filename-formatting - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: filename-formatting description: Format ebook filenames using citation format with author, title, year, and optional translator/editor. Use when constructing standardized filenames for library catalog.

Filename Formatting

Format: Author Last, First [Contributors] - Title (Year).ext

Author Field

Single Author

Convert to citation format: Last, First

Input	Output
Charles Bukowski	Bukowski, Charles
Simone de Beauvoir	de Beauvoir, Simone
Aristotle	Aristotle

Name particles (de, van, von) stay lowercase with last name. Single names (Aristotle, Plato) have no comma.

Two Authors

Format: Last1, First1 and Last2, First2

Input	Output
Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page	Dornenburg, Andrew and Page, Karen
Brian Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie	Kernighan, Brian W. and Ritchie, Dennis

Three or More Authors

Format: Last, First et al

Input	Output
William H. Press, Saul A. Teukolsky, ...	Press, William H. et al

Contributors

Square brackets with role abbreviation, after author:

Role	Format
Translator	`[tr. Last, First]`
Editor	`[ed. Last, First]`
Multiple	`[tr. Last1, First1; ed. Last2, First2]`

Examples:

Aristotle [tr. Irwin, Terence] - Nicomachean Ethics (2019).pdf
de Beauvoir, Simone [tr. Border, C., Malovany-Chevallier, S.] - The Second Sex (2010).epub

Title Field

Exact title as published. Subtitles: convert colon to space-dash-space.

Original	Filename
Salt: A World History	Salt - A World History
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy	Capital - A Critique of Political Economy

Edition Field

Include only for non-first editions, in square brackets before year:

Press, William H. et al - Numerical Recipes [3rd Edition] (2007).pdf
Kernighan, Brian W. and Ritchie, Dennis - C Programming Language [2nd Edition] (1988).pdf

Omit for first editions.

Year Field

Parentheses: (YYYY)

Use publication year of THIS edition/translation.

File Extension

Preserve original: .epub, .pdf, .mobi, .djvu

Complete Examples

Bukowski, Charles - Love Is A Dog From Hell (2007).epub
Kernighan, Brian W. and Ritchie, Dennis - C Programming Language (1988).pdf
Aristotle [tr. Irwin, Terence] - Nicomachean Ethics (2019).pdf
Marx, Karl [tr. Fowkes, Ben] - Capital - A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1 (1867).epub
Hippo, St. Augustine of [tr. Chadwick, Henry] - The Confessions (2008).epub
Hegel, Georg W. F. [tr. Miller, A.V.] - Phenomenology of Spirit (1977).mobi

Edge Cases

Nobility/Religious Titles

Convert to citation form:

St. Augustine of Hippo: Hippo, St. Augustine of
Saint Thomas Aquinas: Aquinas, Thomas

Multi-Volume Works

Include volume in title:

Capital - Volume 1: A Critique of Political Economy

Solutions Manuals

Include type in title:

Griffiths, David Jeffrey - Solutions Manual for Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (1995).pdf

Forbidden Characters

Do not use these characters in filenames:

: (colon) – convert to space-dash-space in titles (see Title Field rules above)
\ (backslash)
* (asterisk)
? (question mark)
" (quote)
< > (angle brackets)
| (pipe)
ASCII control characters (U+0000–U+001F)
Trailing space
Trailing dot

Remove forbidden characters from titles and other fields (except colons, which convert to -).

Examples:

How Should a Person Be? → How Should a Person Be
Salt: A World History → Salt - A World History (colon converts to dash)
What's the "Real" Point* → What's the Real Point