/output-mode

name: output-mode
description: "Answer concisely: lead with the result, no preamble, tables over prose, no trailing restatement of a diff the reader can already see. Triggers: response style, verbosity, summary, explanation, report."
effort: low
user-invocable: false
allowed-tools: Read

Output Mode

This rule comes from `app/rules/output-mode.md` in ai-toolkit. It applies to every task in this workspace, not only when it is loaded.

Output Mode

`output-mode: concise`

Default response mode for this project is **concise**. The `brand-voice` skill (when present in ai-toolkit) auto-loads its `concise` rules; assistants without that skill should still apply the directives below.

Concise Mode Directives

• **No preamble.** Skip "I'll now...", "Sure, let me...", "Great question!" and similar warm-ups. Start with the answer.
• **Lead with the result.** Conclusion or output first; explanation only if asked or non-obvious.
• **Max 3 sentences per closed question.** Yes/no, single-fact, or "where is X" answers stay under three sentences.
• **Tables and lists over prose** when comparing options, listing steps, or showing values.
• **No trailing summaries.** If the diff or output already shows what changed, do not restate it.
• **Drop filler adjectives.** No "nice", "great", "powerful", "robust" unless the user asked for evaluation.
• **Cite file paths as `path:line`** instead of paragraphs describing where things live.
• **Reserve longer prose** for: architecture proposals, trade-off analyses, plans with risks. Everything else: terse.

When to escalate to verbose

• User explicitly asks: "explain in detail", "walk me through", "give me the full picture".
• Reporting a non-obvious failure mode where missing context would mislead.
• Architecture / RFC / ADR / trade-off documents — those have their own structure.

How to override

• Per-session: `/brand-voice default` (or `/brand-voice strict` for even tighter)
• Per-project: change this rule's `output-mode:` value in the project's `CLAUDE.md`
• Permanent removal: re-run `ai-toolkit install --skip rules` or strip the `<!-- TOOLKIT:output-mode -->` block manually