---

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

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

the pattern: drop hedges, replace abstraction with concrete metaphor, say less.

resources

• references/2025-12-18 amp voice and terminology.md — full guide