writing:scan · diff

git:20260708.b638bab to git:20260727.14c22cf

9 added, 14 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: writing:scan

description: >-

Detect AI writing tropes in repository prose. Use `audit` to scan a directory

or glob (READMEs, docs, skill files, proposals) for slop already committed and

gate on it, reporting every match with file, line, and column. Use `score` to

measure trope density of one input on a per-1000-word basis, compare two

drafts, or score code comments separately. Not for rewriting a single input.

argument-hint: audit <path...> | score <input>

user-invocable: true

allowed-tools:

- Bash

- Read

---

# Scan

Detect AI writing tropes already present in prose. Two modes share the detection engine (`detection/scan.ts`), the same categories the `tropes` hook enforces on new edits. To transform a single input instead, use `writing:rewrite`.

```bash

bun ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/scan.ts audit "docs/**/*.md"

bun ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/scan.ts score path/to/draft.md

```

Run either subcommand with `--help` for its flags.

## Exit Codes

- Exit codes depend on the mode. `audit` exits non-zero when it finds any trope, so it gates in CI or a pre-commit check. `score` is informational and always exits 0. Pick the subcommand by whether you want a gate or a measurement.

+ `audit` exits non-zero when it finds any trope, so it gates in CI or a pre-commit check. `score` is informational and always exits 0.

## Audit

`audit <path...>` walks each directory or glob, keeps prose files (`.md`, `.markdown`, `.txt`, `.mdx`, `.rst`, `.adoc`), and skips `node_modules`, `.git`, wordlists, and memory/plan paths. There is no implicit whole-repo scan. Pass an explicit path.

- Each violation prints as `path:line:col: category: message`. A summary table follows on stderr with per-category counts and the noisiest files. Pass `--no-summary` to suppress it when piping the per-line output elsewhere.

+ Each violation prints as `path:line:col: category: message`. A summary table follows on stderr with per-category counts and the noisiest files.

- Audit is report-only. To fix a flagged file, open it and run `writing:rewrite` on the offending passages, or edit directly using the reported positions.

+ Audit is report-only. Fix flagged files with `writing:rewrite` or direct edits at the reported positions.

## Score

- `score <input>` takes one file path, inline text, or stdin and reports trope density per category:

- ```bash

- bun ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/scan.ts score "inline text to score"

- cat draft.md | bun ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/scan.ts score

- ```

+ `score <input>` takes one file path, inline text, or stdin and reports trope density per category.

- Word count is word tokens (`/[a-zA-Z]+/`) over the text with code stripped, matching how the wordlists tokenize. Density is `hits / (wordCount / 1000)`, so it reads as hits per 1000 words. The raw count prints in each group header so you can judge whether the sample is large enough to trust. A weighted group (marketing verbs, soft phrasing) counts as one hit when it crosses its threshold.

+ Word count is word tokens (`/[a-zA-Z]+/`) over the text with code stripped, matching how the wordlists tokenize. Density is `hits / (wordCount / 1000)`, so it reads as hits per 1000 words. A weighted group (marketing verbs, soft phrasing) counts as one hit when it crosses its threshold.

- The table sorts by density. `--json` emits the structured report for diffing two runs.

+ The table sorts by density.

#### Comments

- For non-prose source files, single-line comments (`//`, `#`) are extracted and scored as a separate `comments` group, so prose-only patterns apply to them without an AST. On by default for source files, off for prose files (`.md` and friends, whose fenced code blocks are already stripped). Force it with `--comments` or suppress it with `--no-comments`.

+ For non-prose source files, single-line comments (`//`, `#`) are extracted and scored as a separate `comments` group, so prose-only patterns apply to them without an AST. Prose files skip this because their fenced code blocks are already stripped.

#### Voice Delta

- `--voice-delta` appends a table of voice rate features (first-person rate, sentence length, backtick density, and friends) beside the rates from the local voice baseline (`--data-dir` overrides the location). Each feature carries a provenance label: **skill-prescribed** drift means tune the skill, **skill-encouraged** deficits mean the skill is under-applied, and **ungoverned** features are genuine voice signal. A register check skips the baseline comparison for inputs too short or too markdown-heavy to compare against the PR-body baseline.

+ `--voice-delta` appends a table of voice rate features (first-person rate, sentence length, backtick density, and friends) beside the rates from the local voice baseline. Each feature carries a provenance label: **skill-prescribed** drift means tune the skill, **skill-encouraged** deficits mean the skill is under-applied, and **ungoverned** features are genuine voice signal. The register check skips inputs too short or too markdown-heavy to compare against the PR-body baseline.

#### Custom Vocabulary

- `--wordlist <path>` compiles an extra stemmed vocabulary file (one term per line, `#` comments allowed) and scores it as a `custom vocabulary` category in every group. Use it to measure context-specific terms a general wordlist would not flag.

+ `--wordlist <path>` compiles an extra stemmed vocabulary file (one term per line, `#` comments allowed) and scores it as a `custom vocabulary` category in every group, for context-specific terms a general wordlist would not flag.

## Single-Input Mode

`writing:rewrite` and other callers invoke `scan.ts --input` to lint one input against the audit categories without walking a directory. It reads a file path, inline text, or stdin and prints matches as `line:col: category: message` with no path prefix, exiting non-zero on any finding. This is the `audit` gate over a single input.