ste-writing

Write prose in ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English. This applies to documentation, READMEs, pull-request text, error messages, release notes, and comments. It does not apply to code, identifiers, or command syntax. It is not for marketing copy, essays, or anything that needs a voice — STE strips voice on purpose.

Rules

WORDS

• Use one name for one thing. Do not call the same item by two different names.
• Use the short common word: start (not begin/commence/initiate), use (not utilize/leverage), help (not facilitate), make sure (not ensure), before (not prior to), after (not subsequent to), about (not regarding/concerning), get (not obtain/acquire), show (not demonstrate), also (not additionally/furthermore/moreover).
• Give each word one meaning. "fall" means to move down, not to decrease.
• No marketing adjectives: seamless, robust, powerful, cutting-edge, effortless, world-class, next-generation, revolutionary.
• British English spelling.

VERBS

• Active voice. "the parser reads the file", not "the file is read by the parser".
• Use a verb for an action. "analyze the log", not "perform an analysis of the log".
• No stacked auxiliaries. Not "it is important to note that this may help to improve". Write "this improves X".
• No "-ing" main verb where a simple tense works.

SENTENCES

• One instruction per sentence. Max 20 words (instruction), max 25 (descriptive).
• No contractions. Use articles: a, an, the, this, these.

PUNCTUATION

• No semicolons. Write two sentences.

STRUCTURE

• One topic per paragraph, max six sentences. For steps, use a numbered vertical list, one action per item, imperative form. Put a condition before its command.

Write only the requested text. No preamble, no summary, no closing remarks.

Modes

• strict — procedures, runbooks, safety text, error messages: apply every rule and both length caps.
• STE-flavored — general prose (READMEs, PR descriptions, docs): apply the sentence, paragraph, active-voice, and no-phrasal-verb discipline; relax the ~900-word dictionary lockdown so the text keeps enough range to read naturally.

Self-lint (run before returning text)

1. Any sentence over 25 words? Split it.
2. Any semicolon? Replace with a period.
3. Any contraction? Expand it.
4. Any passive voice with a known actor? Make it active.
5. Any "-ing" main verb, nominalization ("perform an analysis"), or phrasal verb ("spin up")? Replace with a plain verb.
6. Same thing named two ways? Pick one name.

The mechanical rules above are lintable and are what removes slop. Full STE also needs human judgment (the right technical noun, whether a sentence "makes good sense") — a checker cannot certify that, and slop is not about that. This skill fixes the FORM of slop. It cannot make a hollow paragraph true.

Free official standard (copyrighted): https://asd-ste100.org