cover-letter · diff
git:20261002.2525b66 to git:20261003.a425835
34 added, 16 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: cover-letter
description: Write a short cover letter (150-250 words) for a job from the user's resume, in a plain human voice that doesn't repeat the user's recent letters.
argument-hint: "<job_description>"
---
# Cover Letter
- Write the letter a good candidate would write in fifteen minutes: short, specific, plain. The reader should learn one or two real things about the candidate and want to talk to them.
+ Write the letter a good candidate would write in fifteen minutes: short, specific, plain. The reader
+ should learn one or two real things about the candidate and want to talk to them.
## Setup
- Follow `../_shared/setup.md`, then load the structured resume (the caller's `resumeId`, else `user.primaryResumeId`):
+ Follow `../_shared/setup.md`, then load the structured resume (the caller's `resumeId`, else
+ `user.primaryResumeId`):
```bash
jobpilot-api GET "/api/resumes/$RESUME_ID"
```
- Write from its `content`. Don't `Read` the source PDF: it's the same content at several times the size, and inside an apply loop that cost is paid per job.
+ Write from its `content`. Don't `Read` the source PDF: it's the same content at several times the
+ size, and inside an apply loop that cost is paid per job.
## Step 1: Read the job
- From the argument, note the company and what it does, the role and level, the two or three things the job most needs, the stack and domain, and the tone (startup casual or enterprise formal).
+ From the argument, note the company and what it does, the role and level, the two or three things
+ the job most needs, the stack and domain, and the tone (startup casual or enterprise formal).
## Step 2: Read your last five letters
Letters that are each fine but all the same shape are what reads as AI. Don't skip this.
```bash
jobpilot-api GET /api/cover-letters --query page=1 --query limit=5
```
- The list is metadata only, so `GET /api/cover-letters/<id>` for each `.items[].id`. From each, keep four things and drop the rest: what it led with, its first sentence, its last sentence, and how it phrased its numbers. No history → skip to Step 3.
+ The list is metadata only, so `GET /api/cover-letters/<id>` for each `.items[].id`. From each, keep
+ four things and drop the rest: what it led with, its first sentence, its last sentence, and how it
+ phrased its numbers. No history → skip to Step 3.
## Step 3: Choose what to say
Pick one lead, the strongest for this job:
- - the result closest to their main need (for senior roles: scope, architecture, what the team shipped)
+ - the result closest to their main need (for senior roles: scope, architecture, what the team
+ shipped)
- direct experience with their stack, domain, or product (for research roles: publications)
- a real, specific reason for this company, only if the resume or JD gives you one
- Don't lead with what either of the last two letters led with, unless the JD leaves no honest alternative (a healthcare role wants the healthcare project).
+ Don't lead with what either of the last two letters led with, unless the JD leaves no honest
+ alternative (a healthcare role wants the healthcare project).
- Then pick one or two proof points that fit this job, not your two best overall: a named project or role with one concrete detail each.
+ Then pick one or two proof points that fit this job, not your two best overall: a named project or
+ role with one concrete detail each.
## Step 4: Write
- **Header.** Values from `user.*` only, never the resume (resumes carry stale addresses). Drop any line whose fields are empty:
+ **Header.** Values from `user.*` only, never the resume (resumes carry stale addresses). Drop any
+ line whose fields are empty:
```
[Full Name]
[City, State] | [Phone] | [Email]
[LinkedIn] | [GitHub] | [Website]
```
**Body.** 150-250 words in three or four paragraphs of different lengths:
- - **Open** with your lead in one to three sentences. Name the role somewhere in the letter, not necessarily first: "I'm applying for the X role at Y" is the opening every letter uses.
- - **Proof** in one or two short paragraphs. Say what you did and what happened. Don't explain why it's relevant; if you picked well, the reader sees it.
+ - **Open** with your lead in one to three sentences. Name the role somewhere in the letter, not
+ necessarily first: "I'm applying for the X role at Y" is the opening every letter uses.
+ - **Proof** in one or two short paragraphs. Say what you did and what happened. Don't explain why
+ it's relevant; if you picked well, the reader sees it.
- **Close** in one or two sentences: you'd like to talk. A thank-you is fine. No recap of fit.
- Quote at most one short phrase from the JD. Write in first person as the candidate, only from resume facts, in the company's tone.
+ Quote at most one short phrase from the JD. Write in first person as the candidate, only from resume
+ facts, in the company's tone.
**Sign-off:**
```
Best regards,
[Full Name]
```
## Step 5: Humanize and compare
Invoke the `humanizer` skill on the full letter in embedded mode.
- Then compare against the Step 2 notes; the humanizer sees one letter and can't do this. Fix anything that matches:
+ Then compare against the Step 2 notes; the humanizer sees one letter and can't do this. Fix anything
+ that matches:
- no sentence reused, including how a metric is phrased (reuse the number, not the sentence)
- a different first and last sentence
- the company mentioned in a different place
- - a different overall shape: if the last letters went intro, experience, tech, why-company, close, merge or drop a section
+ - a different overall shape: if the last letters went intro, experience, tech, why-company, close,
+ merge or drop a section
## Step 6: Save to history
- Best effort; continue if it fails. Write `{"content":"<final letter>","jobUrl":"<job url>","jobTitle":"<title>","company":"<company>","source":"<source>"}` to `$JOBPILOT_TEMP/cover-letter.json`, omitting empty `jobUrl`/`jobTitle`/`company`:
+ Best effort; continue if it fails. Write `{"content":"<final letter>","jobUrl":"<job
+ url>","jobTitle":"<title>","company":"<company>","source":"<source>"}` to
+ `$JOBPILOT_TEMP/cover-letter.json`, omitting empty `jobUrl`/`jobTitle`/`company`:
```bash
jobpilot-api POST /api/cover-letters --data @"$JOBPILOT_TEMP/cover-letter.json"
```
- Take `jobUrl`/`jobTitle`/`company` from the JD argument (`$BRIEF` fields when present). `source` is the caller: `apply`, `auto_apply`, or `manual` (the default).
+ Take `jobUrl`/`jobTitle`/`company` from the JD argument (`$BRIEF` fields when present). `source` is
+ the caller: `apply`, `auto_apply`, or `manual` (the default).
## Output
Plain text with the header and sign-off, ready to paste or render to PDF.