From f33457ee4cc76ea51259a5e35d4733aca14274a7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alex Verkhovsky <alexey.verkhovsky@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2026 21:24:00 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] feat: add optional style_guide input to editorial review
 tasks

When provided, the style_guide input overrides all generic principles
(including Microsoft Style Guide baseline, reader-type priorities, and
structure-model selection) except CONTENT IS SACROSANCT.

Changes to both editorial-review-structure.xml and editorial-review-prose.xml:
- Add style_guide input after content input
- Add STYLE GUIDE OVERRIDE instruction in llm section
- Add "Consult style_guide" action in Step 3 for mid-flow refresh

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 src/core/tasks/editorial-review-prose.xml     | 11 ++++++++++-
 src/core/tasks/editorial-review-structure.xml | 11 +++++++++++
 2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/core/tasks/editorial-review-prose.xml b/src/core/tasks/editorial-review-prose.xml
index f6714b43..ab0aefca 100644
--- a/src/core/tasks/editorial-review-prose.xml
+++ b/src/core/tasks/editorial-review-prose.xml
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@
 
   <inputs>
     <input name="content" required="true" desc="Cohesive unit of text to review (markdown, plain text, or text-heavy XML)" />
+    <input name="style_guide" required="false"
+      desc="Project-specific style guide. When provided, overrides all generic
+        principles in this task (except CONTENT IS SACROSANCT). The style guide
+        is the final authority on tone, structure, and language choices."/>
     <input name="reader_type" required="false" default="humans" desc="'humans' (default) for standard editorial, 'llm' for precision focus" />
   </inputs>
 
@@ -32,7 +36,11 @@
       <i>No conflicts: Merge overlapping fixes into single entries</i>
       <i>Respect author voice: Preserve intentional stylistic choices</i>
     </principles>
-
+    <i critical="true">STYLE GUIDE OVERRIDE: If a style_guide input is provided,
+      it overrides ALL generic principles in this task (including the Microsoft
+      Writing Style Guide baseline and reader_type-specific priorities). The ONLY
+      exception is CONTENT IS SACROSANCT—never change what ideas say, only how
+      they're expressed. When style guide conflicts with this task, style guide wins.</i>
   </llm>
 
   <flow>
@@ -54,6 +62,7 @@
     </step>
 
     <step n="3" title="Editorial Review" critical="true">
+      <action if="style_guide provided">Consult style_guide now and note its key requirements—these override default principles for this review</action>
       <action>Review all prose sections (skip code blocks, frontmatter, structural markup)</action>
       <action>Identify communication issues that impede comprehension</action>
       <action>For each issue, determine the minimal fix that achieves clarity</action>
diff --git a/src/core/tasks/editorial-review-structure.xml b/src/core/tasks/editorial-review-structure.xml
index 26ef400a..fb8f0af6 100644
--- a/src/core/tasks/editorial-review-structure.xml
+++ b/src/core/tasks/editorial-review-structure.xml
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
   <inputs>
     <input name="content" required="true"
       desc="Document to review (markdown, plain text, or structured content)"/>
+    <input name="style_guide" required="false"
+      desc="Project-specific style guide. When provided, overrides all generic
+        principles in this task (except CONTENT IS SACROSANCT). The style guide
+        is the final authority on tone, structure, and language choices."/>
     <input name="purpose" required="false"
       desc="Document's intended purpose (e.g., 'quickstart tutorial',
         'API reference', 'conceptual overview')"/>
@@ -41,6 +45,12 @@
       <i>Propose, don't execute: Output recommendations-user decides what to accept</i>
       <i critical="true">CONTENT IS SACROSANCT: Never challenge ideas—only optimize how they're organized.</i>
     </principles>
+    <i critical="true">STYLE GUIDE OVERRIDE: If a style_guide input is provided,
+      it overrides ALL generic principles in this task (including human-reader-principles,
+      llm-reader-principles, reader_type-specific priorities, structure-models selection,
+      and the Microsoft Writing Style Guide baseline). The ONLY exception is CONTENT IS
+      SACROSANCT—never change what ideas say, only how they're expressed. When style
+      guide conflicts with this task, style guide wins.</i>
     <human-reader-principles>
       <i>These elements serve human comprehension and engagement-preserve unless clearly wasteful:</i>
       <i>Visual aids: Diagrams, images, and flowcharts anchor understanding</i>
@@ -122,6 +132,7 @@
       <action>Note reader_type and which principles apply (human-reader-principles or llm-reader-principles)</action>
     </step>
     <step n="3" title="Structural Analysis" critical="true">
+      <action if="style_guide provided">Consult style_guide now and note its key requirements—these override default principles for this analysis</action>
       <action>Map the document structure: list each major section with its word count</action>
       <action>Evaluate structure against the selected model's primary rules
         (e.g., 'Does recommendation come first?' for Pyramid)</action>