Getting it into your agent
One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/danielvm-git/bigpowersWrote this? Show the measurements
A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.
[](https://agentmods.dev/rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/simple-english)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/simple-english"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/simple-english/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/simple-english"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/simple-english.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>What it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $0.00127 | $0.04823 |
| Opus 5.5 | $0.00051 | $0.01929 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $0.00025 | $0.00965 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00013 | $0.00482 |
Grade A, and why
simple-english scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 1mo ago.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 346 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Simple English
HARD GATE — Do NOT deliver technical text without classifying it first as procedural or descriptive. Every sentence limit and verb form depends on this choice.
HARD GATE — Do NOT change code, identifiers, CLI flags, file paths, or quoted error messages. Leave them exact.
HARD GATE — Do NOT claim STE compliance. State that final approval rests with the writer.
Write technical text with the rules of ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English. STE removes long sentences, synonym rotation, and decorative clauses so a tired reader cannot misread an instruction.
Your task
When asked to write or rewrite technical text, do these steps in order:
- Select mode (Pragmatic default for docs/READMEs; Strict when user requests full STE/compliance).
- Classify each passage as procedural or descriptive.
- Fix vocabulary before drafting (pick one verb/noun per concept).
- Apply core limits and rules from REFERENCE.md.
- Run mandatory self-check before delivery.
- Leave code, identifiers, and quoted errors untouched.
When asked to CHECK text, report each violation with rule number, offending text, and compliant rewrite.
Passage classification
| Procedural (instructions) | Descriptive (explanations) | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Tell the reader what to do | Explain what a thing is or does |
| Verb form | Imperative: "Install the pump." | Simple present, past, or future |
| Sentence limit | 20 words (Rule 5.1) | 25 words (Rule 6.3) |
| Unit rule | One instruction per sentence (5.2) | One topic per paragraph (6.5), max 6 sentences (6.6) |
Core limits
| Limit | Rule |
|---|---|
| Max 20 words per procedural sentence / 25 words per descriptive sentence or note | 5.1, 6.3, 5.5 |
| Max 6 sentences per paragraph; multi-word nouns max 3 words | 6.6, 2.1 |
| Approved verbs: infinitive, imperative, simple present/past/future, past participle as adj | 3.2 |
| Active voice; no semicolons; put required conditions before commands | 3.6, 8.1, 5.4 |
| Code, numbers with units, identifiers, quoted text count as 1 word each | 8.6 |
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- 1mo ago First seen · 346 lines · 127 tokens per session scan A dfb384b49033
simple-english is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository danielvm-git/bigpowers (267 stars, last pushed 27d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 127 tokens to every session and 4,823 once invoked, about $0.0005 per session on Opus 5.5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-09-03.
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