beautiful-prose — Claude Code skill: style and setup
This skill sets firm rules for English prose, steering an agent away from stock phrasing and flat sentence rhythms. Use it when drafting or revising text that needs a sharper voice.
npx skills add SHADOWPR0/beautiful_prose --skill beautiful-prose -a claude-codeWhat beautiful-prose does
beautiful-prose gives an agent a set of constraints for English writing. It favors clear claims, vivid nouns, and forceful verbs, while rejecting padded transitions and formulaic rhetorical turns. Sentence lengths should vary, and each paragraph should add meaning rather than echo what came before. The rules also bar therapeutic reassurance and commentary about the writing process.
Four optional controls shape the result: REGISTER selects a voice, DENSITY sets how tightly the text is packed, HEAT adjusts its edge, and LENGTH sets the target size. The default register is literary_modern. To activate the skill, place the instruction Apply the Beautiful Prose skill. before the actual task. Any control tags go on separate lines ahead of the request.
The skill targets English prose and can be installed for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, or OpenCode. For Claude Code, run npx skills add SHADOWPR0/beautiful_prose --skill beautiful-prose -a claude-code; the installed file is ~/.claude/skills/beautiful-prose/SKILL.md. Its rules are written for English, so they should be judged on English drafts rather than assumed to work equally well for other languages.
What it helps with
- Rewrite an English draft with fewer stock phrases
- Cut empty transitions from an article
- Vary sentence length to change the pace
- Adjust the voice from restrained to sharp
- Remove reassuring language from formal prose
Example prompts for the agent
- Apply the skill to this English draft and rewrite it with less formulaic phrasing.
- Rewrite this passage using REGISTER: cold_steel and DENSITY: lean.
- Revise the article with REGISTER: literary_modern, HEAT: cool, and LENGTH: medium.
How to install beautiful-prose
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add SHADOWPR0/beautiful_prose --skill beautiful-prose -a claude-code2Manually: put the files in place
~/.claude/skills/beautiful-prose/SKILL.mdCopy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/beautiful-prose/
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add SHADOWPR0/beautiful_prose --skill beautiful-prose -a codex2Manually: put the files in place
.agents/skills/beautiful-prose/SKILL.mdFor all projects use ~/.agents/skills/
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add SHADOWPR0/beautiful_prose --skill beautiful-prose -a cursor2Manually: put the files in place
.cursor/skills/beautiful-prose/SKILL.mdCursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/
1GitHub CLI
gh skill install SHADOWPR0/beautiful_prose beautiful-prose2Manually: put the files in place
.github/skills/beautiful-prose/SKILL.md1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add SHADOWPR0/beautiful_prose --skill beautiful-prose -a gemini-cli2Platform CLI
gemini skills install https://github.com/SHADOWPR0/beautiful_proseManually: put the files in place
.devin/skills/beautiful-prose/SKILL.mdThe legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works
Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add SHADOWPR0/beautiful_prose --skill beautiful-prose -a opencodeClaude.ai
Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways
Questions about beautiful-prose
How do I install beautiful-prose in Claude Code?
Run npx skills add SHADOWPR0/beautiful_prose --skill beautiful-prose -a claude-code. The skill file is located at ~/.claude/skills/beautiful-prose/SKILL.md.
What does the beautiful-prose skill do?
It guides an agent toward direct English prose and varied sentence rhythm. Its rules reject stock transitions, hollow rhetorical pivots, and language that sounds like automated commentary.
How can I change the writing style with beautiful-prose?
Set REGISTER for the voice, DENSITY for textual compression, HEAT for tone, and LENGTH for the target size. Without a register override, the skill uses literary_modern.
