v0.3.0 — progressive-disclosure restructure and Opus 4.7 alignment#3
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v0.3.0 — progressive-disclosure restructure and Opus 4.7 alignment#3
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… alignment
Cut per-invocation Newton context by ~45% by making the references/ folder
actually do the job its name implies: extract research-methodology,
reuse-check, attribution, and handoff into on-demand reference files, and
replace them in SKILL.md with short pointer blocks. Consolidate the
previously triple-covered core principles into one section plus a leaner
pre-delivery gate, and drop the meta-rationale and duplicated-prose
paragraphs that burned context every turn without earning their place.
Align with current-generation models (Opus 4.7) without making Newton
model-dependent:
- Tool guidance shifts from prescriptive ("run web_search") to
outcome-oriented ("verify time-sensitive claims against current
sources") — both a context win and a better fit for implicit tool
detection.
- Effort-level awareness in the opening move: default toward
quick-start at low/medium effort, full methodology at high/xhigh,
maximum depth at max. Non-Opus environments that don't expose
effort follow default mode.
- Session-memory guidance for multi-turn Newton work when file-system
memory is available.
- Principle-level parallelisation note for independent sub-tasks
(dedicated Newton subagents remain deferred to a later release).
- Vision-as-primary-evidence note inside the research reference.
- Trim tone-management instructions Opus 4.7 handles natively
(no-emoji, no-praise-opener, no-question-echo) — native calibration
replaces them.
Update scripts/generate-rule-files.py to inline references/*.md into
the generated tool-rules output so Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and Copilot
keep the full methodology; those surfaces don't do progressive
disclosure. Widen sync-rules.yml to watch references/** so future
reference edits can't slip past CI.
Also:
- docs/examples/router-claude-md.md: optional user-level CLAUDE.md
template that detects the running model and layers model-appropriate
behaviour on top of any loaded skill. Opt-in by copying into the
user's own CLAUDE.md; not auto-installed.
- plugins/newton/commands/newton.md: replaced the previously empty
stub with a working /newton:newton slash command.
- plugin.json and marketplace.json bumped to 0.3.0.
- README.md: "Using Newton on Opus 4.7" pointer and roadmap update.
- CHANGELOG.md: v0.3.0 entry.
- CONTRIBUTING.md: documents the new references/ inlining flow.
Backwards-compatible on Sonnet 4.6 and Haiku 4.5; no behavioural
regressions. Newton's voice and triggering rules are unchanged.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Pull request overview
This PR restructures the Newton skill content for progressive disclosure (moving extended methodology into references/*.md) while keeping generated tool-rule files self-contained by inlining those references during generation. It also bumps the Newton plugin/marketplace versions to 0.3.0 and adds an example model-aware router template plus a working slash-command stub.
Changes:
- Extracts extended methodology into
plugins/newton/skills/newton/references/*.mdand replaces SKILL body duplicates with short pointer blocks. - Updates
scripts/generate-rule-files.py+sync-rules.ymlto inlinereferences/*.mdinto generated tool-rule files and watch the new paths in CI. - Adds docs/examples router template, fills in
/newton:newtoncommand, and bumps versions + changelog/readme/contributing.
Reviewed changes
Copilot reviewed 19 out of 19 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
plugins/newton/skills/newton/SKILL.md |
Restructures core Newton guidance; adds effort-awareness, pointers to extracted references, and consolidates principles/gates. |
plugins/newton/skills/newton/references/attribution.md |
New extracted attribution methodology reference. |
plugins/newton/skills/newton/references/handoff.md |
New extracted handoff methodology reference. |
plugins/newton/skills/newton/references/research-methodology.md |
New extracted research workflow reference (incl. vision-as-primary-evidence note). |
plugins/newton/skills/newton/references/reuse-check.md |
New extracted reuse-check workflow reference (incl. parallelisation and simplicity discipline). |
scripts/generate-rule-files.py |
Inlines references/*.md into generated rule files and updates README/banner templates accordingly. |
.github/workflows/sync-rules.yml |
Expands CI drift-check inputs to include references/** and updates messaging. |
tool-rules/README.md |
Documents that tool-rule files inline references/ for non-progressive-disclosure tools. |
tool-rules/.cursorrules |
Regenerated output including inlined references + updated banner/body. |
tool-rules/.windsurfrules |
Regenerated output including inlined references + updated banner/body. |
tool-rules/.clinerules |
Regenerated output including inlined references + updated banner/body. |
tool-rules/copilot-instructions.md |
Regenerated Copilot instructions including inlined references + updated banner/body. |
plugins/newton/commands/newton.md |
Adds a working /newton:newton command that prefixes prompts with Newton:. |
plugins/newton/.claude-plugin/plugin.json |
Version bump to 0.3.0. |
.claude-plugin/marketplace.json |
Version bump to 0.3.0. |
docs/examples/router-claude-md.md |
Adds optional user-level model-aware router CLAUDE.md example. |
README.md |
Adds Opus 4.7 usage notes and links to the router example; updates roadmap text. |
CONTRIBUTING.md |
Updates contributor guidance to include references extraction + inlining behavior. |
CHANGELOG.md |
Adds 0.3.0 release notes and updates comparison links. |
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| skill_text = SKILL_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8") | ||
| body = strip_frontmatter(skill_text) | ||
| body = strip_frontmatter(skill_text).rstrip() + "\n" | ||
| references_block = collect_references() | ||
| combined = body + references_block | ||
|
|
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The generated rule files now inline references/*.md, but the SKILL body still contains pointers like see references/research-methodology.md``. In the generated outputs these paths don’t exist (they’re only meaningful relative to plugins/newton/skills/newton/SKILL.md), so readers/tools will see broken references even though the content is inlined below. Consider rewriting those pointer strings during generation (e.g., to “see the ‘Research methodology’ section below” or an anchor link to the inlined heading) so generated files remain self-contained and internally consistent.
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Summary
research-methodology,reuse-check,attribution, andhandoffintoplugins/newton/skills/newton/references/*.mdand replacing them inSKILL.mdwith short pointer blocks. Consolidates the previously triple-covered core principles (Core principles + "What Newton does not do" + Self-evaluation gate) into one core-principles section plus a leaner pre-delivery gate. Removes meta-commentary and duplicated prose.scripts/generate-rule-files.py) to inlinereferences/*.mdunder the main body, so Cursor / Windsurf / Cline / Copilot rule files stay self-contained for surfaces that don't do progressive disclosure. Widenssync-rules.ymlto watchreferences/**.docs/examples/router-claude-md.mdfor users who want model-aware layering across every skill, not just Newton. Opt-in only — not auto-installed by the plugin.plugins/newton/commands/newton.mdgoes from empty stub to a working/newton:newtonslash command.plugin.jsonandmarketplace.jsonbumped to 0.3.0. README adds Using Newton on Opus 4.7 pointer. CHANGELOG and CONTRIBUTING updated.Token footprint (approximate)
SKILL.mdbody: 3,900 → 2,544 words (~35% smaller).references/on-demand: 1,640 words total across 4 files, loaded only when the current turn needs them.Test plan
validate_marketplace.py,validate_plugins.py,validate_skills.py,check_skill_safety.py,check_no_private_contact.py).references/*.mdpointers inSKILL.mdresolve to existing files."Simplicity in what's produced") still matches the heading quoted inNOTICE.md.plugin.jsonandmarketplace.json.validate.ymlandsync-rules.ymlpass on this branch (watching this PR).What is not in this PR (deferred)
newton-researcher,newton-reuse-checker,newton-self-critic) — the principle-level parallelisation note is the stepping stone; the decomposition is a later release.Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) noreply@anthropic.com
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