# User: a bad habit of yours is using bold much to often both in all sorts of headings and in body... ## Retrieval Notes - Session id: `de5ab75f-8647-449d-b18b-b99c0af7541e` - Last activity: `2026-02-21T22:05:47.475Z` - Files touched: `1` ## Artifacts **Modified:** - `/Users/nickyoung/.claude/skills/writing-standards/SKILL.md` ## My Notes <!-- Add your notes here. This section is preserved across syncs. --> ## Conversation ### User User: a bad habit of yours is using bold much to often both in all sorts of headings and in body text as well. i hate this. can you do a deep dive into your config and work out the best place to tweak/augment so that you stop doing this? Assistant: Good call — I know exactly what you mean. Let me audit the relevant config files to find the right place for this. [Thinking: 1 block(s), 4.0s total] [Tool Task input: description=Audit config for bold formatting, prompt=I need to find where in the user's Claude configuration bold formatting behavior is (or should be) c..., subagent_type=general-purpose, run_in_back... status=running] User: you got cut off, please continue from where you left off. ### Assistant No worries — let me restart the investigation properly. I'll audit the config files to find the best place to address the bold overuse. ### Assistant Let me read the key config and skill files in parallel: ### Assistant Good, I have CLAUDE.md and the system-design-practices file. Now let me read the skills that govern formatting: ### Assistant Good, found them all. Let me read the four most relevant skills in parallel: ### Assistant Let me check the remaining spots — the style-edit skill and any rules files: ### Assistant OK, I've now audited everything. Here's what I found and my analysis: ## Audit Results **Where bold formatting rules currently exist:** Nowhere. There is zero guidance about when to use (or not use) `**bold**` in any config file. Here's the specific gap in each relevant location: 1. **CLAUDE.md** — Has a "Formatting conventions" bullet that just says "invoke the `writing-standards` skill." No direct bold guidance. 2. **writing-standards skill** — Covers quotation marks, italics, and punctuation in detail. Bold is completely absent. The skill description even says "quotation marks, italics, and punctuation" — bold isn't mentioned. 3. **nick-analytic-voice skill** — Covers vocabulary, tone, sentence rhythm, engagement style. No formatting guidance at all (not its job). 4. **obsidian-markdown skill** — A reference for Obsidian syntax. Lists bold as `**text**` in the formatting table but doesn't say when to use it. It's a syntax reference, not a style guide. 5. **epistemic-discipline skill** — Uses `**bold**` in its own examples (e.g., `**Generative aesthetics argument**` in thread labels). This is actually modelling the overuse pattern. 6. **No `.claude/rules/` directory** exists — so there are no modular rules files. ## Where the Problem Comes From The bold overuse is a Claude default behaviour — not something your config encourages. Without explicit guidance, I default to: - Bold for list item labels: `- **Thing** — description` - Bold for emphasis in running text - Bold in headings (redundant — headings are already visually prominent) - Bold for structural markers in notes Your config has detailed rules against other bad defaults (epistemic hierarchy, Latinate vocabulary, meta-commentary) but nothing constraining bold. ## Best Intervention Point Following the system-design-practices decision framework: | Need | Use | |------|-----| | Behavior Claude keeps violating | Hook (deterministic) or CLAUDE.md (advisory) | | Formatting convention | writing-standards skill (already the designated location) | The right place is **the writing-standards skill**, since: - It's already the designated authority on formatting conventions - CLAUDE.md already tells me to invoke it for formatting - It covers quotes, italics, punctuation — bold fits naturally as the missing fourth category - This avoids bloating CLAUDE.md further However, since bold overuse happens in *all* contexts (casual responses, notes, formal writing), not just when writing-standards is invoked, I'd also add a brief rule to **CLAUDE.md** in the Behavioral Requirements section. This gives two layers: CLAUDE.md for general awareness, writing-standards for detailed guidance when loaded. Here's what I'd add: **In writing-standards SKILL.md**, a new section after Italics: ```markdown ### Bold **Almost never in body text.** Bold is appropriate only for: - Label–description lists where the label needs to stand out: `- **Label** — description` - But only when the list is genuinely structured this way. Not every bullet needs a bold lead. - Table headers (handled automatically by Markdown table syntax) **Never use bold for:** - Emphasis in running text (use italics sparingly, or rephrase for emphasis) - Headings (Markdown headings are already visually distinct — adding bold is redundant) - Section titles or structural markers within body text - Drawing attention to terms on first introduction (use italics per the Italics section) - Entire phrases or clauses for emphasis **The test:** If you're about to bold something, ask: is this a label in a structured list? If not, don't bold it. ``` **In CLAUDE.md**, a one-liner in Behavioral Requirements: ``` - **Minimal bold**: Do not use bold in headings, running text, or for emphasis. Bold is reserved for label–description lists only. See writing-standards skill for detail. ``` Want me to make these edits? *La sobrietà tipografica è una virtù che si impara per sottrazione, mai per accumulo.* ### User just the writing standards for now thanks. don't bother with claude.md change ### Assistant Now I'll add the bold section. It fits naturally after the Italics subsection, within the existing "Quotation and Emphasis Conventions" section: ### Assistant I should also update the skill description in the frontmatter — it currently says "quotation marks, italics, and punctuation" without mentioning bold: ### Assistant Done. Two changes to the writing-standards skill: 1. Added a "Bold" subsection (after Italics, before Punctuation) with a clear rule: bold is for label–description lists only, never for emphasis, headings, terms, running text, or conversational responses. 2. Updated the skill description to mention "bold restraint" so it shows up in the skill's metadata. One limitation worth noting: the writing-standards skill only loads on demand (when writing formal content). The bold overuse also happens in casual conversation, which the skill won't cover. If the change doesn't stick in everyday responses, a one-liner in CLAUDE.md or a `.claude/rules/` file would be the next step — but let's see how this goes first. *Il grassetto è come il sale: chi ne abusa rovina anche il piatto migliore.*