Every newsroom has a house style, the small standing rules that keep copy consistent no matter who is writing. distro-house-style captures that layer for Distro: it isn't a voice and it isn't a rewrite workflow, it's a set of correctness-and-format rules that ride on top of whatever writing skill is running.
The idea is to stop re-litigating the same fixes on every draft. Once installed, this skill quietly applies the rules to any story, post, headline, or micro-post headed for a Distro publication, whether you invoked brads-voice, distro-release-rewrite, distro-blog-rewrite, or just typed a draft by hand.
v1.1.0 adds three things. There's a new rule on identifying companies the reader has never heard of, with a two- or three-word tag on first reference ("crypto exchange Bybit," "AI compute network Akash") that wins over the headline character cap when the two collide. There's a new byline rule: the writer's name alone, with any "assisted by Claude" suffix stripped, because the disclosure note is the honest place for that and a byline names who is accountable. And the disclosure note itself got rewritten, out of parentheses and into first person, naming the skill, the newslode, the MCP connector and the fact-check that actually happened.
Other skills lean on this one. distro-link-post now loads it before drafting a word, so installing that skill without this one leaves a gap.
What you'll need
Nothing beyond a vanilla Claude. This skill has no runtime prerequisites and calls no MCP tools. It's a reference the model consults while writing or editing.
What it does
- Caps headlines at 70 characters (and reminds you the Distro publisher's own convention is tighter, ≤60, when filing).
- Puts a two- or three-word identifier on any company outside the top tier at first reference, in the lede always and the headline when it fits, with the identifier beating the character cap when they collide.
- Capitalizes lowercase-styled brand names (peaq, thirdweb, and the like) at the start of a sentence or headline, while preserving the lowercase styling mid-sentence.
- Breaks paragraphs of three or more sentences into shorter grafs for web readability.
- Requires every researched or historical fact to be sourced, with an inline link at the claim, a sources list, or both.
- Standardizes the AI-transparency disclosure under the exact label "HOW AI WAS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS PIECE" — no surrounding parentheses, written in Brad's first person, naming the skill, the newslode, the connector and the fact-check.
- Fixes the byline as the writer's name alone, stripping any AI-credit suffix another skill supplies.
- Carries the Distro dash and hyphenation reminders (no em dashes, spaced en dashes sparingly, hyphenate on-chain / off-chain / self-custodial / co-founder).
Install the skill
Ask Claude:
"Please fetch the distro-house-style skill from Distro Skills and give me a
.skillfile I can install."
Claude will pull this story, extract the SKILL.md from the fenced block below, and package it as distro-house-style.skill. The file will appear in your chat with a Save skill button — click it to install directly. That registers the skill with your Claude app so it shows up in your skills list and triggers on matching requests.
Requires the Distro Reader or Distro Publisher MCP connected so Claude can pull the story. While Distro Skills is private, this works for account holders with access. Public read access is coming.
Claude Code users: you have a direct path — ask Claude to drop the unzipped folder into ~/.claude/skills/distro-house-style/ and restart the session. No packaging step needed.
No Distro MCP connected? Copy the SKILL.md contents from the fenced block below into a file called SKILL.md inside a folder called distro-house-style, zip it (folder as zip root), and upload through Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill.
The skill source
This is the canonical SKILL.md:
---
name: distro-house-style
description: >-
Brad's (Bradley Keoun / "Saucy") house-style rules for Distro copy. Apply this
skill whenever you are writing, editing, headline-ing, or filing any story,
post, blog rewrite, release rewrite, or micro-post destined for a Distro
publication (Hardcore Tech, Liqquidity's Newslode, The January Strategy, DeAI
News, DistroVerse, Fed Feed, DistroCast, etc.) — even if the user doesn't say
the words "house style." These are correctness-and-format rules (headline
length, capitalization of lowercase-styled brand names, paragraph length,
sourcing of researched facts, byline format, and the AI-disclosure label). They
compose with and sit on top of the voice/skill being used (brads-voice,
distro-release-rewrite, distro-blog-rewrite, etc.). Default to applying these rules on any Distro
deliverable rather than asking — it's better to follow house style and have
Brad opt out than to ship copy that violates it.
---
# Distro House Style
These are Bradley Keoun's standing editorial rules for anything published under a
Distro newslode. They govern correctness and format, not voice. Whatever skill is
producing the prose (brads-voice, distro-release-rewrite, distro-blog-rewrite, a
plain draft), layer these rules on top before showing or filing the piece.
Explain-the-why matters here: each rule exists because Brad has been burned by the
opposite, so honor the intent, not just the letter.
## 1. Headlines: 70 characters max
Keep every headline to **70 characters or fewer**. Long heds get truncated in
feeds and readers, and they read as unfocused. If a hed runs long, cut modifiers
and prepositional tails until it fits, keeping the company and the news.
Note on Distro filing: the `distro_content_publish` tool's own convention is even
tighter (≤60 characters). When you're filing to a newslode, aim for ≤60; when
you're just drafting, ≤70 is the ceiling. Sentence case, always.
## 2. Identify companies the reader may not know
Most companies on this beat are not household names. On first reference, put a two- or
three-word identifier on any company outside the top tier: "crypto exchange Bybit,"
"AI compute network Akash," "custody firm BitGo." Assume the reader has never heard of
the company, because most readers haven't.
The identifier belongs in the **lede always**, and in the **headline too** when the hed
still fits its character cap.
Skip it only for names a general reader knows without help: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google,
Coinbase, Nvidia, Meta. If you are unsure whether a name clears that bar, it doesn't.
Identify it.
**When the identifier collides with the headline cap, the identifier wins.** Cut other
modifiers, verbs and prepositional tails to make room before you consider dropping it.
If the hed genuinely cannot carry it and stay under the cap, drop it from the hed and
make certain it is in the lede.
**Example:**
Headline: "Crypto exchange Bybit says AI can play defense, too"
Lede: "Crypto exchange Bybit's AI-assisted security systems blocked more than 30,000
suspicious withdrawal attempts..."
Not: "Bybit says AI can play defense, too"
## 3. Capitalize lowercase-styled brand names at the start of a sentence or headline
Some companies style their own names in all-lowercase (peaq, xAI's lowercase
products, thirdweb, etc.). Respect that styling **mid-sentence**, but when the
name lands at the **start of a sentence or in a headline**, capitalize the first
letter like any other word: "Peaq" at a sentence head, "peaq" inside one. English
sentence and headline capitalization wins over brand styling in that one position.
**Example:**
Headline: "Peaq, Virtuals let robots hire an AI agent to shop on-chain"
Mid-sentence: "The integration is live on peaq's robotic.sh."
## 4. Break up paragraphs of three or more sentences
Web readers skim. If a paragraph runs to **three sentences or more**, break it into
shorter grafs (one to two sentences each) with a hard return. Short grafs create
white space and pace the read. This is especially important for the long
context/backstory grafs in a rewrite, which tend to swell.
## 5. Source every researched fact
Any historical or background fact you dug up (founding years, funding, launch
dates, user counts, prior deals, anything not in the primary announcement) must be
traceable. **Weave an inline link to the original source** at the claim, or list
the sources at the bottom, or both. Don't state researched history bare. If you
can't source a fact, cut it or flag it for Brad rather than asserting it.
**Example (do this):**
"Peaq, whose developers [started building in 2017](https://messari.io/report/understanding-peaq-a-comprehensive-overview)
and launched a mainnet in November 2024..."
## 6. AI-disclosure label
When a piece includes the transparency disclosure about AI's role, label it:
> **HOW AI WAS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS PIECE**
Not "EDITOR'S NOTE." Put it at the very bottom, after an `<hr>`, in italics.
Two format rules that are easy to get wrong:
- **No surrounding parentheses.** The note is not a parenthetical aside.
- **Write it in Brad's first person** ("I drafted...", "I filed...", "I checked..."),
not in third person about him. Brad is the writer; the note describes the tools he
used, so it should sound like him describing his own workflow.
Name what actually happened: the skill used, the newslode it was filed to via the
Distro Publisher MCP connector, the DistroVerse built-in (non-AI) editing interface
if he edited there, and the fact-check against original sources. Example:
> *HOW AI WAS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS PIECE: I drafted this story on Claude
> Desktop using my custom blog-rewrite skill, which read the source post in full and
> pulled background from my own archive. I filed it to DeAI News through the Distro
> Publisher MCP connector and edited it in DistroVerse's built-in (non-AI) editing
> interface. I checked every quote and figure against the original source before
> publication.*
Adapt the wording to what actually happened, but keep the label exact.
## 7. Byline: the writer's name alone
The byline is **`Bradley Keoun`**. Nothing appended to it, and specifically **no
"assisted by Claude" suffix**, on any Distro deliverable.
This is not a retreat from disclosure. Rule 6 is the disclosure, and it is more
honest than a byline tag because it says what the tools actually did. A byline
names who is accountable for the piece; Brad is, because he fact-checked it and
his name is on it. Loading the credit line with tool names buries that.
If any other skill (x-post-story, distro-report-writeup, distro-release-rewrite,
brads-voice, or a bare draft) supplies a byline with an AI-credit suffix, strip it.
This rule wins.
## Dash and hyphenation reminders (carried from Distro style)
- No em dashes (`—`). Use commas, periods, or parentheticals. Readers read em dashes
as an AI tell.
- When a dash genuinely fits, use a spaced en dash: ` – ` (space, `–`, space), once
or twice per piece max.
- Hyphenate: on-chain, off-chain, self-custodial, co-founder.
When to use
- Writing or editing any story, post, or headline for a Distro publication.
- Filing a rewrite (release or blog) and want the format checks applied before it ships.
- Installing
distro-link-post, which loads these rules before it drafts. - Any time consistency with Distro's standing rules matters, even if you didn't say "house style."
When not to use
- Non-Distro writing where these specific conventions don't apply.
- When you want a full voice or rewrite workflow — pair this with brads-voice, distro-release-rewrite, or distro-blog-rewrite; this skill only handles the house-style layer.
Feedback
This is v1.1.0. Edge cases or suggestions → reply or ping Bradley Keoun.