Version: 2026-04-06
Maintainers: Quimbot + Petrarch
Status: Draft — pending milwrite approval

One source of truth. One load path. No exceptions.

Canonical location: Quimbot/style/ (macro system)
Entry point: Quimbot/style/macros/INJECT.md
Scope profiles: Quimbot/style/macros/scope/
Individual rule cards: Quimbot/style/macros/rules/
Router: Quimbot/style/README.md

Deprecated (do not edit, do not consult for new work):

• Quimbot/writing/STYLE_GUIDE.md — old flat file, frozen 2026-03-21
• Quimbot/writing/style/MASTER.md — superseded by macro system; convert to pointer only
• SOUL.md writing rules — inline rules removed, replaced by pointer to SG.md
• HEARTBEAT.md copyedit protocol section — absorbed into macros/scope/sentence-revision.md

Cross-machine: Petrarch accesses the same files via ~/clawd/quimbot/style/ (same repo, different mount path). Both agents read from the same git-tracked source.

Load at session start. No trigger required.

READ: Quimbot/style/macros/INJECT.md

Non-negotiables from INJECT.md fire on every output:

• SX-01: no interrupted subject
• SX-04: no nominalized subject
• PX-01: no unearned em dash
• CL-01: earned assertion gate
• CT-01: submarine rule
• DC-01: no AI slop
• DC-07: no contrastive pivots
• VB-01: verb audit
• PR-04: no trailing -ing tag-ons

Select the matching scope profile and load it before any writing output.

When milwrite says "run audit", "check this", or "which macros fired?":

• List each sentence
• List macro IDs that apply
• State pass or violation
• Propose correction for each violation

Every writing response starts with:

[STYLE MACROS ACTIVE: <profile> — <count> rules loaded]

Example:

[STYLE MACROS ACTIVE: cloze-paper — 47 rules loaded]

No preamble = non-compliant output. Both agents enforce this.

When the macro system fails to load (session restart, context loss, bootstrap truncation), these fallbacks fire in order:

Fallback 1 — Bootstrap injection
SG.md is listed in the workspace bootstrap chain. OpenClaw injects it into every session start automatically alongside AGENTS.md and SOUL.md. The non-negotiables from Tier 1 are always present because they live in the bootstrapped SG.md itself (see below).

Fallback 2 — SOUL.md pointer
SOUL.md Writing Rules section is replaced with:

"Load Quimbot/style/macros/INJECT.md + the relevant scope profile before any writing output. Non-negotiables: SX-01, SX-04, PX-01, CL-01, CT-01, DC-01, DC-07, VB-01, PR-04. See Quimbot/SG.md for full protocol."

SOUL.md no longer duplicates rules inline. It points here.

Fallback 3 — Embedded non-negotiables (this file)
Even if macro files cannot be read, the nine non-negotiables below are embedded directly in SG.md (which is bootstrapped). They fire regardless.

These nine rules fire on every output, no file load required:

1. SX-01 Interrupted subject — banned: Subject, [interruptive phrase], verb. Move qualifier after verb or subordinate.
2. SX-04 Nominalized subject — banned: verb or adjective turned into noun phrase as subject. "The optimization of X" → "X optimizes."
3. PX-01 Unearned em dash — a lone em dash as pivot, connector, or sentence-closer is banned. Paired em dash for a genuine parenthetical aside only.
4. CL-01 Earned assertion gate — no non-trivial claim without traceable evidence in the same sentence or the preceding one.
5. CT-01 Submarine rule — do not pit studies that answer different questions as if they contradict. A submarine doesn't outperform Michael Phelps at swimming.
6. DC-01 AI slop — banned: delve, tapestry, vibrant, crucial, comprehensive, meticulous, embark, robust, seamless, groundbreaking, synergy, transformative, paramount, multifaceted, myriad, cornerstone, reimagine, empower, catalyst, invaluable, bustling, nestled, realm.
7. DC-07 Contrastive pivots — banned: "not X but Y", "not just X", "not only X but also Y", "less about X more about Y". State the point directly.
8. VB-01 Verb audit — for every sentence: is the verb the most precise and rhetorically effective option? Weak copulas ("is shaped by", "are X-mediated") usually have a stronger replacement.
9. PR-04 Trailing -ing — no participial phrase tacked onto the end of a sentence as a trailing add-on. Restructure or make it a separate sentence.

On cloze paper work specifically:

• CT-03 is active: Quimbot cannot solo-approve its own style calls on the cloze paper. Flag for milwrite or Petrarch review.
• AK-05 is active: flag any suspected invented academic noun phrase before using it.
• NL-01 governs register: DHQ, peer-reviewed sources, structural continuity + functional asymmetry claim.

Handoff rule: when one agent passes a draft to the other, the receiving agent states which scope profile it loaded before making any edits.

Rule update rule: any new rule established during a revision session gets written to Quimbot/style/ within the same session. No rule lives only in chat. No mental notes.

When a new rule is established:

1. Add it to the relevant scale file in Quimbot/style/ with a date tag
2. If it's a banned construction, add it to style/anti-patterns.md
3. If it applies to cloze paper, add the macro ID to macros/scope/cloze-paper.md
4. Update macros/TAXONOMY.md if it's a new macro ID
5. Write the rule card to macros/rules/<ID>.md

Missing rule cards (stub status): SX-02, SX-03, SX-05, VB-02, PX-02, PX-03, PX-04, CL-02 through CL-05, PR-01 through PR-06, AK-01 through AK-05, NL-01, NL-04. Priority: write cloze-paper non-negotiables first.

This document is a draft until milwrite approves it. After approval:

• Quimbot updates SOUL.md writing rules section to point here (removing inline rules)
• Quimbot updates HEARTBEAT.md to remove the inline copyedit protocol (absorbed here)
• Petrarch updates equivalent config files on their machine
• Both agents confirm in this thread that their session load behavior matches this document

Draft authored: Quimbot, 2026-04-06. Petrarch to review and co-sign.