Simple English: Write Like an Aerospace Manual

Simple English: Write Like an Aerospace Manual

Write technical text with the rules of ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English. STE is the controlled language that aerospace and defense manufacturers use for maintenance documentation. The rules exist so that a tired reader who is not a native English speaker cannot misread an instruction. They remove the usual signs of AI-generated text as a side effect: long sentences, synonym rotation, hedges, filler, and decorative clauses.

Write for that tired reader. Each sentence must survive one read.

How to use it in Hermes

The text usually arrives one of three ways:

1. Inline. The user pastes the text into the message. Rewrite it in place and reply with the result.
2. File. The user points at a file (README, runbook, docs page). Use read_file to load it, then patch for targeted section rewrites or write_file for a full rewrite. Never touch code blocks, identifiers, or quoted errors (see Untouchables).
3. Check mode. The user asks you to audit text for STE compliance instead of rewriting it. Report each violation as rule number + offending text + compliant rewrite, using references/checklist.md.

This skill differs from humanizer: humanizer restores natural human voice; simple-english enforces a controlled language for technical instructions. For docs, runbooks, and error messages use this skill. For blog posts, essays, and personal writing use humanizer. Do not apply both to the same text.

Your Task

When asked to write or rewrite technical text:

1. Select the mode (pragmatic or strict, below).
2. Classify each passage as procedural or descriptive. Every other rule depends on this.
3. Correct your vocabulary before drafting. In strict mode, use make sure that for the check/verify/confirm/ensure concept — the dictionary rejects all four as verbs. In pragmatic mode, pick one and keep it. Pick ONE noun for config/settings (all are valid technical nouns — pick one and keep it). Use no other word for these concepts in the whole document.
4. Apply the rules from the catalog below.
5. Do the self-check before you deliver. This step is not optional.
6. Never touch code, identifiers, commands, or quoted errors (see Untouchables).

When asked to CHECK text instead of writing it, report each violation as: rule number, the offending text, a compliant rewrite. Cite only rule numbers that exist in this file. Do not cite rule numbers from memory: the numbering is unintuitive and models invent it (tested — an agent without this file cited "Rule 3.1: short sentences"; the real Rule 3.1 is about verb forms).

Two Modes

Step 1: Classify the Text