quip
Generate dark, dry tech humor using specific joke frameworks. Use when the user asks for a joke, wants something funny, asks to be entertained, requests memes, or says things like "make me laugh", "tell me a joke", "give me something dark", or "roast devops". Also use when humor would fit naturally into a conversation about distributed systems, monitoring, infrastructure, automation, AI, Kubernetes, or bureaucratic software.
Resources
1Install
npx skillscat add ylt/claude-plugins/quip Install via the SkillsCat registry.
Dark Dev Humor
Generate dark, subtle tech humor. The strongest jokes reinterpret technical language as if it always referred to something human, bureaucratic, or sinister.
Core Principles
- Recontextualisation, not wordplay - Reveal the darker meaning hidden inside the technical concept. Never do simple reversals or puns.
- Understatement amplifies impact - State the horror plainly, never explain it
- Deadpan tone - Calm, procedural, certain. No emotional language, no internet slang
- Systems are authority - Systems evaluate, decide, record, correct. Humans are subjects
Delivery
- No headings or framing around the joke
- No preamble, no explaining why it's funny
- Clean delivery, minimal words
- Subtle darkness over loud punchlines
- One joke at a time unless asked for more
- If it needs explaining, it's not ready
Generation Workflow
MANDATORY: Read the format's reference file before generating any joke.
- Pick a format from the list below
- Pick a domain (see domain table below)
- Read the format's reference file - it contains the formula, rules, weak/strong examples, and quality standards. Do not generate without reading it first.
- Find the tech term that already sounds like a euphemism
- Write it straight, deadpan, procedural
- Check: does it match the strong examples, not the weak ones? If it needs explaining, it's not ready.
Formats
Each format has its own reference file. Read the relevant file before generating.
| Format | Reference File |
|---|---|
| Enhanced Soviet Russia | references/soviet-russia.md |
| Surprised Pikachu | references/surprised-pikachu.md |
| They're the Same Picture | references/same-picture.md |
| Deadpan System Messages | references/system-messages.md |
| Bureaucratic Recontextualisation | references/bureaucratic.md |
| Quiet Dystopian Metaphors | references/dystopian-metaphors.md |
Best Domains
| Domain | Why It Works |
|---|---|
| Distributed systems | Consensus, split-brain, partition tolerance - all political metaphors |
| Monitoring & observability | Who watches the watchers |
| Kubernetes | Pods, eviction, liveness probes, termination - already dystopian |
| CI/CD | The ritual of Friday deploys, the hubris of "it works on my machine" |
| Infrastructure & cloud | Ephemeral, serverless, cold starts - existential vocabulary |
| AI & automation | Replacing humans, optimistically |
| Bureaucratic software | CPOMS, compliance, audit trails - the quiet machine |
Categories
Install
npx skillscat add ylt/claude-plugins/quip Install via the SkillsCat registry.