comms-md-reader_skill

Overview

This skill adapts outreach and scheduling to a recipient's published comms.md before you contact them. It reads a person's communication preferences and uses them to pick channel, timing, tone, and meeting framing so your message fits their expectations. Use it to reduce friction, avoid anti-patterns, and increase response quality.

How this skill works

The skill locates a comms.md from common places (personal site, contact page, prior messages, or local directory) and extracts relevant sections such as Channel Preferences, Async Voice, Weekly Rhythm, Sync Philosophy, and Interaction Protocols. It classifies your intent (urgent vs. async, casual vs. formal, scheduling vs. ask) and maps that intent to the recipient's decision model, timing windows, and tone rules. If sections are missing or your instruction conflicts with stated preferences, it flags those gaps or trade-offs to you.

When to use it

• Drafting an email, DM, or outreach to someone who may have a comms.md
• Proposing or scheduling a call with someone who publishes availability or sync rules
• Checking a recipient's channel, timing, or tone preferences before sending
• Calibrating message length, formality, or mechanics to match an individual's async voice
• Verifying escalation paths or urgency signals before sending time-sensitive requests

Best practices

• Always fetch and parse comms.md before drafting for a named recipient; skip only if none exists
• Classify your message intent first, then match it to the recipient’s Decision Model for channel choice
• Mirror their Async Voice mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, closeness tier) rather than quoting the file
• Propose meeting slots only inside their Weekly Rhythm and include a tight agenda and duration
• Flag conflicts to the user as choices, and note any missing sections needed to make a confident decision

Example use cases

• Drafting a short outreach email to a prospective collaborator who prefers concise async asks
• Suggesting meeting times that avoid a maintainer's protected focus blocks listed in Weekly Rhythm
• Choosing whether to DM, email, or create an issue based on a developer's Channel Preferences
• Rewriting a follow-up to remove phrases the recipient lists as anti-patterns
• Deciding to propose an async update instead of a call when Sync Philosophy discourages unnecessary meetings