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toon-format

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This skill should be used when writing or parsing TOON (Token-Oriented Object Notation) files. Triggers on .toon file operations, org-patterns.toon generation, or when converting between JSON and TOON formats. Provides syntax rules, quoting conventions, and examples for LLM-optimized data serialization.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins/blob/HEAD/plugins/self-learning/skills/toon-format/SKILL.md

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TOON Format (Token-Oriented Object Notation)

TOON is a compact, human-readable encoding of the JSON data model optimized for LLM prompts. It achieves ~40% token reduction compared to JSON while maintaining lossless round-trip compatibility.

Core Syntax Rules

Array Declaration

Arrays use bracketed headers with mandatory length count:

tags[3]: admin,ops,dev

Tabular Arrays (Uniform Object Arrays)

For arrays of objects with identical structure, use field headers in braces:

patterns[2]{id,category,summary}:
  P-001,pattern,"Use tokens for colors"
  P-002,mistake,"Check auth before routes"
  • Field names declared once in {...} after the count
  • Each row contains values in declared field order
  • Rows indented with 2 spaces (NEVER tabs)

Objects

Objects use indentation-based nesting (2 spaces per level):

user:
  id: 123
  name: Ada

Quoting Rules (Critical)

Strings MUST be quoted if they contain:

  • The active delimiter (comma by default)
  • Empty string, leading/trailing whitespace
  • Reserved literals (true, false, null)
  • Numeric-like patterns
  • Colons, quotes, backslashes, brackets, braces
  • Control characters or leading hyphens

Escape sequences: \\, \", \n, \r, \t

org-patterns.toon Format

Standard format for ClosedLoop organization learnings:

patterns[N]{id,category,summary,confidence,seen_count,success_rate,flags,applies_to,context,repo}:
  P-001,pattern,"Summary here",high,5,0.85,,implementation-subagent,UI|styling,*
  P-002,mistake,"Check auth before routes",medium,3,0.60,[REVIEW],*,auth|routes,astoria-frontend

Field notes:

  • summary - Always quoted (contains natural language with commas)
  • flags - [REVIEW], [STALE], [UNTESTED], [PRUNE], or empty
  • applies_to - Pipe-separated agent names or * for all
  • context - Pipe-separated tags
  • repo - Repository name (derived from git remote basename) or * for all repos

Validation Checklist

  1. Count matches actual rows/items
  2. Field count in rows matches declaration
  3. Strings needing quotes are quoted
  4. 2-space indentation (no tabs)
  5. No blank lines within array blocks

References