# Usage: curl -sSL https://seed.show/tax.us.individual | bash -s <install-path>
# <install-path> is the directory where the file should land.

set -euo pipefail
[ -z "${1:-}" ] && {
  echo "install requires a path: curl -sSL https://seed.show/tax.us.individual | bash -s <install-path>" >&2
  exit 1
}
TARGET="$1"
mkdir -p "$TARGET"
DEST="$TARGET/seed-fold.2xb6gF.folded.md"

cat > "$DEST" <<'PORTDOWN_192836C4'
<!--
This is a `.folded.md` archive — a directory packed into one markdown
file. The markers below are load-bearing; don't edit them directly.

To unpack (requires bash — if you have no shell, tell the user):
  1. curl -sSLf https://fold.dom.vin/skill | bash -s <INSTALL_DIR>
  2. <INSTALL_DIR>/fold/scripts/unfold <this-file>
     (or: unfold <this-file>  if fold/scripts is on your PATH)
-->

---
fold: true
marker: f47543
at: 2026-05-07T16:16:27Z
root: seed-pack.E6F47t
---

<!--fold:f47543@file path="README.md" mode="644"-->
# tax.us.individual

US individual federal income tax context for agents. Work at the structural level — what's always true — and fetch sources.md for any current-year figure before stating it. Never cite a number from this file.

## What level to work at

The IRS publishes authoritative current guidance every year. This bundle is the orientation layer: the mental model, the consistent failure modes, and which sources to fetch first. Structural rules (filing status hierarchy, AGI as gatekeeper, the deduction/credit distinction) are stable. Dollar amounts, contribution limits, phase-out thresholds, and bracket breakpoints are not — they adjust annually for inflation. Fetch sources.md before stating any of them.

## Mental model: the tax return as a sequence of layered decisions

The return has a fixed computation order. Each layer gates the next.

**1. Filing status** — Single, Married Filing Jointly, Married Filing Separately, Head of Household, Qualifying Surviving Spouse. Status determines which tax brackets apply, the standard deduction amount, and eligibility for credits. A taxpayer can qualify for more than one status; the most advantageous one is usually correct, but the rules are specific — Head of Household requires a qualifying person, more than half the household costs, and the taxpayer must be unmarried (or considered unmarried) on the last day of the year.

**2. Gross income → AGI** — Gross income is everything: wages, self-employment income, interest, dividends, capital gains, rental income, alimony (pre-2019 agreements), unemployment compensation. From gross income, subtract above-the-line deductions (student loan interest, educator expenses, self-employed health insurance, HSA contributions, retirement contributions like IRA and SEP-IRA) to arrive at Adjusted Gross Income. These deductions are taken regardless of whether the taxpayer itemizes.

**3. AGI is the gatekeeper** — AGI is not just a step in the math. It directly gates:
- Eligibility and phase-out of Roth IRA contributions
- The medical expense deduction floor (currently 7.5% of AGI)
- Child tax credit phase-outs
- Education credits (AOTC, Lifetime Learning)
- Passive activity loss rules
- Net investment income tax (NIIT) threshold
- Premium tax credit eligibility
- IRMAA surcharges for Medicare (two years prior)

**4. Standard deduction vs. itemized** — After AGI, subtract either the standard deduction (varies by filing status, adjusted annually — fetch sources.md) or itemized deductions (Schedule A: mortgage interest, SALT capped at $10,000, charitable contributions, medical expenses above 7.5% AGI floor). Most taxpayers take the standard deduction. Itemizing only makes sense when the total exceeds the standard deduction for that filing status. Additional standard deduction amounts apply for taxpayers who are 65+ or blind.

**5. Taxable income → tentative tax** — Apply the marginal rate brackets to taxable income. The brackets are progressive: only income within each bracket is taxed at that rate. Tax software calculates this correctly; agents often compute it incorrectly by applying the top marginal rate to all taxable income.

**6. Credits applied against tax** — Credits reduce the computed tax dollar-for-dollar. Some are non-refundable (reduce tax to zero but no further), some are refundable (can generate a refund beyond zero tax owed). Key credits: Child Tax Credit, Child and Dependent Care Credit, EITC, AOTC, Retirement Savings Contributions Credit (Saver's Credit), Premium Tax Credit.

**7. Other taxes added** — Self-employment tax (15.3% on net SE income up to the Social Security wage base, then 2.9% above it — fetch the current SS wage base), net investment income tax (3.8% on investment income above a threshold), additional Medicare tax (0.9% on wages/SE income above a threshold), AMT if applicable. Fetch sources.md for all thresholds.

**8. Estimated payments and withholding** — Amounts already paid (W-2 withholding, 1099 withholding, quarterly estimated payments) are subtracted. If the result is positive, the taxpayer owes. If negative, a refund is due. If underpayment is large enough, an underpayment penalty applies.

## What agents get wrong

**1. Citing stale thresholds.**
Standard deduction amounts, IRA contribution limits, income brackets, HSA limits, EITC tables, and Roth phase-out ranges all adjust annually via IRS Revenue Procedures. Agents cite training-data figures with false confidence. The correct response to "what is the standard deduction?" is: fetch the current-year Rev. Proc. from sources.md first. This applies to every dollar amount in this domain.

**2. Confusing deductions and credits.**
A deduction reduces taxable income — a $1,000 deduction at a 22% marginal rate saves $220. A credit reduces tax dollar-for-dollar — a $1,000 credit saves $1,000 regardless of bracket. The child tax credit is a credit. The mortgage interest deduction is a deduction. Agents regularly describe credits as "reducing taxable income." They don't. Non-refundable credits can reduce tax to zero but no further; refundable credits can generate a refund beyond zero.

**3. Missing phase-outs.**
Benefits don't usually cliff off — they phase out across a range. Agents give a yes/no answer when the correct answer is "it depends on your MAGI and how far into the phase-out range you are."
- Roth IRA: phase-out begins and ends at specific MAGI thresholds by filing status — fetch current thresholds
- Child tax credit: reduces at $50 per $1,000 of excess MAGI above a threshold
- SALT: $10,000 hard cap — no phase-out, but agents forget the cap entirely
- QBI deduction (§199A): phases out for specified service trades or businesses (SSTBs) above income thresholds; W-2 wage / depreciable property limitation phases in above the same thresholds
- EITC: phase-in range (credit grows with income) and phase-out range (shrinks), both varying by number of qualifying children
- Premium tax credit: tied to household income as a percentage of the federal poverty line

**4. Capital gains rate tiers.**
Short-term capital gains (held one year or less) are ordinary income — potentially taxed at the top marginal rate. Long-term capital gains (held more than one year) are taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on taxable income — breakpoints differ from ordinary income brackets and adjust annually. Agents default to 15% for all long-term gains, missing the 0% tier for lower-income taxpayers and the 3.8% NIIT surcharge that applies above investment income thresholds. Qualified dividends follow the same rate schedule as long-term capital gains.

**5. Estimated payment obligations.**
Tax is pay-as-you-go. W-2 employees have withholding. Freelancers, self-employed individuals, and anyone with significant investment or rental income must make quarterly estimated payments. The four deadlines are not evenly spaced (April, June, September, January). Safe harbors protect against the underpayment penalty — generally: owe less than $1,000 after withholding, or have paid 90% of current-year tax, or 100% of prior-year tax (110% for higher-income taxpayers). Safe harbor avoids the penalty; it doesn't eliminate the tax owed. Agents discussing freelance or investment income scenarios who skip estimated payments are giving an incomplete answer.

**6. Not asking filing status before answering.**
Every bracket, every standard deduction amount, every phase-out threshold, every credit eligibility check is filing-status-specific. An answer given without knowing filing status is a guess. Ask first.

## Stable structural facts

These rules don't change even when amounts do.

**Filing status hierarchy** (broadest to narrowest eligibility): Qualifying Surviving Spouse > Married Filing Jointly > Head of Household > Single > Married Filing Separately. MFS is almost always the least favorable but is sometimes used for legal separation of liability, income-driven student loan repayment, or specific state-return strategies.

**AGI is the hinge.** Every significant deduction limit, credit phase-out, and additional tax threshold is a function of AGI or Modified AGI (MAGI — AGI with specific items added back in; the add-backs differ by provision). If you don't know the taxpayer's AGI, you cannot answer most meaningful tax questions.

**Above-the-line deductions reduce AGI regardless of itemizing.** IRA contributions, student loan interest, HSA contributions, self-employed health insurance, and educator expenses are examples. They are not part of the itemized-vs.-standard choice. Agents often omit them from AGI calculations.

**The standard deduction usually wins** for taxpayers without mortgage interest, high state/local taxes, or significant charitable contributions. The TCJA (2017) roughly doubled it; itemizing became less common as a result.

**Self-employment tax is a separate obligation, not income tax.** It funds Social Security and Medicare. Net SE income above a minimum threshold triggers it. Half of SE tax is deductible above the line. The Social Security portion has a wage base cap; the Medicare portion does not. Agents computing self-employed tax estimates who omit SE tax are missing a material line item.

**The alternative minimum tax (AMT)** is a parallel computation that disallows certain deductions and preferences. If AMT exceeds regular tax, the taxpayer pays AMT instead. Still relevant for taxpayers with incentive stock options (ISOs) or large SALT deductions, even after TCJA raised the exemption amounts.

**The wash sale rule disallows losses** when substantially identical securities are purchased 30 days before or after the sale. Agents discussing tax-loss harvesting who omit the wash sale window are giving incomplete guidance.

## What AI is changing

AI tools are being applied across the individual tax workflow: document ingestion (W-2s, 1099s, K-1s), question answering against tax code, draft Schedule C and D computations, and scenario modeling (Roth conversion, capital gains timing, estimated payment optimization). For straightforward filers — single-income W-2, standard deduction, no business income — agent-assisted preparation is increasingly viable.

Where agents must not make the final call: tax advice with legal consequence requires a licensed professional (CPA, EA, tax attorney). Penalties for underpayment, accuracy-related penalties, and positions taken on a return create legal exposure. An agent can surface the options and compute the numbers; a human must sign the return and own the position. Frame agent output as "analysis to review with your tax professional" when the situation is ambiguous or the stakes are material.

AI does not eliminate the research obligation. Tax law changes through legislation, IRS guidance, and court decisions throughout the year. Training-data cutoffs mean any specific figure or rule an agent knows may already be superseded. Fetch authoritative sources at task time; don't reason from memory.

## See also

- `checklist.md` — decision checklists for common situations: filing status, estimated payments, self-employment, capital gains, deduction choice
- `sources.md` — authoritative IRS sources to fetch at task time for current-year figures
<!--fold:f47543@file path="checklist.md" mode="644"-->
# checklist.md

Decision checklists for the situations agents encounter most. Each checklist is a gate sequence: work through it in order, surface the answer at each gate before proceeding. Where amounts appear, fetch sources.md for current-year figures.

---

## 1. Filing status determination

Filing status is gate one. Get it wrong and every downstream number is wrong.

**Step 1 — Is the taxpayer married as of December 31?**
- Yes → go to Step 2
- No → go to Step 4

**Step 2 — Are they legally married and living together (or separated but not legally)?**
- Yes → Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately (go to Step 3)
- Legally separated under a divorce or separate maintenance decree → treat as unmarried (go to Step 4)

**Step 3 — MFJ vs. MFS choice**
- MFJ is almost always more favorable. MFS is chosen when:
  - One spouse wants to legally separate liability from the other's return
  - Income-driven student loan repayment calculation benefits from excluding the other spouse's income
  - State-level filing creates a specific advantage (rare)
- Note: MFS bars the EITC, the AOTC, and certain education deductions entirely. Confirm the taxpayer understands what they're trading.

**Step 4 — Does the taxpayer have a qualifying person who lived with them for more than half the year and paid more than half the home's costs?**
- Yes and they are unmarried (or considered unmarried) → **Head of Household** — use this; it has a larger standard deduction and more favorable brackets than Single
- No → **Single**

**Step 5 — Is the taxpayer a widow/widower whose spouse died within the last two tax years and who has a dependent child?**
- Yes → **Qualifying Surviving Spouse** — uses MFJ brackets; most favorable status after MFJ

---

## 2. Standard deduction vs. itemizing

**Step 1 — Identify potential itemized deductions**
- Mortgage interest paid (from Form 1098)
- State and local taxes paid — income tax or sales tax, PLUS real estate tax (total SALT capped at $10,000)
- Charitable contributions (cash + non-cash; non-cash over a threshold requires Form 8283)
- Medical and dental expenses above 7.5% of AGI
- Casualty/theft losses in federally declared disaster areas only
- Qualified mortgage insurance premiums (check if still in effect for the tax year)

**Step 2 — Sum the above. Compare to the standard deduction for the taxpayer's filing status.**
Fetch current standard deduction from sources.md. Add the additional amount if the taxpayer is 65+ or blind.

**Step 3 — Decision rule**
- Itemized total > standard deduction → itemize
- Itemized total ≤ standard deduction → take the standard deduction
- If close: run a sensitivity check — does a modest change in one item flip the decision?

**Step 4 — Flag these traps**
- SALT cap is $10,000 regardless of actual taxes paid — high-tax-state homeowners often hit this
- Mortgage interest is deductible only on acquisition debt up to a threshold (fetch current limit from sources.md); home equity loan interest is deductible only if the proceeds were used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home
- Charitable deductions require substantiation: receipts for cash, acknowledgment letters for $250+, qualified appraisal for non-cash above a threshold

---

## 3. Self-employment income

**Step 1 — What counts as net SE income?**
- Gross business receipts (1099-NEC, 1099-K, cash) minus deductible business expenses
- Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary for the trade or business
- Home office deduction requires the space to be used regularly and exclusively for business

**Step 2 — SE tax calculation**
- Net SE income × 0.9235 = net earnings subject to SE tax (the 0.9235 factor removes the deductible employer-equivalent portion)
- Apply SE tax rate to net earnings — Social Security portion applies up to the SS wage base (fetch current amount from sources.md); Medicare portion applies to all net earnings
- Half of SE tax computed → deductible above the line (reduces AGI)

**Step 3 — Above-the-line deductions for the self-employed**
- Half of SE tax
- Self-employed health insurance premiums (limited to net profit from the business; cannot exceed net SE income)
- Contributions to a SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA, or Solo 401(k) (contribution limits and rules differ — fetch current limits from sources.md)
- These reduce AGI before the standard/itemized deduction choice

**Step 4 — Quarterly estimated payments**
Anyone with net SE income above a minimum threshold owes quarterly estimates. Work through checklist 5 (estimated payments) before finishing any self-employment scenario.

**Step 5 — Common SE omissions**
- Failing to include SE tax in the total tax estimate (it's often larger than income tax for lower-income self-employed)
- Treating health insurance premiums as a Schedule A itemized deduction instead of an above-the-line deduction
- Missing the home office deduction for taxpayers with a qualifying exclusive-use space
- Omitting retirement contributions that could significantly reduce AGI

---

## 4. Capital gains and losses

**Step 1 — Determine holding period for each asset sold**
- Acquired date → sale date: more than one year = long-term; one year or less = short-term
- Off-by-one errors matter: "more than one year" means at least one year and one day

**Step 2 — Classify and net**
- Net short-term gains and losses together → short-term net
- Net long-term gains and losses together → long-term net
- If both net positive: both are taxable, at their respective rates
- If short-term net loss offsets long-term net gain: the net result determines final character
- If net loss overall: up to $3,000 can offset ordinary income per year; excess carries forward to future years

**Step 3 — Applicable rate for long-term net gains and qualified dividends**
- 0% tier: applies at lower taxable income levels (fetch current breakpoints from sources.md)
- 15% tier: middle range
- 20% tier: highest income levels
- Breakpoints are not the same as ordinary income bracket thresholds — don't conflate them
- For higher-income taxpayers: net investment income tax (3.8%) may apply on top of the capital gains rate. Threshold differs by filing status — fetch from sources.md

**Step 4 — Check for wash sales if the taxpayer sold at a loss**
- If substantially identical securities were purchased within 30 days before or 30 days after the sale, the loss is disallowed for that year
- The disallowed loss is added to the basis of the replacement shares (not permanently lost, but deferred)
- The wash sale clock runs on each trade independently

**Step 5 — Check for carryforward losses from prior years**
- Prior-year capital loss carryforwards appear on the prior-year Schedule D
- They retain their character (short-term or long-term) and offset current-year gains of the same character first

---

## 5. Estimated quarterly payments

**Step 1 — Does this taxpayer need to make estimated payments?**
- W-2 withholding covers all tax → no estimated payments needed, but verify
- Any income without withholding (SE income, freelance, investment income, rental income, gig income) → likely yes

**Step 2 — Calculate whether the obligation applies**
After withholding, will the taxpayer owe more than a minimum threshold (fetch from sources.md)? If yes, estimated payments are required.

**Step 3 — Calculate the payment amount using a safe harbor**
Two safe harbor methods — use whichever produces a lower quarterly payment:
- **Prior-year method**: pay 100% of prior-year total tax in equal quarterly installments (110% if prior-year AGI was above a threshold — fetch from sources.md). Safest method: guarantees no underpayment penalty regardless of current-year income.
- **Current-year method**: pay 90% of current-year estimated total tax. Requires estimating current-year income and tax — riskier if income is volatile.

**Step 4 — Due dates (approximate; confirm exact dates each year)**
- Q1: April 15
- Q2: June 15
- Q3: September 15
- Q4: January 15 of the following year
- If a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, it shifts to the next business day

**Step 5 — Payment methods**
- IRS Direct Pay (irs.gov/payments) — no fee, from bank account
- EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System) — preferred for recurring payments
- Form 1040-ES with check
- IRS2Go app

**Step 6 — Underpayment penalty**
The penalty applies to each quarter independently — it's not calculated only at year-end. A large Q4 payment cannot retroactively fix underpayment in Q1–Q3. The rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points, compounded daily. It is not forgiven; it simply may be small relative to the tax owed.

---

## 6. IRA contribution eligibility

**Step 1 — Traditional IRA contribution: deductibility check**
Anyone with earned income (or whose spouse has earned income) can contribute to a Traditional IRA up to the annual limit (fetch from sources.md). Deductibility depends on:
- Is the taxpayer (or spouse) covered by a workplace retirement plan?
  - No → fully deductible regardless of income
  - Yes → deductibility phases out above a MAGI range by filing status — fetch current phase-out range from sources.md

**Step 2 — Roth IRA: eligibility check**
- Must have earned income at least equal to the contribution amount
- MAGI must be below the Roth phase-out range for the filing status — fetch current thresholds from sources.md
- Above the upper threshold: cannot contribute directly (but can use the backdoor Roth strategy — contribute to non-deductible Traditional IRA, then convert)

**Step 3 — Contribution limit**
- Annual limit applies to all IRA contributions combined (Traditional + Roth combined, not each separately)
- Additional catch-up contribution allowed for taxpayers age 50+ — fetch current amount from sources.md
- Limit cannot exceed earned income for the year

**Step 4 — Deadline**
IRA contributions for a given tax year can be made up to the tax filing deadline (typically April 15) of the following year, not extended by filing an extension.

---

## 7. Child and dependent credits

**Step 1 — Child Tax Credit**
- Qualifying child must meet age, relationship, residency, and support tests
- Credit amount and refundable portion (Additional Child Tax Credit) — fetch current amounts from sources.md
- Phase-out: credit reduces at a fixed rate per $1,000 of MAGI above a threshold (by filing status) — fetch threshold from sources.md

**Step 2 — Child and Dependent Care Credit**
- Requires earned income (both spouses in MFJ must have earned income, or one must be a full-time student or disabled)
- Qualifying person: child under 13, or any age dependent or spouse who is incapable of self-care
- Eligible expenses: daycare, after-school care, summer day camp (not overnight camp)
- Credit percentage: fetch from sources.md — it varies with AGI
- Maximum eligible expenses: limited by the number of qualifying persons — fetch from sources.md

**Step 3 — Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)**
- Must have earned income within a range (not too low, not too high — fetch current limits from sources.md)
- Cannot be MFS
- Investment income above a threshold disqualifies the credit — fetch threshold from sources.md
- Credit amount varies by filing status, number of qualifying children, and income level — fetch the current EITC table from sources.md
- Requires a valid SSN for the taxpayer, spouse, and any qualifying children

**Step 4 — Common errors**
- Claiming the Child and Dependent Care Credit for overnight camps (not eligible)
- Claiming EITC without checking the investment income disqualification rule
- Missing the Additional Child Tax Credit (the refundable portion) when the full Child Tax Credit exceeds tax owed
- Not checking whether a dependent qualifies as a "qualifying child" vs. "qualifying relative" — the two tests are distinct and affect which credits apply
<!--fold:f47543@file path="sources.md" mode="644"-->
# sources

Fetch these at task time. Never use cached numbers from README — IRS figures change annually. Ordered by how often an agent needs them.

1. **IRS Rev. Proc. for current-year inflation adjustments** — standard deduction, tax brackets, contribution limits, phase-out thresholds, EITC amounts. Issued each fall for the following tax year. Find the most recent via:
   https://www.irs.gov/irb/
   Search for "Revenue Procedure" + "inflation adjustments" + the relevant tax year. The direct PDF path follows the pattern `rp-YY-NN.pdf` — confirm the current number before citing it.

2. **IRS Publication 17: Your Federal Income Tax** — comprehensive reference covering all individual return topics. Use for structural rules; cross-check amounts against the current Rev. Proc.:
   https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17

3. **IRS Publication 505: Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax** — who must pay estimated taxes, calculation methods, safe harbor rules, underpayment penalty computation:
   https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505

4. **IRS Publication 550: Investment Income and Expenses** — interest, dividends, capital gains and losses, holding periods, wash sale rule, NIIT:
   https://www.irs.gov/publications/p550

5. **IRS Schedule D Instructions** — capital gains and losses reporting, short-term vs. long-term distinction, netting rules, carryovers:
   https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sd

6. **IRS EITC tables and eligibility** — current-year earned income amounts and credit amounts by filing status and number of qualifying children:
   https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/earned-income-and-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc-tables

7. **IRS Publication 590-A: IRA Contributions** — Traditional and Roth IRA contribution limits, deductibility rules, MAGI phase-out thresholds by filing status:
   https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590a

8. **IRS Publication 502: Medical and Dental Expenses** — what qualifies as a deductible medical expense, the AGI floor rule:
   https://www.irs.gov/publications/p502

9. **IRS Self-Employment Tax (Schedule SE Instructions)** — SE tax computation, the 0.9235 net earnings factor, deductible half of SE tax:
   https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sse

10. **IRS Form 1040 Instructions** — the authoritative line-by-line reference for the return itself:
    https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040gi
<!--fold:f47543@end-->
PORTDOWN_192836C4

# ── post ──
MARKER=$(awk '/^---$/ { f++; if (f==2) exit; next } f==1 && /^marker:[[:space:]]/ { sub(/^marker:[[:space:]]+/, ""); print; exit }' "$DEST")
[ -z "$MARKER" ] && { echo "seed: archive has no marker — corrupt" >&2; exit 1; }
awk -v m="$MARKER" -v outdir="$TARGET" '
  BEGIN {
    # Match <!--fold:<m>@file path="X"--> with an optional mode attr after
    # the path (fold emits  mode="644"  on executables).
    file_re = "^<!--fold:" m "@file path=\"([^\"]+)\"( mode=\"[0-9]+\")?-->$"
    end_re  = "^<!--fold:" m "@end-->$"
  }
  $0 ~ end_re { if (current) close(current); exit }
  $0 ~ file_re {
    if (current) close(current)
    line = $0
    sub(/^<!--fold:[^@]+@file path="/, "", line); sub(/".*$/, "", line)
    current = outdir "/" line
    dir = current; sub(/\/[^\/]*$/, "", dir)
    if (dir != current) system("mkdir -p \"" dir "\"")
    printf "" > current
    next
  }
  current { print >> current }
' "$DEST"
SEED_EXTRACTED=$(find "$TARGET" -type f -not -path "$DEST" 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
if [ "$SEED_EXTRACTED" = "0" ]; then
  echo "seed: archive contained no files — refusing to delete the source" >&2
  echo "  archive preserved at: $DEST" >&2
  exit 1
fi
rm -f "$DEST"

echo "" >&2
echo "✓ seed unpacked → $TARGET ($SEED_EXTRACTED files)" >&2
find "$TARGET" -type f | sort | while IFS= read -r _sf; do
  echo "  ${_sf#${TARGET}/}" >&2
done
echo "" >&2
if [ -f "$TARGET/SKILL.md" ]; then
  echo "This seed contains a skill (SKILL.md). Install it in your agent's skills directory." >&2
  echo "" >&2
fi
echo "Install the seed skill if not already installed:" >&2
echo "  https://seed.show/skill" >&2
echo "" >&2
echo "Publisher prompt:" >&2
sed 's/^/  /' >&2 <<'__SEED_PROMPT_END_AC1F2B__'
You have the US individual tax context. Read README.md for the mental model and failure modes, checklist.md for decision checklists on filing status, self-employment, capital gains, estimated payments, and credits. Fetch sources.md for current-year IRS figures before stating any amounts. To share your own context bundles: curl seed.show/skill | bash
__SEED_PROMPT_END_AC1F2B__
exit 0