Markdown Report Skill

Use this skill when producing any written deliverable that will be saved as a markdown file — research reports, summaries, documentation, analysis, meeting notes, or any structured text output.

Document Structure

Every report should follow this skeleton:

# Title

> One-line summary of what this document covers and its key conclusion.

## TL;DR
- 3-5 bullet points capturing the most important findings
- A reader who only reads this section should understand the main takeaways

## Section 1: [Topic]
Body text organized by subtopic, not by source.

## Section 2: [Topic]
Continue with the next logical section.

## Conclusion
Brief synthesis — what does this all mean? What are the implications or next steps?

## Sources
- [Source Name](URL) — accessed YYYY-MM-DD

Writing Guidelines

• Lead with conclusions, not process. The reader wants answers, not a journal of your research.
• Use headers liberally — a reader should be able to scan headers alone and understand the structure.
• Keep paragraphs short — 3-5 sentences max. Dense walls of text are unreadable.
• Use bold for key terms or findings on first mention.
• Use tables for comparisons — never describe tabular data in paragraph form.
• Use bullet points for lists of 3+ items — never inline them in a paragraph.

Tables

When comparing options, features, or data points, always use a table:

| Feature | Option A | Option B | Option C |
|---------|----------|----------|----------|
| Price   | $10/mo   | $25/mo   | Free     |
| Speed   | Fast     | Faster   | Slow     |

Never write "Option A costs $10/mo and is fast, while Option B costs $25/mo and is faster..." — that belongs in a table.

Code Blocks

When including code, commands, or technical output:

• Always specify the language for syntax highlighting: python, bash, ```json
• Add a brief comment above the block explaining what it does
• Keep blocks short — extract the relevant portion, don't dump entire files

File Naming

• Use lowercase with dashes: quarterly-report.md, api-comparison.md
• Include date for time-sensitive reports: 2026-02-20-market-analysis.md
• Be descriptive — report.md is useless, q1-2026-sales-analysis.md is clear

Metadata Header

For important documents, include a metadata block at the top:

---
title: Q1 2026 Market Analysis
date: 2026-02-20
author: Mux Agent
status: final
---

Common Pitfalls

• Don't bury the key finding at the bottom — put it in the TL;DR and introduction
• Don't use headers inconsistently — pick a hierarchy and stick with it
• Don't write a report that reads like a conversation transcript
• Don't skip the Sources section — always attribute where information came from
• Don't produce a report longer than necessary — conciseness is a feature
• Don't forget to save the file — always confirm the write was successful