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writing-for-agents

Use when authoring or restructuring an agent-consumed document, a SKILL.md or skill directory, writing skills, or deciding a skill split-or-monolith disclosure question. Not for prose style: use unslop.

.devin/skills/writing-for-agents/SKILL.md

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Last checked
Nov 4, 2026

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55
Repository last updated
Sep 28, 2026
License
Apache-2.0

Observed agent integration: No specific integration evidence. Standard SKILL.md installation does not imply verified compatibility.

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# Writing for agents

One property decides whether a document works: the agent takes the same process every run. The packaging differs across a skill, an AGENTS.md, and a pointer-reached doc; the writing does not.

## Contract

| Field | Bound contract |
|---|---|
| Trigger | Author, restructure, or review an agent-consumed document; author, refactor, port, or upgrade a SKILL.md, AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md, or skill directory; or decide whether a skill stays monolith or splits. |
| Authority | Reversible local: writes only the target document, its skill directory, and the repository-owned registration or attribution surfaces those artifacts require; rollback is version control or undo; never publishes, installs, or commits. No remote mutation. |
| Side effect | The target document is edited, split, or pruned; in mode skill, its directory and registration surfaces change. Reviews and disclosure decisions write nothing beyond the decision record. |
| Done | A cold agent routes and executes predictably with no stale duplication. For a skill write, the repository's own gate passes on every changed file. For a disclosure decision, the split-or-monolith verdict is justified with pointer hygiene and an evaluation plan. |

## Inputs