plain-english
Make Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and Grok explain technical work in plain English—without losing precision. Open Agent Skill.
Install with your AI
Paste into Claude Code, Cursor, or any agent — it reads the repo and wires the tool into your project.
Install and set up plain-english (release-binary project) into my current project. Found on https://claudeers.com/plain-english Repo: https://github.com/Tradelord223/plain-english Homepage/docs: — Detected install method: release-binary → inspect the README Category: skills. Platforms: cli, api. Read the repo's README for exact setup and env vars, then install it and wire it into my project. Claudeers Health Verdict: active; community-verified: false. Confirm the source before running anything.
Grab the latest release asset from GitHub.
# download a build from https://github.com/Tradelord223/plain-english/releases
git clone https://github.com/Tradelord223/plain-english
// compatibility
| Platforms | cli, api |
|---|---|
| Operating systems | — |
| AI compatibility | claude |
| License | MIT |
| Pricing | open-source |
| Language | Shell |
Your coding agent did the work. Plain English makes the answer usable.
One open Agent Skill for Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and Grok.
Install · See the difference · Why it is different · v1.2.0
Install
npx skills add Tradelord223/plain-english -g
The installer finds the plain-english skill and lets you choose the agents that
should use it. The skill is Markdown: no runtime, API key, account, or telemetry.
Then ask your agent:
Explain what changed in plain English. Keep the exact file names and validation results.
Prefer a manual install? Use the guide for Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, or Grok Build.
See the difference
Without Plain English
In
auth.ts, the authentication middleware implementation now facilitates the rejection of expired JWTs prior to downstream request handling.
With Plain English
auth.tsnow rejects expired JWTs before the app handles the request.
Same fact. Fewer obstacles.
The skill also changes the explanation for the reader without changing the underlying behavior:
| Reader | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Backend engineer | The endpoint is idempotent: the idempotency key returns the first payment response instead of creating a second charge. |
| Store owner | Retrying with the same request key returns the first result instead of charging the customer twice. |
Why this is different
Most “plain language” prompts are word-swap lists. That is dangerous in technical work because the easy synonym is often wrong.
| Blind replacement | What Plain English does instead |
|---|---|
serialize → “turn into JSON” | Names JSON only when the format is known to be JSON |
deploy → “put live” | Names the real target: local, staging, or production |
idempotent → “safe to run twice” | Explains the actual retry and duplicate-effect guarantee |
should → must | Preserves whether something is advice or a requirement |
| “likely cause” → “cause” | Keeps uncertainty when the evidence is incomplete |
Plain English simplifies the explanation, not the evidence.
What it improves
- Change summaries that lead with the user-visible result
- Status updates that separate done, in progress, and blocked
- Error reports that distinguish a confirmed cause from a likely one
- Handoffs that keep exact files, commands, decisions, and open work
- How/why answers that match the reader's technical background
- Walkthroughs with clear actions, checkpoints, and recovery steps
It does not rewrite code, commands, raw logs, or load-bearing technical specifications. It does not invent facts, hide failed checks, or remove caveats to make an answer shorter.
How it works
Before sending a user-facing answer, the skill makes the agent:
- Infer whether the reader is expert, mixed, nontechnical, or unknown.
- Preserve facts, certainty, obligations, conditions, scope, and exact names.
- Explain the behavior instead of applying a jargon dictionary.
- Lead with the outcome, answer, or blocker.
- Cut anything that does not help the reader understand, act, or verify.
The canonical instructions live in
skills/plain-english/SKILL.md.
Built to stay honest
- One source of truth: platform copies are generated from one canonical skill.
- Cross-platform drift checks: CI verifies Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and Grok stay synchronized.
- Behavior contract: ten adversarial cases cover uncertainty, must-versus-should, staging-versus-live, unknown formats, exact errors, expert terminology, and incomplete validation.
- Open source: MIT licensed, with no service dependency.
Read the behavior cases, changelog, or v1.2.0 release notes.
Supported agents
| Agent | Skill path |
|---|---|
| Cursor | skills/plain-english/ |
| Claude Code | .claude/skills/plain-english/ |
| OpenAI Codex | .agents/skills/plain-english/ |
| Grok Build | .grok/skills/plain-english/ |
The open Agent Skills installer can install the canonical skill into supported hosts. Platform copies remain in the repository for native and manual installs.
Help more people find it
If Plain English makes one handoff, error report, or code explanation easier to use, star the repository. Stars help other builders find useful open Agent Skills.
Issues and focused pull requests are welcome. See
CONTRIBUTING.md before changing the skill contract or
platform copies.
License
MIT © 2026 Raqz
// faq
What is plain-english?
Make Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and Grok explain technical work in plain English—without losing precision. Open Agent Skill.. It is open-source on GitHub.
Is plain-english free to use?
plain-english is open-source under the MIT license, so it is free to use.
What category does plain-english belong to?
plain-english is listed under skills in the Claudeers registry of Claude-compatible tools.
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