mk:prompt-enhancer

mk:prompt-enhancer

Refine a draft user prompt using a 5-step framework — mode-select, decompose, detect, (scout if --deep), map, rewrite — grounded in 7 source docs <!-- research-citation --> (Anthropic / OpenAI Codex / FactoryAI prompting + Anthropic context-engineering

• skill-authoring rules). The rewrite uses the universal kernel only:

plain markdown sections, no XML tags, no vendor tokens, no model overlays.

When to use

• Draft prompt is ambiguous, missing context, weakly structured, or coupled to one model's framing (XML, role-as-XML, "think step by step", etc.).
• User says: "enhance prompt", "optimize prompt", "make this prompt better", "rewrite this prompt".
• Want to see WHY a prompt was rewritten: append --analyze.
• Want a numeric quality score on the original prompt: append --score (auto-promotes to --analyze --score).
• For codebase-aware suggestions: append --deep (opt-in only).
• Explicit: /mk:prompt-enhancer [--analyze] [--score] [--deep] [--save-to <path>] [text].

When NOT to use

• Generating a prompt from scratch → mk:brainstorming (technical) / mk:office-hours (product).
• Re-examining a code review or plan → mk:elicit.
• Building an implementation plan → mk:plan-creator.
• Auditing running output of an LLM → mk:evaluate or mk:review.
• General codebase scouting → mk:scout directly.

Workflow

Mode-Select → Decompose → Detect → (Scout if --deep) → Map → Rewrite. Detail in references/decomposition-checklist.md, references/playbook.md, references/context-safeguards.md, and references/deep-mode-scout.md. Do not invent steps.

Inputs

• Required: a draft prompt (text). Empty / missing → refuse with redirect.
• Optional: --analyze (include decomposition + detected issues + improvement suggestions).
• Optional: --score (add 1–10 quality score on the original prompt; auto-promotes to --analyze --score because score requires the rubric components).
• Optional: --deep (opt-in scout against allow-listed sources).
• Optional: --save-to <path> (default: active plan dir if any, else ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/...).

The skill does not accept a --model flag. Per the synthesis report (plans/reports/synthesis-260509-2058-prompting-framework.md), model detection violates the model-agnostic mandate; dispatch by model-tier lives in harness-rules.md Rule 5, not here.

Output

Mode-aware. See assets/output-template.md for the templates.

| Flags | Output | |---|---| | (none) — default | Section 4 only — the Enhanced Prompt code block | | --analyze | Sections 1, 2, 3, 4 (decomposition + issues + suggestions + rewrite) | | --analyze --score | Sections 1, 2, 3 + Score: N/10 block + Section 4 | | --score (alone) | Auto-promoted to --analyze --score | | --deep (any mode) | Appends "Suggested context" sub-block to Section 4 when scout returns ≥1 hit |

Internal decomposition + detection still run in default mode — they feed the rewrite — but they are NOT emitted unless --analyze is set. The OUTPUT FORMAT line inside the rewrite always carries the auto-suggested Freedom level (LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH) and Verbosity (terse / structured / confirmation).

References

• references/decomposition-checklist.md — 5 components + 10-item weakness checklist.
• references/playbook.md — improvement fixes, one per checklist item, with doc citation. Includes the deterministic Scoring Rubric used by --score.
• references/context-safeguards.md — 6 model-agnostic safeguards (right-altitude tone, identifier-based context, long-horizon defenses, tool-result clearing, bloat avoidance, eval discipline). Loaded JIT when input shows long-horizon signals or codebase-context references.
• references/deep-mode-scout.md — --deep allow-list, forbid-list, hard caps, fallback.

Hard Constraints (read every run)

Default mode (always):

1. Preserve user intent verbatim. Never silently change the core ask.
2. Never invent facts. Unknown values become [FILL-IN: <description>] placeholders.
3. No padding. Only emit suggestions for FOUND issues. (Default mode hides suggestions entirely; --analyze reveals them.)
4. Universal kernel only. Plain markdown sections (Goal / Context / Constraints / Acceptance Criteria / Output Format). No XML tags, no role-as-XML, no model overlays. If the input prompt contains model-coupled framing, flag it as detection #10 and strip during rewrite.
5. Default = enhanced prompt only. Without --analyze, emit ONLY the Section 4 code block. No Section 1/2/3 headings, no preamble prose, no score. The rewrite is the deliverable; everything else is diagnostics.

--analyze mode (additional):

1. Show all 4 sections. Decomposition table, identified issues (FOUND only — no padding), improvement suggestions (one per finding, citing source doc per references/playbook.md), then the rewrite.
2. --score requires --analyze. If --score is passed alone, auto-promote to --analyze --score (silent — score is meaningless without the rubric components on screen).
3. Score is deterministic. Compute via the formula in references/playbook.md "Scoring Rubric". Never a vibes-based estimate. Show the breakdown alongside the integer.

--deep mode (additional):

1. Allow-list only. Read only docs/project-context.md, CLAUDE.md, repo file-tree

paths, public docstrings. Default-deny everything else (especially .claude/memory/, .env, tasks/, secrets).

1. Suggest, never substitute. Scout outputs go in [FILL-IN: <desc> (suggested: <path>)]

brackets. The user is the source of truth.

1. Bounded scout. ≤8 files, ≤100 lines/file, ≤30s wall clock. Exceed → abort with

SCOUT_BUDGET_EXCEEDED; fall back to default mode.

The Skill tool entry in allowed-tools is reserved for invoking mk:scout under --deep only — not a license to spawn other skills.

Freedom Level Auto-Suggestion

Per skill-authoring (railroading anti-pattern), the rewrite suggests one of three modes in the OUTPUT FORMAT section. Auto-detect from task shape; the user can override.

| Detected signal | Suggested level | Rationale | |---|---|---| | Migration / destructive op / security fix / "do not deviate" wording | LOW | Fragile or sequenced — agent should follow exact procedure | | Standard feature work, refactor with known pattern, bug fix | MEDIUM | Default — outcome-driven with back-compat fence | | Open-ended exploration, design call, "explore" / "consider" verbs | HIGH | Judgment task — terse intent beats step-by-step |

Detection precedence: explicit user signal > destructive verbs > default to MEDIUM.

Persistence

• Active plan? Save to {plan-dir}/prompt-enhancer/<YYMMDD-HHMM>-<short-slug>.md.
• No active plan? Save to ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/prompt-enhancer/<YYMMDD-HHMM>-<short-slug>.md.
• Never write to the skill directory.

Gotchas

(Seeded — grow from observed failures.)

• Default mode emits ONLY the enhanced prompt code block. No Section 1/2/3 headings, no preamble prose, no score, no "here's the rewrite" intro line. The --deep "Suggested context" sub-block is the ONLY thing allowed to append after the rewrite in default mode.
• --score without --analyze is auto-promoted to --analyze --score. A bare score with no rubric breakdown is misleading; the user needs to see WHY they got 6/10.
• Score is deterministic, not vibes. Compute via the formula in references/playbook.md "Scoring Rubric". Never round arbitrarily; never inflate to make the user feel good.
• Score reflects the ORIGINAL prompt, not the rewrite. The rewrite by construction scores 10/10 — that's not interesting. The score answers "how bad was the input?".
• Don't invent examples the user didn't supply. Flag the gap; suggest 1–3.
• Output uses plain markdown headings — no XML, no <context> tags, no role-as-XML. Universal kernel only.
• If input prompt is wrapped in XML or carries vendo