Structure Prose

Primitive: FUSED-BLOCK — does the block state several independent rules, or one connected chain of reasoning?

Steps

1. Count the block's distinct claims — rules, facts, or cases that stand alone. 1–2 claims, or a block that already scans in one line → prose is fine; stop.
2. Apply the fused-block test. Independent — the items parse in any order, none leans on the previous sentence → structure them. One chain — each sentence sets up the next (a narrative, a causal argument, an explanation that builds) → keep prose; stop.
3. Pick the shape: labeled bullets (default) · numbered list when order is the content · table when the items share 2+ fields.
4. Reshape, content verbatim. Give each item a label naming its rule — a bold lead-in, or the table's first column. Move words, don't rewrite them; shrinking or clarifying a line is tighten-instruction's job, a separate pass.
5. Test: can a reader jump straight to the one rule they need without reading the whole block? If not, the labels name topics, not rules — rename them.
6. Score and gate the edit. Score confidence 0.00–1.00 that the claims remain verbatim and the new shape scans better. If a caller owns a file-level gate, return the score and proposal without editing. Otherwise, apply at c ≥ 0.75; below that, keep the prose block and report the proposal as held.