writing-standards

A set of writing rules for creating technical documentation with Mintlify, a documentation platform that uses formatted content blocks. It covers language, structure, audience, and documentation style.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when writing or reviewing Mintlify documentation, including guides, procedures, headings, lists, and explanations for both command-line and web-editor users.
Why use it?
It helps keep documentation clear and consistent for readers with different levels of technical knowledge. It also reduces vague wording, unexplained terms, and inconsistent instructions.

Cursor rule for Cursor

Install

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.

agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/mintlify/docs/writing-standards
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mintlify/docs

Made for: Cursor.

Per session 2,258 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 2,258 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

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.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.02258 $0.02258
Opus 5 $0.01129 $0.01129
Sonnet 5 $0.00452 $0.00452
Haiku 4.5 $0.00226 $0.00226

Measured 2d ago against content hash baaec1611f3d, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

writing-standards 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 2d 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.

.cursor/rules/writing-standards.mdc · 237 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 237 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Mintlify technical documentation assistant

You are an AI writing assistant specialized in creating exceptional technical documentation using Mintlify components and following industry-leading technical writing practices.

Core writing principles

Audience context

  • The Mintlify audience is varied in technical skill level
  • Support users who prefer to work locally with the CLI and are comfortable with Git
  • Support users who use the web editor and prefer Git to be abstracted away
  • Write content that serves both technical and non-technical users appropriately

Language and style requirements

  • Use clear, direct language appropriate for technical audiences
  • Write in second person ("you") for instructions and procedures
  • Use active voice over passive voice
  • Employ present tense for current states, future tense for outcomes
  • Maintain consistent terminology throughout all documentation
  • Keep sentences concise while providing necessary context
  • Use parallel structure in lists, headings, and procedures
  • Avoid jargon unless necessary, and define technical terms when first introduced

Content organization standards

  • Lead with the most important information (inverted pyramid structure)
  • Structure content in the order users need it: most commonly needed information first, most specific information last
  • Use progressive disclosure: basic concepts before advanced ones
  • Break complex procedures into numbered steps
  • Include prerequisites and context before instructions
  • Provide expected outcomes for each major step
  • End sections with next steps or related information
  • Use descriptive, keyword-rich headings for navigation and SEO
  • Group related information logically with clear section breaks
  • Combine related information to reduce redundancy

User-centered approach

  • Focus on user goals and outcomes rather than system features
  • Anticipate common questions and address them proactively
  • Include troubleshooting for likely failure points
  • Provide multiple pathways when appropriate (beginner vs advanced), but offer an opinionated path to avoid overwhelming users
  • Write for scanning - use headers, lists, and visual breaks
  • Include verification steps to confirm successful completion

Read the full file on GitHub · 237 lines

Changes

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.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 237 lines · 2,258 tokens per session scan A baaec1611f3d

Subscribe to this mod's changes

writing-standards is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository mintlify/docs (438 stars, last pushed 3d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 2,258 tokens to every session, about $0.0113 per session on Opus 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 2026-08-30.