Tighten 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 techygarg/lattice --skill skill-tighten -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/skill-tighten, .gemini/skills/skill-tighten, .github/skills/skill-tighten and .opencode/skills/skill-tighten in your project.

What does Skill Tighten need to run?

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

Does Skill Tighten 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 Skill Tighten 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 Skill Tighten use?

Skill Tighten 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 Skill Tighten use?

About 1.6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.6k 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 Skill Tighten?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Skill Tighten: Vercel Composition Patterns (supabase/supabase, 111k stars), Finishing a Development Branch (obra/superpowers, 297k stars), Typescript Advanced Types (rolling-scopes/rsschool-app, 10k stars) and PR Babysitter (openinterpreter/openinterpreter, 69k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Skill Tighten?

techygarg (a GitHub user) maintains it in techygarg/lattice, which has 199 GitHub stars. The repository holds 33 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 6, 2026.

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