DEPRECATED — Modern Claude models condense and summarize technical documentation natively with comparable quality. The output format preferences encoded here (40% length cap, tables over prose, paths first) are too generic to justify skill overhead. Retained for archival reference only.
Document Condenser
Transform verbose technical documentation into concise, developer-focused specs.
Core Principles
- Paths first - Every file reference includes full/relative path
- Tables over prose - Use tables for metrics, coverage, file lists
- Code samples stay - Keep small, illustrative snippets; remove verbose examples
- Commentary, not explanation - Brief context sentences, not paragraphs
- One-line history - Reference legacy docs, don't preserve their content
Output Structure
# [path/to/output.md]
# [Title] - [Subtitle if needed]
## Purpose
[2-3 sentences: what this is, why it exists, key design principle]
## Status
[Table: metrics, rates, performance]
## Architecture Overview
[Optional diagram or brief flow description]
[Only if it aids understanding]
## Implementation Files
[Grouped by category with paths and one-line descriptions]
## [Domain-Specific Sections]
[Tables, code snippets, brief commentary as needed]
## Quick Reference
[Box or code block with key stats for scanning]See assets/template.md for a copy-ready scaffold of this structure.
Transformation Rules
KEEP
- File paths (always full or project-relative)
- Metrics and measurements
- Code snippets under 15 lines that illustrate patterns
- Schema examples and data structures
- Coverage/status tables
CONDENSE
- Multi-paragraph explanations → 1-2 sentences
- Verbose examples → representative snippet + "see X for more"
- Implementation checklists → completion status table
- Long rationales → single "Design principle: X" line
- Code snippets longer than 20 lines → condense to the core pattern + a reference comment pointing to the source file
- Rationale sections where the same point is restated across more than 3 sentences → collapse to one "Design principle:" line
REMOVE
- Historical context beyond one reference line
- Achieved/completed celebration language
- Redundant explanations of the same concept
- Step-by-step tutorials (link to them instead)
- "What we learned" retrospectives
FORMAT
- Use
code blocksfor paths and commands - Group related files under headers
- Prefer tables over bullet lists for structured data
- End with quick-reference block for scanning
Working with Existing Documents
When condensing an existing verbose doc:
- Identify the core purpose (first paragraph of output)
- Extract all file paths into grouped tables
- Preserve code samples that show patterns
- Convert prose sections to tables where possible
- Add single history reference line
- Verify no information loss on key technical details
Style Guide
See references/style-guide.md for detailed formatting rules, table patterns, and code sample guidelines.
Example Transformation
Before (verbose):
We have successfully achieved and EXCEEDED the original goals of this specification!
After many iterations and improvements, our automation rate reached 96.6% which is
above our target of 95%. The team worked hard on this and we're very proud...After (concise):
**v31 PRODUCTION** | 96.6% automation (target: 95%)Calibration Rules
- Condensed output must not exceed 40% of source document length measured in words.
- All file paths present in the original must appear in the condensed output — paths are never dropped.
- Code blocks are never removed outright; reduce length by extracting the representative pattern and adding a source reference comment.
Error Handling
- Source document has no clear purpose: ask for one sentence of context before condensing — do not infer a purpose and proceed.
- A section contains items that are ambiguous between KEEP and REMOVE: default to KEEP and flag the section with a
<!-- review: ambiguous -->comment in the output. - Condensed result loses required technical detail identified during verification: restore the omitted detail and re-measure against the 40% length cap; if the cap cannot be met, document the exception inline.
- Source contains no file paths: skip the Implementation Files section entirely rather than generating placeholder paths.
- Source is a non-text format (image, diagram, spreadsheet): report the format is unsupported and return without output.
- Style guide conflicts with source formatting conventions: follow
references/style-guide.mdand note the override at the top of the output.
Limitations
- Works on text documents only; images, diagrams, and binary files cannot be condensed.
- Condensation ratio depends on source verbosity — highly structured sources yield less reduction.
- Style guide deference (
references/style-guide.md) takes precedence over source formatting, which can alter heading levels and table layouts. - Does not follow hyperlinks or fetch referenced external documents; referenced content is noted but not inlined.