Japanese Cover Letter Skill

Japanese Cover Letter Skill

IMPORTANT: All user-facing communication (questions, messages, document drafts, error messages) MUST be in Japanese.

Overview

Interactively create Japanese business cover letters (送付状 / 案内状 / 添え状). Follows the template spec (references/cover_letter_template_spec.md) through a workflow of: hearing requirements -> drafting -> approval -> docx output.

Prerequisites

1. Node.js / npm

This skill uses Node.js via the docx skill. At workflow start, verify node and npm are available (node --version and npm --version).

If unavailable, abort the workflow and show the user this message:

Node.js / npm が見つかりません。docx ファイルの生成に必要です。

以下のいずれかの方法でインストールしてください:

• 公式サイト: https://nodejs.org/ から LTS 版をダウンロード・インストール
• winget (Windows): winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS
• brew (macOS/Linux): brew install node

インストール後、ターミナルを再起動してから再度このスキルを実行してください。

2. uv (Python runtime)

This skill uses uv for Python script execution. At workflow start, verify uv is available (uv --version).

If unavailable, abort the workflow and show the user this message:

uv が見つかりません。Python スクリプトの実行環境として必要です。

以下のいずれかの方法でインストールしてください:

• Windows (PowerShell): irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex
• macOS/Linux: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
• pip: pip install uv

インストール後、ターミナルを再起動してから再度このスキルを実行してください。

3. docx skill

This skill requires the docx skill (document-skills:docx) for file generation.

At workflow start, verify that docx (document-skills:docx or example-skills:docx) is in the available skills list.

If unavailable, abort the workflow and show the user this message:

docx スキルが見つかりません。docx ファイルの生成には docx スキルが必要です。

以下のコマンドで document-skills プラグインをインストールしてください:

claude skills add anthropic-agent-skills/document-skills

インストール後、再度このスキルを実行してください。

Workflow

Step 1: Load template spec

Read references/cover_letter_template_spec.md to understand the document layout, fonts, and styles.

Step 2: Gather required information from user

Collect the following items from the user via AskUserQuestion or conversation. Continue until all items are filled.

Required fields

#	Field	Description	Example
1	Date	Document date (YYYY年M月D日)	2024年11月24日
2	Recipient dept	Organization/department name	〇〇株式会社 総務部 総務ユニット
3	Recipient name	Individual name with title, or 各位	部長 田中太郎 様 / 保護者 各位
4	Sender dept	Sender's organization/department	〇〇株式会社 〇〇部 〇〇課
5	Sender name	Sender's name (no honorific)	田中 太郎
6	Title	Document subject line	借用開発機材送付の件
7	Body summary	Purpose/background of the letter	会議の開催案内、機材送付の連絡 等
8	Detail items	Content for the 記 section	日時、場所、持ち物、送付物リスト 等

Additional checks

• Same organization? If sender and recipient share an organization, omit the org name.
• Internal vs external: Determines greeting formality.
  • Internal: simple greeting (e.g. お疲れ様です。)
  • External: seasonal greeting with formal tone
• Closing word: Default to 敬具 unless specified otherwise.
• Detail format: Propose bullet list, numbered list, or item table based on content.

Hearing guidelines

• If the user does not specify a date, ask whether to use today's date.
• If any field is unclear, show examples and re-confirm.
• Group questions contextually rather than asking all at once.

Step 3: Draft and approval

Create a Markdown draft with the following layout and present it to the user:

                                        YYYY年M月D日

宛先部署名
宛先名

                                差出人所属部署名
                                    差出人名

            文書タイトル（下線付き）

　挨拶文
　要件文
                                        結語

                    －記－

要件内容（箇条書き・番号付きリスト等）

                                        以上

• Present the draft and ask the user for corrections.
• Apply any requested changes and seek approval again.
• Repeat until approved.

Step 4: Generate docx

After approval, invoke the docx skill to create the docx file.

Follow references/cover_letter_template_spec.md strictly:

• Page: A4 portrait, margins top 35mm / bottom 30mm / left 25mm / right 25mm
• Fonts: body MS P明朝, title HGPゴシックM, latin Arial
• Font sizes: date 10.5pt, recipient dept 14pt, recipient name 12pt, sender 10.5pt, title 14pt (underlined), body 11pt, list items 10.5pt
• Alignment: date/sender/closing right-aligned, title/記 centered, body justified
• Closing style: Closing (right-aligned)
• 記 style: Note Heading (centered)
• Numbered list: (1), (2), (3)... format

Mandatory rules

• Temp files: Always create a temp directory under the OS temporary directory using mktemp -d -t jp-cover-letter-XXXXXX. The jp-cover-letter- prefix is mandatory — the allowed-tools permissions are scoped to this prefix.
• Python runtime: Use uv to create a venv inside the temp directory and run all Python scripts through it. If uv is unavailable, prompt the user to install it.
• Cleanup: After completion, delete the temp directory entirely with rm -rf <temp-dir>. Leave only the final docx output at the user-specified location or the working directory.

Constraint inheritance for child skills

When invoking child skills (e.g. docx skill), all mandatory rules above remain in effect.

Key points:

• Python execution in child skills: Even if the child skill instructs python script.py or pip install, use the venv created by this skill via uv.
  • pip install package -> uv pip install package --python .venv/Scripts/python.exe (or OS-appropriate path)
  • python script.py -> .venv/Scripts/python.exe script.py (or OS-appropriate path)
• Temp file rules also apply to child skills. Any intermediate files they generate must go in the temp directory and be cleaned up.

Resources

references/

• cover_letter_template_spec.md: Document template spec covering page setup, fonts, styles, and layout patterns. Adhere to this spec when generating docx output.