/refine

name: refine
description: "Transform a brief or prompt into a structured, production-ready prompt via prompt-optimizer. File or text mode."

refine — Prompt Optimizer

**Runtime syntax:** in Codex, invoke the plugin copy with the owner-qualified `$genie:<skill>` selector; use bare `$<skill>` only when intentionally selecting a user-tier copy (a separately installed personal copy; Genie no longer seeds this tier). Claude Code and Hermes use `/<skill>`. Cross-skill prose below uses bare names as portable semantic routes; the orchestrator resolves the selector for the active tier.

Transform any brief, draft, or one-liner into a production-ready structured prompt.

When to Use

• User wants to improve a prompt or brief
• User references `refine` with text or a file path
• A worker needs to optimize a prompt before dispatching it

Flow

1. **Detect mode:** argument starts with `@` → file mode; otherwise → text mode. 2. **Read input:** file mode reads the target file; text mode uses the raw argument. 3. **Load the optimizer prompt:** at dispatch time, Read `prompts/optimizer.md` (relative to this skill's directory — `skills/refine/prompts/optimizer.md`). Its full contents are the refiner's system prompt. 4. **Dispatch refiner subagent:** system prompt = the full text of `prompts/optimizer.md`; user message = the input. Single turn. 5. **Write output:** file mode overwrites the source file in place; text mode writes to `/tmp/prompts/<slug>.md`. 6. **Report:** lead with the path of the written file — that is the deliverable.

Modes

| | File mode | Text mode | |---|-----------|-----------| | Invocation | `refine @path/to/file.md` | `refine <text>` | | Input | file contents (strip `@` prefix) | the raw argument | | Output | overwrite the same file | `/tmp/prompts/<slug>.md` (`mkdir -p /tmp/prompts/` first) | | Report | the updated file path | the created file path |

Slug: `<unix-timestamp>-<word1>-<word2>-<word3>` — first 3 words, lowercased, hyphenated. Example: `1708190400-fix-auth-bug`.

Subagent Contract

The refiner is a single-turn subagent: input in, optimized prompt out.

• **System prompt:** the full contents of `prompts/optimizer.md` — passed whole, never summarized.
• **Input:** the raw text or file contents as the user message.
• **Output:** optimized prompt body only — no labels, meta-commentary, rationale, or follow-up questions.
• No tool calls. Receive input, produce output, terminate.

Rules

• Preserve the original intent — the simplest rewrite that satisfies the input, no added features or scope.
• Never execute the prompt — only rewrite it.
• Never enter a clarification loop — act on what you have, single turn.
• Never add wrapper text or status messages to the output file.
• File mode overwrites in place; text mode writes only to `/tmp/prompts/`.