Apology Skills

Say sorry properly — because bad apologies make things worse.

Need to apologize but don't know how to say it? Worried about making it worse? Whether you're patching things up with a friend or writing a company statement after a PR disaster, this skill helps you craft genuine, effective apologies.

This Agent Skill covers:

• Personal apologies: Friends, family, partners, colleagues
• Public apologies: Company statements, social media, PR crises
• What NOT to do: The mistakes that make people angrier

Works with Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenClaw, and any Agent Skills-compatible tool.

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Installation

npx skills

npx skills add git@github.com:mcltyl/apology-skills.git

Manually

Claude Code

Add the contents of this repo to a /.claude folder in the root of your project.

OpenCode

git clone https://github.com/mcltyl/apology-skills.git ~/.opencode/skills/apology-skills

OpenClaw

git clone https://github.com/mcltyl/apology-skills.git ~/.openclaw/skills/apology-skills

Skills

Skill	Description
apology	Craft genuine apologies for personal and public situations. Templates, examples, and anti-patterns.

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The 5 Parts of a Good Apology

1. Express Regret     → "I'm sorry for [specific action]"
2. Accept Blame       → "I was wrong to..."
3. Acknowledge Impact → "I understand this made you feel..."
4. Offer Repair       → "What I can do is..."
5. Request Forgiveness (optional) → "I hope you can forgive me"

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Personal Apologies

To a Friend

Hey [Name],

I've been thinking about [incident] and I need to apologize.

I was wrong to [specific action]. I know that hurt you, 
and I'm genuinely sorry. You didn't deserve that.

Our friendship means a lot to me. Can we talk?

To a Partner

[Name],

I need to apologize properly for [specific incident].

When I [what you did], I hurt you. I see that now. 
You were [feeling/needing X] and I [failed to see it].

I'm not trying to excuse it. I was wrong.

I want to do better. [Specific commitment]. 

I love you.

To a Colleague

Hi [Name],

I want to apologize for [specific incident] in [meeting/project].

I was wrong to [what you did]. I understand this affected 
your work.

Going forward, I'll [specific commitment].

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Public Apologies

Company Statement Template

## Statement Regarding [Incident]

We want to address [what happened] directly.

**What happened:**
[Clear, factual description]

**Our response:**
We apologize. This should not have happened, and we take 
full responsibility.

**What we're doing:**
- [Immediate action 1]
- [Immediate action 2]

**Going forward:**
We're committed to [specific commitment].

To those affected: we're sorry. We will do better.

[Name, Title]

Social Media Mistake

Earlier today we posted [description]. It was wrong.

We deleted it immediately, but we know that's not enough.

We apologize. We're reviewing our process to ensure this 
doesn't happen again.

To those we hurt: we're sorry.

Public Figure Apology

I want to address [incident] directly.

I [what you did]. It was wrong.

To [those affected]: I'm sorry. You deserved better from me.

I'm not going to make excuses. I'm [taking action] to 
ensure I don't repeat this.

Thank you for holding me accountable.

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What NOT to Do

The Non-Apology Hall of Shame

❌ Don't Say	🤦 Why It Fails
"I'm sorry you feel that way"	Blames their reaction
"I'm sorry, but..."	"But" cancels the apology
"I'm sorry if I offended you"	"If" questions reality
"Mistakes were made"	Who made them? You did.
"I'm sorry you misunderstood"	Blames them

Apology Killers

• Over-explaining → Sounds like excuses
• Bringing up their faults → Deflection
• Demanding forgiveness → They owe you nothing
• Making it about you → "I feel so bad about this" centers you
• Setting a timeline → "I apologized, get over it"

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Quick Decision Guide

Is this personal or public?
        │
        ├── Personal
        │       │
        │       └── Who?
        │           ├── Friend → Warm, genuine
        │           ├── Partner → Vulnerable, specific
        │           ├── Family → Sincere, may acknowledge history
        │           └── Colleague → Professional, solution-focused
        │
        └── Public
                │
                └── What kind?
                    ├── Product failure → Explain + fix + prevent
                    ├── Social media mistake → Delete + acknowledge + change process
                    ├── Employee misconduct → Action + support + policy
                    └── Personal (public figure) → Own it + action + accountability

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The Apology Death Spiral

Bad thing happens
    ↓
Weak apology
    ↓
Criticism of apology
    ↓
Apology for the apology
    ↓
More criticism
    ↓
[Brand destroyed]

Prevention: Get it right the first time.

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License

MIT

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Support

If you find this useful, consider buying me a coffee ☕