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claude-engineering-plugin/plugins/compound-engineering/skills/jira-ticket-writer/references/tone-guide.md
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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-03-31 12:27:52 -05:00

2.0 KiB

Tone Guide for Ticket Writing

Core Principle

A human will read this ticket. Write like a teammate asking for help, not an AI generating a spec.

Pressure Test Checklist

Review every sentence against these questions:

1. Patronizing language

  • Does any sentence explain the reader's own domain back to them?
  • Would you say this to a senior engineer's face without feeling awkward?
  • Are you telling them HOW to implement something in their own system?
  • Are you preemptively arguing against approaches they haven't proposed?

Examples of patronizing language:

  • "This is a common pattern in Kubernetes deployments" (they know)
  • "Helm charts support templating via {{ .Values }}" (they wrote the chart)
  • "Why X, not Y" sections that dismiss alternatives before anyone suggested them

2. AI-isms to remove

  • Em dashes used more than once per paragraph
  • Every thought is a bullet point instead of a sentence
  • Rigid structure that feels generated (Ask -> Why -> Context -> AC)
  • Spec-writing voice: "When absent or false, existing behavior is preserved"
  • Overuse of "ensures", "leverages", "facilitates", "streamlines"
  • Unnecessary hedging: "It should be noted that..."
  • Filler transitions: "Additionally", "Furthermore", "Moreover"
  • Lists where prose would be more natural

3. Human voice check

  • Does it sound like something you'd type in Slack, cleaned up slightly?
  • Are there moments of humility? ("you'd know better than us", "if we're missing something")
  • Is the tone collaborative rather than directive?
  • Would you feel comfortable putting your name on this?

4. Kindness check

  • Frame requests as requests, not demands
  • Acknowledge the reader's expertise
  • Offer context without over-explaining
  • "Happy to chat more" > "Please advise"

What to keep

  • Technical detail and specifics (the reader needs these)
  • Code snippets showing current state and desired state
  • File references with line numbers
  • Clear "done when" criteria (but keep them minimal)