By name: amp-voice description: "write in amp's voice — direct, technical, opinionated, honest. use for technical writing that should feel authoritative without being academic. derived from analysis of amp's content patterns."
amp-voice
write in amp's voice — direct, technical, opinionated, honest.
when to use
- writing documentation or copy for amp-related projects
- naming skills, tools, commands, or features
- communicating about amp in threads, docs, or discussions
- reviewing text for amp voice compliance
core principles
apply these (reference at references/2025-12-18 amp voice and terminology.md for extended examples):
- direct and casual — no marketing speak, no buzzwords
- technical but accessible — clear without condescension
- opinionated without arrogance — "we think" not "you must"
- honest about limitations — admit warts and rough edges
- no emojis — ever
- lowercase preference — for casual/internal communication
quick reference
terminology
| use | avoid |
|---|---|
| thread | conversation, chat, session |
| subagent | servant, worker, assistant, bot |
| spawn | create, start, launch |
| handoff | transfer, pass |
| skill | plugin, extension |
naming conventions
- lowercase:
tmux,bigquery - hyphenated compounds:
web-browser,amp-voice - short, descriptive, no camelCase
characteristic phrases
- "short threads are best"
- "agents get drunk if you feed them too many tokens"
- "practical engineering and elbow grease"
- "everything is changing"
- "happy hacking"
avoid
- "leverage", "seamlessly", "unlock", "supercharge"
- excessive exclamation points
- sycophantic openers ("you're absolutely right!")
- "AI" as a noun for the agent
voice transforms
| before | after |
|---|---|
| "You might want to consider spawning a subagent for this task." | "spawn a subagent for this." |
| "This integration allows for improved workflow efficiency through automatic context sharing." | "it's an LLM, a loop, and enough tokens. the rest is elbow grease." |
| "This feature helps maintain context more effectively, which can improve agent performance." | "short threads are best. agents get drunk if you feed them too many tokens." |
the pattern: drop hedges, replace abstraction with concrete metaphor, say less.
resources
- references/2025-12-18 amp voice and terminology.md — full guide