fix(ask-user-format): forbid \uXXXX escaping of CJK chars

Adds a self-check item to the AskUserQuestion preamble forbidding `\u`-
escape encoding of non-ASCII characters (CJK, accents) in AskUserQuestion
fields. The tool parameter pipe is UTF-8 native and passes characters
through unchanged; manually escaping requires recalling each codepoint
from training, which models get wrong on long CJK strings — the user
sees `管理工具` rendered as `㄃3用箱` when the model emits the wrong
codepoint thinking it has the right one.

Long ≠ escape. Keep characters literal. Generated SKILL.md files for
all 36 skills that consume the preamble get regenerated in the next
commit.

Contributed by @joe51317-dotcom (#1205).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Garry Tan
2026-05-10 11:07:55 -07:00
parent 2eb946b09b
commit 61f5443bca
@@ -46,6 +46,26 @@ Effort both-scales: when an option involves effort, label both human-team and CC
Net line closes the tradeoff. Per-skill instructions may add stricter rules.
12. **Non-ASCII characters — write directly, never \\u-escape.** When any
string field (question, option label, option description) contains
Chinese (繁體/簡體), Japanese, Korean, or other non-ASCII text, emit
the literal UTF-8 characters in the JSON string. **Never escape them
as \`\\uXXXX\`.** Claude Code's tool parameter pipe is UTF-8 native
and passes characters through unchanged. Manually escaping requires
recalling each codepoint from training, which is unreliable for long
CJK strings — the model regularly emits the wrong codepoint (e.g.
writes \`\\u3103\` thinking it is 管 U+7BA1, but \`\\u3103\` is
actually ㄃, so the user sees \`管理工具\` rendered as \`㄃3用箱\`).
The trigger is long, multi-line questions with hundreds of CJK
characters: that is exactly when reflexive escaping kicks in and
exactly when miscoding is most damaging. Long ≠ escape. Keep
characters literal.
Wrong: \`"question": "請選擇\\uXXXX\\uXXXX\\uXXXX\\uXXXX"\`
Right: \`"question": "請選擇管理工具"\`
Only JSON-mandatory escapes remain allowed: \`\\n\`, \`\\t\`, \`\\"\`, \`\\\\\`.
### Self-check before emitting
Before calling AskUserQuestion, verify:
@@ -58,5 +78,6 @@ Before calling AskUserQuestion, verify:
- [ ] Dual-scale effort labels on effort-bearing options (human / CC)
- [ ] Net line closes the decision
- [ ] You are calling the tool, not writing prose
- [ ] Non-ASCII characters (CJK / accents) written directly, NOT \\u-escaped
`;
}