Prose Module

Editorial-grade prose analysis: readability, structure, quality flags, and manuscript-wide aggregation.

mermaid
flowchart LR
    MD[Markdown manuscript] --> NORM[normalise_for_prose<br/>strip front-matter · fences ·<br/>inline code · links]
    NORM --> METRICS[ProseMetrics<br/>Flesch · FKGL · Gunning Fog]
    NORM --> QUALITY[QualityReport<br/>passive · hedges · citations ·<br/>long sentences]
    MD --> STRUCT[StructureReport<br/>headings · sections · word counts]
    METRICS --> AGG[ManuscriptReport]
    QUALITY --> AGG
    STRUCT --> AGG

    classDef io fill:#0f766e,stroke:#0f172a,color:#fff
    classDef proc fill:#1e3a8a,stroke:#0f172a,color:#fff
    classDef out fill:#7c2d12,stroke:#0f172a,color:#fff
    class MD io
    class NORM,METRICS,QUALITY,STRUCT proc
    class AGG out

Readability metrics

python
from infrastructure.prose import compute_metrics, normalise_for_prose

text = "The cat sat on the mat. Dogs run fast."
metrics = compute_metrics(normalise_for_prose(text))
print(metrics.flesch_reading_ease)        # 100+ — very easy
print(metrics.flesch_kincaid_grade)        # ~1
print(metrics.gunning_fog)                 # ~1.6

Heading structure

python
from infrastructure.prose import analyze_structure, render_outline

report = analyze_structure(open("manuscript/02_methodology.md").read())
print(report.has_h1, report.max_depth, report.has_skipped_level)
print(render_outline(report))

Quality flags

python
from infrastructure.prose import analyze_quality

q = analyze_quality(text)
q.passive_count, q.hedge_count, q.citation_count, q.long_sentence_count
q.citation_density_per_1000   # citations per 1000 words

Whole-manuscript report

python
from infrastructure.prose import analyze_manuscript, write_report

report = analyze_manuscript("projects/my_project/manuscript")
write_report(report, "output/prose_report.json")
print(report.total_words, report.avg_flesch_kincaid_grade)

CLI

bash
# Metrics for a single file
uv run python -m infrastructure.prose.cli metrics path/to/section.md

# Heading outline
uv run python -m infrastructure.prose.cli outline path/to/section.md

# Editorial quality
uv run python -m infrastructure.prose.cli quality path/to/section.md \
    --long-sentence-threshold 30

# Whole-manuscript JSON report
uv run python -m infrastructure.prose.cli report \
    projects/my_project/manuscript \
    --output output/prose_report.json

Design notes

• Pure functions, deterministic. No I/O outside the report and

cli layers. compute_metrics, analyze_structure, analyze_quality are stable across versions.

• Heuristics only. Passive-voice detection uses "be + past

participle"; hedge detection is a fixed word list; syllable counting is a vowel-group rule. Each is good enough for a writer-friendly signal, not for linguistic research.

• Handles Markdown. normalise_for_prose strips front-matter,

fenced code, inline code, and link URLs so metrics reflect prose, not scaffolding.

• Citation extraction. extract_citation_keys recognises both

[@key1; @key2] and bare @key forms used by Pandoc.