---
name: humanize
description: Make generated prose read like a real person wrote it, not AI. A shared rulebook of banned words, punctuation rules, and structural patterns that strip the AI "voice" from any free text — used when drafting open-ended application answers and cover letters. Truthful always; humanizing never adds a claim not grounded in the resume/profile.
---

# Humanize

Apply to any free text we generate for the user: open-ended application answers ("Why this company?",
custom essays) and cover letters. Goal: it reads like the candidate wrote it, plainly and specifically.
Adapted from the public `blader/humanizer` rules.

## Punctuation
- **No em-dashes or en-dashes (— –).** Use a period, comma, or colon.
- **No parentheses for an aside or explanation.** Rewrite it as a plain sentence or a comma clause.
- Straight quotes, not curly. Don't over-use bold. No emoji. No inline mini-lists inside a prose answer.

## Banned words / swaps
- Drop: actually, additionally, furthermore, moreover, testament, landscape, showcasing, leverage, delve,
  robust, seamless, deeply, intricate, boasts.
- Swap: "in order to" → "to"; "due to the fact that" → "because"; "serves as / features / boasts" → "is / has".
- Cut hedging stacks: "could potentially possibly" → "may".
- No clichés: "I'm passionate / excited…", "team player", "hit the ground running".

## Structure to avoid
- Negative parallelism: "it's not just X, it's Y".
- Automatic rule-of-three lists — use the natural number of items.
- Synonym cycling — repeat the clearest term instead of swapping synonyms.
- False ranges ("from the Big Bang to dark matter") — name the things directly.
- Manufactured drama / aphorisms ("Symmetry is the language of trust").
- Signposting ("Let's dive in", "Here's what you need to know") and chatbot closers ("I hope this helps").
- Fake candor ("Honestly? It depends…").
- Hyphenated buzz-pairs when avoidable ("cross-functional", "data-driven").

## Do
- Be specific: real facts and numbers from the resume, not "experts believe".
- Show what you did; don't summarize.
- **Vary sentence length** — mix short and longer.
- Use contractions. Sound like a person talking, not a press release.