better-writing Skill: Write and Review Interface Copy in Your Product's Voice

Writes and reviews interface copy such as labels, errors, empty states and confirmations, in your product's own voice.

Installs: 31.5K; on skills.sh
Stars: 10K; on GitHub
Files: 2; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

better-writing makes your agent write and review the words inside an interface. It first finds the strings, nouns and verbs your project already uses, then checks copy against rules such as verb-first buttons, errors that say how to fix the problem, empty states that point forward and undo instead of "Are you sure?". A review comes back as a table of findings rated HIGH, MEDIUM or LOW and ends with Block or Approve. It leaves how text renders, accessibility, layout and color to four sibling skills in the same repo.

Good for

Product designers and UX writers who want consistent microcopy
Front-end developers writing error messages and button labels
Teams with translations who need strings built for plurals and locales
Claude Code and Codex users who already run skills

Install better-writing

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the better-writing skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add https://github.com/jakubkrehel/skills --skill better-writing

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js.

From its listing on skills.sh. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Writes and reviews interface copy, from labels and errors to empty states and confirmations, so it matches the product's voice and tells people what to do next.

Sections in SKILL.md

Inventory the existing strings first
One voice, one vocabulary
Address the reader directly
Plain words over clever ones
Build strings whole
Verb-first buttons
Links describe their destination
One capitalization policy
Settings describe the ON state
Errors say how to fix, next to where it broke
Undo beats confirmation
Empty states point forward
Placeholders show an example
Before you finish
Reporting

Key facts

Author: jakubkrehel (repo owner)
License: MIT
Installs on skills.sh: 31,502 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 10,003 (Nov 2, 2026, whole repo)
Last commit: Oct 25, 2026
What installs: 3 files including SKILL.md: patterns.md and an agents/openai.yaml display file; no scripts
Hands off to: better-typography, better-accessibility, better-layout, better-colors (same repo)
skills.sh audits: Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass, Socket: pass, Snyk: pass

What it includes

Finds your translation calls, locale files and the terms you use
Before writing it searches for t(, i18n., FormattedMessage and $t( plus locale files such as locales/**/*.json, and lists the noun for each object and the verb for each action.
Files · Inventory existing strings
Keeps new copy in the voice your product already has
A local edit does not invent a new voice. Tone flexes with the stakes, from warm for onboarding to serious for data loss.
One voice, one vocabulary
Writes "you", not "the user", and prefers plain words
No idioms, no humor that will not translate, and no "we" in errors.
Address the reader directly
One message with placeholders, never glued fragments
Uses ICU-style plurals and Intl formatting for numbers, dates and lists. Recipes are in patterns.md.
Build strings whole
Buttons start with a verb; links name their destination
"Save draft", not "OK!"; "Read the billing docs", not "Click here".
Verb-first buttons and clear links
One case policy per element type; toggles describe the ON state
Sentence case is the default if the project has no policy. "Send read receipts", not "Don't send read receipts".
Capitalization and toggles
Puts the fix next to the field that failed
No blame, no "Oops", no exclamation marks. Example: "Choose a password with at least 8 characters".
Errors say how to fix
Prefers undo for reversible actions; confirms irreversible ones
A confirmation names the action and the object, says what is lost, and uses verb-plus-object buttons. Account or repo deletion asks you to type the name.
Undo beats confirmation
Empty states point forward; placeholders show an example
An empty state says what the place is and offers one next action. A placeholder shows a realistic value such as name@example.com.
Empty states and placeholders
Greps for known bad patterns before it finishes
Flags things like "Click here", "Oops", "Are you sure", "successfully" and a string built with " + n + ".
Read · Detection table
Findings by principle with severity, ending Block or Approve
A table of Severity, Location (path/to/file:line), Before, After and Why. Strings from a CMS or server it could not see are reported as Not verified.
Review report

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

It writes interface copy in your project, so a careless run can change text you meant to keep. Review the diff before you commit.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It edits the text in your interface
The skill writes interface copy, so expect changes to labels and messages in your code. Read the diff before you keep it. github.com
Server and CMS copy is not checked
SKILL.md says strings it could not see are reported as Not verified. Check those yourself. github.com

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only switch. Ask for a review only and no edits if you want findings without changes.
Scopes	Your project's source and locale files

Questions

What does better-writing do?

It makes your agent write and review interface copy: labels, errors, empty states, confirmations and the terms that run through them. It matches your product's existing voice and flags copy that misleads people or leaves them without a way forward.

How do I install better-writing in Claude Code?

Use the install box above. The README's command installs every skill in the repo; to take only this one, add --skill better-writing to the skills command, a flag the skills CLI documents.

Does better-writing work in the Claude app or Codex?

The install box has a tab for each. The README documents the skills CLI and a Claude Code plugin and does not mention the Claude app or Codex, so treat both as untested by the author.

Does better-writing need an API key?

No. It bundles no scripts and SKILL.md names no key or service. It reads your project files to find existing copy.

Is better-writing safe?

It bundles no scripts, so the risk is edits to your UI text. It writes copy in your project and reviews existing strings, so read the diff before you keep the changes. Strings that come from a CMS or API are reported as Not verified because the skill cannot see them.

Do I need the other better-* skills?

SKILL.md hands rendering, accessibility, layout and color questions to better-typography, better-accessibility, better-layout and better-colors. It leaves those topics to them, so install them too if you want those checks.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: jakubkrehel/skills
Folder: skills/better-writing

jakubkrehel/skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

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