# Voice shorthand cheat sheet

Version: 1.2
Updated: 2026-07-17

Purpose: turn short spoken phrases into consistent workflows without losing scope or authority.

Output: a copy-ready context rule and a personal phrase glossary.

## Use when

You dictate recurring instructions to an agent and want short phrases to expand into the same bounded procedure every time.

## Quick start

1. Copy the starter context block into the agent instructions you actually use.
2. Keep only phrases you invoke repeatedly; edit each expansion to match your tools and approval rules.
3. Test one phrase in a low-risk task and confirm the returned evidence is sufficient.

## Copy-ready starter context

```text
Voice input may contain missing punctuation, rough casing, homophones, or short fragments.

Infer intent only when the consequence is reversible and low risk. Repeat and verify exact URLs, paths, identifiers, numbers, legal text, public facts, and irreversible actions before changing them.

Shorthand compresses an instruction; it does not create new authority. A phrase may not silently widen scope, publish, send, delete, purchase, or change external state. A one-word reply advances only an already-defined and already-authorised next step.

When a shorthand phrase is used, follow its written expansion, preserve its stop condition, and return the named evidence.
```

## Starter glossary

| Spoken phrase | Exact expansion | File changes | External state | Return point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investigate only | Read, test, and report evidence. Do not implement. | No | No | Findings, uncertainty, and strongest next check. |
| Live truth first | Identify the real outcome, active deploy, owning revision, editable source, drift, and collisions. | No | No | Stop if ownership cannot be proven. |
| Smallest coherent change | Fix only the named problem and its required consumers; avoid unrelated cleanup. | In scope | No | Diff, checks, and remaining risk. |
| Preview only | Build and verify a draft deployment; do not publish production. | In scope | Draft deploy only | Preview URL and audit evidence. |
| Commit only | Stage explicit intended files, run required checks, commit, and do not push. | In scope | No | Commit and clean/dirty state. |
| Deploy live | Run the agreed gate, publish the verified artifact, and check production truth. | In scope | Production deploy | Deploy ID, public verification, and failures. |
| Adversarial pass | Challenge the claim, evidence, and hidden assumptions independently. | No by default | No | Disagreements and checks that would resolve them. |
| Leave a handoff | Record state, decisions, evidence, boundaries, stop conditions, and one safe next action. | Handoff only | No | Standalone packet. |
| Stop | Preserve current state and take no further action until reauthorised. | No | No | Stop immediately. |

## Add a personal phrase

Copy this block once per phrase:

```text
Phrase:
Trigger meaning:
Required inputs:
Exact ordered steps:
Files or systems allowed:
External side effects allowed:
Evidence to return:
Stop if:
Authority returns when:
```

Reject a phrase if two capable readers could interpret its next action differently.

## Dictation safety record

Use this only for literals where one wrong character matters.

| Heard | Interpreted exact value | Verified from | Confirmed? |
|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  | Yes / No |

High-risk literal categories:

- domains, routes, repository paths, branch names, and identifiers;
- quantities, prices, dates, account numbers, and version numbers;
- compliance, legal, medical, financial, or public factual wording;
- send, publish, purchase, delete, merge, or production-deploy targets.

## Worked example

**Spoken prompt:** “Live truth first on the templates page, then preview only.”

**Expansion:**

1. Inspect the public page, active deploy, revision, editable source, working-tree state, and concurrent work.
2. Stop and report if ownership is ambiguous.
3. If ownership is clear, make only the already-requested template change.
4. Run the production build and focused download checks.
5. Create a draft deploy, audit it, and return the URL and failures.
6. Do not publish production.

**Useful return:** owning source, revision, changed files, build result, preview deploy ID, tested routes and viewports, failures, and the exact point where approval is needed.

## Setup check

- [ ] Every phrase has one unambiguous expansion.
- [ ] File, system, and external-state boundaries are explicit.
- [ ] Evidence and stop conditions are part of the expansion.
- [ ] One-word replies cannot widen authority.
- [ ] Exact literals are verified from a source of truth.
- [ ] A new agent can use the glossary without private conversation history.