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principle-build-the-lever

principle-build-the-lever

github.com/mariusflorescuDevelopment1292 installsUpdated 4d ago
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About principle-build-the-lever

A coding skill for deciding when to build a small, rerunnable tool instead of making nontrivial changes by hand. It emphasizes deterministic execution and reviewable verification.

Key features

  1. 01Build scripts or codemods for repeatable work
  2. 02Test the first unit against manual changes
  3. 03Make tools safe to rerun
  4. 04Prefer one-pass tools over delegated edits
  5. 05Commit tools that outlast the session

Use cases

  1. 01Applying the same edit across many files
  2. 02Generating repetitive files
  3. 03Analyzing data with a rerunnable query
  4. 04Delegating work with a shared recipe and checks

Install

Copy the command and run it in a terminal.

$npx skills add https://github.com/mariusflorescu/pstack-t3 --skill principle-build-the-lever

After installing, type/principle-build-the-leverin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.

Bundled filesagents/openai.yaml

Details

From the project README

Build the Lever

When the work isn't trivial, build the tool that does it instead of doing it by hand.

A codemod, generator, or script does the work the same way every time and reruns for free. The tool is one artifact a reviewer can read and rerun to check the work. Hand-done changes can only be re-verified by redoing them. A deterministic script turns "trust me" into "run this".

Default to building the lever. Skip it only when the task is trivial, a couple of obvious edits you can see at a glance.

  • Do the first unit by hand to learn the recipe, then build the tool. Prove it by rerunning it on that unit and diffing against your hand-done version. Make the lever safe to rerun.
  • Codemod or script for edits, generator for repetitive files, a dump-to-sqlite query for analysis, a rerunnable check for verification.
  • A deterministic lever beats fan-out. If the tool can process every unit in one pass, run it yourself. Don't fan out delegates to hand-apply what a script can do.
  • When you fan work out to subagents, write the lever as a skill they all read: the recipe, the verification contract, and the do-not-touch fences in one artifact. Keep it outside the delegates' write scope so they can't quietly edit the contract.
  • Applying this principle produces a file. If you cited it and there is no codemod, script, generator, or delegate skill in the diff, you didn't apply it.
  • Commit the lever when the work outlives the session.

The bar is triviality, not repetition. A one-off still earns a lever when the lever is what makes the work checkable. Per the Laziness Protocol, build the smallest script that does or proves the job, never a framework.

Distinct from Encode Lessons in Structure, which makes a recurring instruction a durable guardrail. This is throughput and reviewability on the work in front of you. For scripting the verification itself, see Prove It Works.

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