Icosa Canon

Agent guide

Use Icosa Canon with an LLM

Give an LLM this page and the writing you want reviewed. Canon tools report deterministic rule findings; the reference pages support a separate, clearly labeled interpretive review.

Choose the first available method

  1. WebMCP: use canon_check when this page exposes it in a compatible browser. The tool runs the Canon checker locally in the browser.
  2. Configured MCP: outside the browser, use the existing Canon MCP server when it is already connected to the agent.
  3. Scoped static references: consult the specific rule, term, notation, or composition pages needed for the review.
  4. Complete static reference: use canon.md when scoped pages are insufficient or browsing several pages is unavailable.

canon.json is the generated structured form for consumers that need exact fields. icosa-canon.scip is the standard code-intelligence index for consumers that understand SCIP. WebMCP and MCP are capabilities, not prerequisites: every reference linked here is ordinary static content.

Static references support an interpretive review; they do not execute the parser. Report deterministic findings only after canon_check actually runs.

Tool vocabulary

canon_check
Check writing with an explicit format of markdown, mdx, text, or json; an explicit surface of product, marketing, public, or docs; and one required profile from the 16 published Canon corpus profiles.
canon_resolve
Resolve a Canon reference, optionally constrained by kind.
canon_compose
Compose using a named Canon composition. Pages whose operand_contract.enumeration is finite-members or generated-cores publish the complete accepted tuples, positional vocabulary, and an exact request/result example. Of the semantic-rule compositions, compose.pattern accepts one exact authored pattern-notation operand; compose.path-transition is validation-only and cannot be run through canon_compose; and compose.interaction accepts its published three operands and returns the exact matching interaction ID. Use that enumeration to distinguish semantic rules from finite tuples. Keep published empty strings as required unused-slot placeholders.
canon_decompose
Decompose an exact reversible value using a named Canon composition. Finite members, generated Formation identity IDs, and exact authored pattern notation are supported. compose.interaction reverses an exact interaction ID to its three published operands; path-transition values are not reversible through this operation.

Review contract

  • Never invent a Canon rule or present an inference as authored Canon.
  • Claim a deterministic checker finding only after canon_check runs. Otherwise state that the checker was unavailable and label the review interpretive.
  • Do not silently rewrite meaning. Preserve the author’s intent and present authored suggestions only when Canon supplies them.
  • Treat an entry without explanatory prose as unspecified; its name, code, kind, and relationships do not supply a missing definition.

Expected response

  1. Whether canon_check ran, plus its Canon data revision when it did.
  2. If it ran, deterministic findings with severity, rule ID, source location, explanation, and authored suggestion when present.
  3. Interpretive observations in a separately labeled section.
  4. A revised passage only when the user asks for one.

Copyable prompt

Check the writing I provide against Icosa Canon.

Canon guide: https://canon.icosa.org/for-llms/

Use the canon_check tool when it is available. Only call a result deterministic when canon_check actually ran. If canon_check is unavailable, say that the deterministic checker was unavailable, consult the static Canon references linked from the guide, and label every observation as interpretive rather than as a checker finding.

Never invent Canon rules, infer meaning for entries whose explanation is absent, or silently rewrite the author's meaning. Cite the Canon rule ID for every rule-based observation.

If canon_check ran, return the Canon data revision and, for each deterministic finding, its severity, rule ID, location, explanation, and authored suggestion when present. Keep any separate interpretive observations clearly labeled.

Writing to check:
[PASTE WRITING HERE]
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Agent resources

Discovery file: llms.txt.