What problem does it solve?
This skill addresses the common and costly tendency to overlook assumptions, skip explicit tradeoffs, and apply poorly scoped changes during coding tasks. It provides a concise, repeatable framework to guide writing, reviewing, and refactoring so teams can avoid overcomplication and surface verifiable success criteria. Key concepts include surfacing assumptions, identifying tradeoffs, and enforcing minimal, surgical changes.
Core Features & Use Cases
- Explicit assumptions are surfaced at the start of each task.
- Tradeoffs are surfaced and weighed to choose the simplest viable solution.
- Surgical changes: edits touch only what is necessary and preserve existing structure.
- Use it during task planning, code reviews, and refactoring to maintain clarity and verifiability.
- Example: when starting a new feature, outline assumptions, constraints, and success criteria before writing code.
Quick Start
- List assumptions explicitly.
- State the tradeoffs and select the simplest viable approach.
- Define verifiable success criteria and a brief plan of measurable steps.
- Apply surgical changes and document exact edits.
- Use during reviews to keep changes focused and justified.
