---
name: unslop
description: Strip AI phrasing from prose before it is posted to a Confluence page, sent to a customer, or shared in chat. Use when a draft sounds like it was written by an LLM: ornamental hedging, breathless transitions, vague intensifiers, symmetrical bullet padding, or any of the other tells listed in references/tells.md.
---

# Unslop

The page-reviewer catches structural problems; this skill catches voice
problems. Both run before a page goes live.

The unslop pass is line-anchored, deterministic, and reversible. It returns a
diff-style report; the author or the calling skill applies the changes.

## Hard rules

- **Never edit silently.** Every change appears in the report with the line,
  the original phrase, and the suggested replacement.
- **Never invent voice.** The rewrite defaults to short, declarative, and
  Netcracker-house — see [references/house-style.md](references/house-style.md).
- **Don't rewrite technical content.** If a sentence is slop but the
  technical claim is correct, fix the phrasing, not the claim.
- **Don't rewrite quotes.** Code, command output, error messages, and
  customer-quoted text stay literal.
- **Don't touch structured data.** Tables, lists of identifiers, file paths,
  URLs, and version numbers are not slop.

## Workflow

1. Read the draft. Mark each line with one of: `clean`, `slop`, `unsure`.
2. For each `slop` line, look up the tell in
   [references/tells.md](references/tells.md) and propose a concrete rewrite.
3. For each `unsure` line, leave it alone and flag it for the author with a
   short rationale.
4. Cluster check. If more than 5 slop lines appear in a 30-line block, mark
   the block `rewrite-block` — voice problems cluster, and the author should
   rewrite that section by hand rather than accept a chain of small fixes.
5. Return the report.

## Report shape

```
# Unslop report — <page slug>

L<line>: <tell> — <phrase>
  > <original>
  + <proposed rewrite>
L<line>: <tell> — <phrase>
  > <original>
  + <proposed rewrite>

# Rewrite-block sections (cluster of >5 slop lines)
- L<start>-L<end>: <section title>

# Uncertain — author decides
- L<line>: <short rationale>
```

The calling skill applies line-by-line fixes; the author rewrites the marked
sections.

## What counts as slop

Full list with examples in [references/tells.md](references/tells.md). The
high-frequency ones:

| Tell | Example | Fix |
|------|---------|-----|
| Ornamental hedging | "It's important to note that…" | Delete the preamble. |
| Breathless transition | "Let's dive in!" | Replace with the next fact. |
| Vague intensifier | "really", "very", "quite" (when not load-bearing) | Delete. |
| Symmetric padding | "X is Y. X is also Z. Both X's are…" | Pick the one that matters. |
| AI résumé | "With over X years of experience…" | Replace with the actual fact. |
| Performative caveat | "It's worth mentioning that…" | Delete or move to the conclusion. |
| Marketing tone | "seamlessly", "robust", "powerful", "leverage" | Replace with the specific capability. |
| Triplet | "fast, reliable, and scalable" | Pick the one that is actually true, drop the rest. |
| Heading question | "Why is X important?" | State the answer, not the question. |
| Sign-off | "Hope this helps!", "Let me know if you have questions!" | Delete. |

## When to refuse

- The text is a customer-quoted block, a log line, or a code comment — leave
  it alone.
- The text is technical and correct; only the framing is fluffy. Fix the
  framing, not the substance.
- The rewrite would change the meaning. Mark it `unsure` and let the author
  decide.

## Related

| Skill | Role |
|-------|------|
| `page-reviewer` | Calls unslop as part of the pre-post gate |
| `confluence-page` | Uses the report to apply line-by-line fixes |

## Limitations

Unslop is a heuristic pass, not a guarantee. A page can be technically
slop-free and still sound corporate, and a page that sounds conversational
can still be slop-free. Voice is not the only quality dimension; this skill
addresses one of them.