inflexa: Instructions file for Claude Code

CLAUDE.md

Language

Write the git text, the GitHub text, and each document in ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE), issue 9.

Use STE in:

• each commit message
• each pull request: the title, the body, a comment, and a review
• each GitHub issue: the title, the body, and a comment
• each document in this project

STE does not apply to a chat reply, or to a comment in the code.

STE controls prose only. It does not control code, an identifier, a command, a tool name, or text that you copy from a file. Keep the copied text as it is.

Words

• Give one meaning and one part of speech to each word. follow means "come after". Use obey for a rule or an instruction.
• Use one word for one thing each time. Do not change a term for style.
• Use a short, common word. Use use, not utilize. Use start, not initiate.
• Keep the articles the, a, and an. Write set the flag, not set flag.
• Do not put more than three nouns together. Divide a longer group with of or for, or connect the related words with a hyphen.
• Write a long technical name in full at the first occurrence. Then use a short form or an abbreviation.
• Do not use slang, an idiom, a metaphor, or a Latin abbreviation. Write for example, not e.g..
• Do not make a phrasal verb from approved words. Write extinguish the fire, not put out the fire. Write release the fumes, not give off the fumes.
• Use American English spelling.
• Use gender-neutral words. Do not use he or she.

Verbs

• Use only these verb forms: the infinitive, the imperative, the simple present tense, the simple past tense, the simple future tense, and the past participle as an adjective.
• Do not use the perfect tenses. Do not use the progressive tenses. Write the parser reads the file, not the parser is reading the file.
• Do not use an auxiliary verb to make a complex construction. Write you can adjust the value, not the value can be adjusted.
• Use the active voice. In a description, use the passive voice only when the agent is unknown.
• Do not use the -ing form as a verb or as an adjective. Write the hook that runs, not the running hook. An -ing word is permitted as a technical name, for example Testing or welding torch.
• Use a verb for an action, not a noun. Write before you remove the unit, not before the removal of the unit.
• If a word is approved as a noun only, add a verb. Write do a check of the battery, not check the battery.
• Use must for a requirement. Do not use shall or should. Use can for a possibility, not may.
• Do not write must before an imperative verb. Write disconnect the hose, not you must disconnect the hose. A warning is the exception.