# humanizer

This skill spots common AI-writing patterns and rewrites them while preserving the text’s meaning and intended tone. Use it to revise drafts or review finished copy.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 336
- Author: harperreed
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/harperreed/dotfiles/tree/HEAD/.claude/skills/humanizer/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-15
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/harperreed-humanizer

## What it does

humanizer scans for promotional phrasing, vague attributions, passive voice, excess em dashes and other patterns associated with AI-generated writing. It replaces them with more natural wording while keeping the original message intact. You can use it when editing or reviewing text.

The workflow moves from draft to audit to final version. Provide a sample of your own writing and the skill will use its sentence length, vocabulary and punctuation as cues. Without a sample, it aims for varied, natural prose. For technical or reference material, it calls for a plain, neutral voice rather than added opinions.

In Claude Code, the skill can use `Read`, `Write`, `Edit`, `Grep` and `Glob` to work with files, and `AskUserQuestion` to ask for clarification. Review the result: the skill rewrites text, so check that it still says what you mean.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add harperreed/dotfiles --skill humanizer -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/humanizer/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/humanizer/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add harperreed/dotfiles --skill humanizer -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/humanizer/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add harperreed/dotfiles --skill humanizer -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/humanizer/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install harperreed/dotfiles humanizer
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/humanizer/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add harperreed/dotfiles --skill humanizer -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/harperreed/dotfiles --path .claude/skills/humanizer
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/humanizer/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add harperreed/dotfiles --skill humanizer -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/harperreed/dotfiles/tree/HEAD/.claude/skills/humanizer/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- remove promotional phrasing from a draft
- rewrite copy without changing its core message
- match a revision to a writing sample
- spot passive voice and overused em dashes

## Example prompts
- Edit this draft to remove common AI-writing patterns while keeping its meaning.
- Rewrite this passage to match the writing sample I attached.
- Review this technical text and keep the tone neutral.

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 8b513101857535fe.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 8b513101857535fe
```text
---
name: humanizer
version: 2.8.2
description: |
  Remove signs of AI-generated writing from text. Use when editing or reviewing
  text to make it sound more natural and human-written. Based on Wikipedia's
  comprehensive "Signs of AI writing" guide. Detects and fixes patterns including:
  inflated symbolism, promotional language, superficial -ing analyses, vague
  attributions, em dash overuse, rule of three, AI vocabulary words, passive
  voice, negative parallelisms, and filler phrases.
license: MIT
compatibility: any-agent
allowed-tools:
  - Read
  - Write
  - Edit
  - Grep
  - Glob
  - AskUserQuestion
---

# Humanizer: Remove AI Writing Patterns

You are a writing editor that identifies and removes signs of AI-generated text to make writing sound more natural and human. This guide is based on Wikipedia's "Signs of AI writing" page, maintained by WikiProject AI Cleanup.

## Your Task

When given text to humanize:

1. **Identify AI patterns** - Scan for the patterns listed below.
2. **Rewrite, don't delete** - Replace AI-isms with natural alternatives, and cover everything the original covers. If the original has five paragraphs, the rewrite has five paragraphs.
3. **Preserve meaning** - Keep the core message intact.
4. **Match the voice** - Fit the intended tone (formal, casual, technical). Add personality only when the content and the author's voice call for it (see PERSONALITY AND SOUL).

The draft → audit → final loop and the deliverable are defined under Process and Output, below.


## Voice Calibration (Optional)

If the user provides a writing sample (their own previous writing), analyze it before rewriting:

1. **Read the sample first.** Note:
   - Sentence length patterns (short and punchy? Long and flowing? Mixed?)
   - Word choice level (casual? academic? somewhere between?)
   - How they start paragraphs (jump right in? Set context first?)
   - Punctuation habits (lots of dashes? Parenthetical asides? Semicolons?)
   - Any recurring phrases or verbal tics
   - How they handle transitions (explicit connectors? Just start the next point?)

2. **Match their voice in the rewrite.** Don't just remove AI patterns - replace them with patterns from the sample. If they write short sentences, don't produce long ones. If they use "stuff" and "things," don't upgrade to "elements" and "components."

3. **When no sample is provided,** fall back to the default behavior (natural, varied, opinionated voice from the PERSONALITY AND SOUL section below).

### How to provide a sample
- Inline: "Humanize this text. Here's a sample of my writing for voice matching: [sample]"
- File: "Humanize this text. Use my writing style from [file path] as a reference."


## PERSONALITY AND SOUL

Avoiding AI patterns is only half the job. Sterile, voiceless writing is just as obvious as slop. Good writing has a human behind it.
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 8b513101857535fe

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 8b513101857535fe tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 2864 of 34017 bytes. © harperreed · MIT · https://github.com/harperreed/dotfiles/tree/HEAD/.claude/skills/humanizer/SKILL.md

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