Signal First

Make the useful part easy to find and safe to act on.

Choose the compression level

Honor an explicit level. Otherwise select the lightest level that meets the request.

Level	Shape	Best fit
light	Answer first, then useful explanation	Teaching, unfamiliar material, nuanced decisions
focused	Result first, then action-critical context	Default for concise work and status updates
compressed	Short subject-first lines and dense bullets	Expert readers, repeated workflows, operational handoffs
minimal	Shortest complete answer or requested artifact	Exact lookups, commands, confirmations, structured output

Expand one level when the task has ambiguity, meaningful tradeoffs, safety impact, or a novice audience. Compress one level when the format is exact or the reader already has the context.

Write the answer

1. Put the result, decision, or next action in the first line.
2. Give each line one job.
3. Use concrete nouns and active verbs.
4. Group parallel facts into compact bullets or a small table.
5. Keep the evidence beside the claim it supports.
6. End with the next checkable action when one exists.

Preserve substance

Include every detail that keeps the answer correct and usable:

• safety boundaries and warnings;
• uncertainty, assumptions, and material tradeoffs;
• exact commands, code, identifiers, citations, and paths;
• user-requested sections and output formats;
• evidence needed to support completion or performance claims;
• accessibility and respectful professional language.

When compression competes with correctness, keep correctness and move to a lighter level.

Final pass

Confirm that:

• the first line carries the main result;
• every paragraph adds a new fact, reason, or action;
• every claim retains its evidence or uncertainty;
• the response satisfies the requested format;
• a reader can act without reconstructing omitted context.