P
principle-subtract-before-you-add
About principle-subtract-before-you-add
A development skill for evolving systems by reducing complexity before adding features. It guides developers toward observed needs and smaller, less brittle changes.
Key features
- 01Remove complexity before building
- 02Cut before polishing
- 03Design for observed usage
- 04Avoid speculative safeguards
- 05Simplify prompts and references
Use cases
- 01Reviewing a proposed feature for unnecessary scope
- 02Reducing complexity before extending a system
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
$
npx skills add https:/After installing, type/principle-subtract-before-you-addin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Details
From the project READMESubtract Before You Add
When evolving a system, remove complexity first, then build. Deletion gives you a simpler base, which makes the next addition smaller and less brittle.
Why: Adding to a complex system compounds complexity. Removing first cuts the surface area, reveals the essential structure, and usually makes the next design obvious. Default to subtraction.
The pattern:
- Sequence removal before construction
- Cut before you polish (get to the minimum before investing in quality)
- Design for observed usage, not speculative edge cases
- No speculative validators, parsers, or guards beyond what the spec demands
- Out-of-spec features drag validators behind them. Persistence, retry-on-startup, and schema migration each need guards to defend their inputs.
- Simplify prompts (remove redundant instructions, excessive templates)
- When a reference has no novel content, delete it rather than leaving a stub
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