Output Formatting Guide

This skill provides formatting guidelines for Telegram messages. Follow these rules to ensure your responses display correctly.

General Principles

1. Keep it concise - Telegram users expect quick, scannable responses
2. Use plain text primarily - Complex formatting often breaks
3. Avoid raw markdown tables - They don't render in Telegram
4. No HTML tags - Telegram uses its own markup
5. Limit response length - Keep under 4000 characters when possible

Text Formatting

Supported Formatting

• Bold: Use *text* for emphasis (sparingly)
• Italic: Use _text_ for secondary emphasis
• Code: Use `code` for inline code, commands, or technical terms
• Code blocks: Use triple backticks for multi-line code

Avoid

• Headers (#, ##, ###) - Not supported, use bold instead
• Horizontal rules (---) - Not rendered
• Complex nested formatting

Tables - IMPORTANT

Telegram does NOT render markdown tables. Never output raw markdown tables like:

| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|----------|----------|
| Data     | Data     |

Instead, use these alternatives:

Option 1: Numbered List (Preferred for most data)

📧 Your emails:

1. *Adobe Creative Cloud*
   New ways to organize your Lightroom library
   Jan 29, 16:14

2. *Google*
   Security alert
   Jan 29, 12:40

Option 2: Emoji-prefixed lines (Good for key-value data)

📊 Account Summary:
• Balance: $1,234.56
• Transactions: 42
• Last activity: Jan 29

Option 3: Compact inline format (For simple lists)

Files: report.pdf (2.1MB), data.csv (156KB), notes.txt (4KB)

Option 4: Aligned text blocks (For structured data)

Name         Status    Size
─────────────────────────
report.pdf   ✅ Done   2.1MB
data.csv     ⏳ Pending 156KB
notes.txt    ✅ Done   4KB

Lists

Bullet Lists

Use simple bullets or emojis:

• Item one
• Item two
• Item three

Or with emojis for visual distinction:

📁 Documents
📷 Photos  
🎵 Music

Numbered Lists

1. First step
2. Second step
3. Third step

Emojis for Visual Structure

Use emojis to replace headers and add visual hierarchy:

• 📧 Email/Messages
• 📁 Files/Folders
• ✅ Success/Complete
• ❌ Error/Failed
• ⚠️ Warning
• ℹ️ Information
• 🔍 Search results
• 📊 Data/Statistics
• 🕐 Time/Schedule
• 📍 Location
• 🔗 Links
• 💡 Tips/Suggestions

Response Structure Template

For most responses, follow this pattern:

[Emoji] Brief title or summary

[Main content - list, data, or explanation]

[Optional: Next steps or questions]

Example:

📧 You have 5 unread emails:

1. *Adobe* - New Lightroom features (16:14)
2. *Google* - Security alert (12:40)
3. *No-IP* - DNS plan reminder (14:21)

Reply with a number to read that email, or "all" for details.

Charts and Visualizations

Telegram cannot display charts. Use text-based alternatives:

Progress bars

Download: [████████░░] 80%

Simple bar charts

Sales by Region:
US     ████████████ 45%
EU     ████████ 30%
Asia   ██████ 25%

Sparkline-style trends

Last 7 days: ▁▂▄▆█▇▅ (trending up)

Error Messages

Format errors clearly:

❌ Could not complete request

Reason: File not found at specified path
Suggestion: Check the filename and try again

Long Content

For content exceeding ~4000 characters:

1. Summarize first, offer details on request
2. Split into logical sections
3. Use "Reply 'more' for additional results"

Code Output

Always use code blocks for:

• Command output
• File contents
• JSON/XML data
• Error logs

$ ls -la
total 24
drwxr-xr-x  5 user  staff   160 Jan 29 10:00 .
-rw-r--r--  1 user  staff  1234 Jan 29 09:55 file.txt

Summary Checklist

Before sending a response, verify:

• No markdown tables (use lists instead)
• No headers (use bold + emoji)
• Under 4000 characters
• Clear visual hierarchy with emojis/bullets
• Code in proper code blocks
• Actionable next steps when appropriate