Agentic STE adapts ASD-STE100 discipline for documents agents read before acting. It targets input precision, not output compression.

Apply Agentic STE to instructional prose in:

• skills/*/SKILL.md body (below frontmatter)
• CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md agent-managed fenced blocks
• CONVENTIONS.md agent-facing rules

Out of scope: YAML frontmatter, code blocks, tables, URLs, story tags, and terse-mode (output compression under context pressure). Do not conflate input-precision rules with terse-mode.

Use only these terms for binding instructions:

Term	Meaning
MUST	Required action
MUST NOT	Forbidden action
NEVER	Absolute prohibition
ALWAYS	Required every time
DO	Positive imperative
DO NOT	Negative imperative

Prefer MUST NOT / NEVER over soft modals for hard stops.

Do NOT use these words in instructional sentences (case-insensitive, whole word):

should, might, could, may, consider, try, generally, typically

Replace with directive vocabulary. Example: “You should run tests” → “Run tests before commit.”

Each instruction sentence: maximum 20 words. Split long sentences into separate lines. One instruction per sentence.

Start instruction sentences with a verb. Use “Run …”, “Write …”, “Do NOT …” — not “You should …” or “It is recommended that …”.

Name the actor. “Run Preflight” not “Preflight should be run.” “The agent MUST …” when the actor is ambiguous.

Put each instruction on its own line or bullet. Do not chain multiple instructions in one sentence with “and then” or semicolons.

Do not use “it”, “this”, or “they” to refer to a noun more than one clause away. Repeat the noun or use a bullet label.

When	Tool
New or edited skill	bash scripts/validate-agentic-ste.sh --strict skills/<name>/SKILL.md
Generated CLAUDE.md / CONVENTIONS.md	Apply Rules 2–8 during seed-conventions
Catalog audit	bash scripts/validate-agentic-ste.sh --audit skills/ (flags debt; does not rewrite catalog)

Validator is the mechanical backstop. Writers MUST follow this doc first.

Limit	Value
Max words per instruction sentence	20
Banned hedge modals	8 terms (Rule 3)
Approved directive terms	6 terms (Rule 2)
Scope files	SKILL.md body, CLAUDE.md, CONVENTIONS.md