Own Voice Builder logo

Own Voice Builder

Organization
microsoft
own-voice-builder

Analyze the user's own sent emails to build a personal writing-voice profile and generate a reusable personal voice skill from it. Use this skill whenever the user asks to analyze their writing style, learn their tone of voice, create/build/update a personal voice skill or "own voice" profile, make drafts "sound like me", or makes an equivalent request in any other language. Also use it when the user complains that generated emails or Teams messages don't sound like them and no personal voice skill exists yet.

Overview

Publishermicrosoft
Repositorycat-agent-skills
Skill nameown-voice-builder
Stars
95
Forks
115
Bundled files
1
LicenseMIT
Links
  • Markdown instructions

    A SKILL.md file the model loads on demand, so it only costs tokens when a request actually matches.

  • Works with any LLM

    AI skills are plain Markdown, not provider-specific code, so this works with GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or a local model.

  • 1 bundled files

    Scripts, templates, and references the model can read while it works. Files are read-only and never executed.

  • Open source

    Published by microsoft on GitHub. Read the source before you install it.

Installation

Install the Own Voice Builder AI skill in TypingMind to use it with any LLM, or drop it into another agent that reads SKILL.md.

1

Install in TypingMind

TypingMind installs a skill straight from its GitHub folder — it reads SKILL.md, bundles the resource files, and stores the result locally.

  1. Open the app and go to Plugins → Skills.
  2. Choose "Install from GitHub".
  3. Paste the skill folder URL below and confirm.
    https://github.com/microsoft/cat-agent-skills/tree/main/submissions/own-voice-builder
  4. Enable the skill in any chat where you want it available.
Plugins → Skills → Add skill → From GitHub URL, then paste the folder URL and press Continue.
2

Install in another agent

Any agent that reads the Agent Skills format can use this skill — copy the folder into that agent's skills directory.

Claude Code — .claude/skills
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/microsoft/cat-agent-skills.git /tmp/cat-agent-skills
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r /tmp/cat-agent-skills/submissions/own-voice-builder .claude/skills/own-voice-builder
Restart Claude Code after copying so it picks up the new skill.

Use it in TypingMind

Enable Own Voice Builder in any TypingMind chat and the model takes it from there. Its name and description sit in the system prompt, and the moment a request matches, the model loads the full instructions itself — you never invoke it by hand, and it costs no tokens until it is actually used.

The model loads Own Voice Builder on its own as soon as a request matches it.

Works with any AI model

AI skills are plain Markdown instructions rather than provider-specific code, so Own Voice Builder is not tied to the model it was written for. Install it once in TypingMind and use it with GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral, Llama, or a local model you run yourself — all on your own API keys.

  • Loaded only when it is needed

    The system prompt carries just the name and description. The instructions are fetched on the first matching request, so an idle skill costs nothing.

  • Switch models mid-chat

    Because the skill is instructions rather than code, changing model does not break it — the next model reads the same SKILL.md.

Skill instructions

This is the SKILL.md content the model loads. Read it before installing — a skill is instructions your model will follow.

Own Voice Builder

Follow the phases below to analyze the user's sent emails and generate (or update) a personal voice skill (default name: <firstname>-voice).

Phase 0 — Setup questions (keep it short)

Ask the user, in one message, only what you cannot infer:

  1. Time window: How far back to analyze (default: last 12 months).
  2. Exclusions: Any recipients, domains, or topics to skip (e.g. HR, legal, personal contacts).
  3. Skill name: Default <firstname>-voice; confirm the first name.

If the user already stated any of these in the conversation, do not re-ask. Check the user's existing memories/preferences for style rules (e.g. "no em-dashes", "never start with 'I hope this finds you well'") — these become hard rules in the generated skill, no exceptions.

Phase 1 — Sample & analyze sent mail

Sampling (do this in parallel where the harness allows):

  • Use the mail tool available in this harness (e.g. m365_list_emails with folder="sent") to pull 100–150 sent emails, stratified across the whole time window in 4–6 time buckets so the sample isn't biased toward recent weeks.
  • Retrieve subject, toRecipients, sentDateTime, bodyPreview, and full body where needed.
  • Classify each message: internal vs. external recipient (by domain), language, one-to-one vs. group, thread reply vs. fresh mail.
  • Skip anything matching the user's exclusions. Skip auto-generated mail (calendar responses, forwards without added text, one-word replies) — they carry no style signal.

Analyze the sample for:

  • Language routing: which languages the user writes in (one, several, or mixed within a mail) and what triggers each — recipient domain, thread language, specific people. Make no assumptions about which languages these are; detect them from the sample.
  • Register modes: distinct tone modes (e.g. formal-external, warm-internal, terse-lowercase-quick-reply) and the contexts that trigger each.
  • Structural fingerprints: greetings, openers, how they get to the point, closing patterns, sign-offs — per mode and per language.
  • Vocabulary: recurring connectors, action verbs, hedges, signature phrases.
  • Punctuation & formatting habits: em-dash usage, emoji frequency and which ones, exclamation marks, date formats, bullet style, paragraph length.
  • Behavioral patterns: how they decline, propose meeting times, escalate, follow up, deliver bad news.
  • Evolution: if the style changed over the window, weight recent months higher.
  • Taboo list: words, phrases, and patterns that never appear in their mail — including typical AI-isms absent from it (English examples: "I hope this email finds you well", "delve", "leverage"; identify the equivalent stock phrases in each of the user's languages).

Report: Present the style report inline in the chat as Markdown — do not write the report to a workspace file. (Writing the generated skill file is allowed only in Phase 2’s fallback.)

Phase 2 — Validate, then generate the personal skill

  1. Validation round: Draft 2–3 short test messages in different modes (e.g. one formal external mail in each language, one casual internal Teams-style reply) using the extracted profile. Ask the user to rate them and correct the profile. Fold corrections in as rules.

  2. Create the skill via m_create_skill (or the harness's skill-creation tool), named as confirmed in Phase 0:

    • Description (frontmatter) must contain explicit WHEN-triggers, in every language the user writes in, covering: composing, drafting, replying to, or forwarding emails; sending or replying to Teams/chat/channel messages; and the concrete tool names available in the harness (e.g. m365_send_email, m365_reply_to_email, m365_create_draft, m365_forward_email, m365_send_chat_message, m365_reply_to_chat_message, m365_reply_to_channel_message).
    • Instructions must contain:
      • Language routing rules based on recipient/thread
      • The modes with clear trigger contexts
      • A step-by-step structure template per mode (greeting → opener → body → close → sign-off)
      • Hard rules (what must NEVER happen), including all rules from the user's memories
      • Preferred vocabulary and connectors
      • Punctuation and formatting rules
      • An anti-AI-fingerprint rule: drafts must read as if the user typed them, never like AI output. Default-ban typical AI tells unless the sample proves the user genuinely uses them: em-dashes, "I hope this email finds you well", "delve", "leverage", "furthermore", perfectly parallel three-item structures, excessive bolding, over-hedging, and generic closers like "Let me know if you have any questions" — plus the equivalent stock phrases and tells in every language the user writes in. The safest heuristic: if a phrase or stylistic device does not appear in the user's own corpus, it does not belong in a draft.
      • A privacy rule for external recipients (no internal names, project codenames, or confidential details unless already in-thread)
      • Workflow: always show the draft and wait for explicit confirmation before sending
      • 3–4 concrete mini-examples per mode — written fresh in the extracted style, never copied verbatim from real emails
  3. Fallback: If no skill-creation tool exists in this harness, output the complete generated SKILL.md as a downloadable file and tell the user how to upload it manually.

  4. Confirm: Tell the user exactly which phrases and tool calls trigger the new skill, and that they can re-run this builder anytime to update the profile (if a voice skill with that name already exists, update it instead of creating a duplicate).

Hard rules for this builder

  • Privacy: Never copy verbatim sentences, names, recipients, or confidential content from real emails into the generated skill or the inline report. Extract patterns, not content. All examples must be synthetic.
  • User memories win: Any existing user preference or memory about writing style is a hard rule in the generated skill, even if the mail sample contradicts it (the user may be trying to change a habit).
  • No sending: This builder never sends anything. The generated skill must itself enforce draft-then-confirm.
  • Human, not AI: The entire point of this skill is that the end result feels human. The generated skill must make "no AI-sounding text" a hard rule, and every test draft in the validation round must already comply. When in doubt between a polished-generic phrasing and the user's actual (possibly imperfect) habit, always pick the user's habit.
  • Honest signal only: If the sample is too small or too homogeneous for a claim (e.g. only 3 external English mails), say so instead of inventing a mode.

Bundled files

The model reads these on demand while the skill is loaded. They are exposed as readable files and are never executed.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Own Voice Builder AI skill do?

Analyze the user's own sent emails to build a personal writing-voice profile and generate a reusable personal voice skill from it. Use this skill whenever the user asks to analyze their writing style, learn their tone of voice, create/build/update a personal voice skill or "own voice" profile, make drafts "sound like me", or makes an equivalent request in any other language. Also use it when the user complains that generated emails or Teams messages don't sound like them and no personal voice skill exists yet.

Why use Own Voice Builder on TypingMind?

Because you install it once and use it with any model. Own Voice Builder is plain Markdown rather than provider-specific code, so the same skill runs on GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or a local model — and you can switch model mid-chat without it breaking. TypingMind runs on your own API keys, so you pay providers directly instead of a per-seat subscription, and your skills and chats stay in your own storage.

How do I install Own Voice Builder in TypingMind?

Open Plugins → Skills → Install from GitHub in TypingMind and paste https://github.com/microsoft/cat-agent-skills/tree/main/submissions/own-voice-builder. TypingMind reads its SKILL.md and bundles its files and installs it as a skill you can enable per chat.

Which AI models can use Own Voice Builder?

Any model you connect in TypingMind. AI skills are plain Markdown instructions rather than provider-specific code, so GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and local models can all load this skill when a request matches it.

How many AI models can I use with Own Voice Builder?

As many as you like. As long as a model supports skills, you can use Own Voice Builder with it — GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral, Llama and more — all on TypingMind with your own API keys.

Is the Own Voice Builder AI skill free?

Yes. It is published on GitHub by microsoft under the MIT license. You only pay your own AI provider for the tokens you use.

What are AI skills?

An AI skill is a reusable instruction bundle that teaches an AI model how to do one specific task. It follows the open Agent Skills format: a SKILL.md file with a name and description, plus any scripts, templates or reference files the model may need. The model reads the instructions only when your request matches the skill, so an installed skill costs nothing until it is used.

How are AI skills different from plugins or MCP servers?

A plugin or MCP server gives a model new tools to call — code that runs somewhere and returns a result. An AI skill gives the model knowledge and process instead: how to approach a task, which steps to follow, what good output looks like. Skills are plain Markdown, so they need no server, no API key and no runtime, and they work with any model.

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