What problem does it solve? Software systems accumulate branches, states, flags, layers, and operational machinery that outlive their purpose, and naive cleanup often just relocates complexity to callers or operators. This Skill provides a disciplined workflow to remove mechanism from a selected behavior path while proving that observable behavior and non-functional guarantees are conserved. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Conservation Ledger: Classifies documented contracts, relied-upon behavior, intended behavior, bugs, and obsolete internals, then tracks preservation evidence and fidelity gaps for each. - Whole-Mechanism Accounting: Baselines control flow, state and time, structure, and operational variability across the full path, then derives a minimum mechanism from real constraints rather than the current shape. - Separate Behavior and Mechanism Gates: Distinguishes reduction transitions from terminal reductions, blocking any net-reduction claim until superseded machinery and temporary migration bridges are actually removed. - Use Case: A service has three retry layers, two feature flags, and a pass-through adapter chain around one API call. Use this Skill to diagnose which mechanism is obsolete, plan a safe expand/contract removal, and produce an evidence-backed report showing like-for-like before/after deltas. ## Quick Start Ask the assistant to use the reduce-system-complexity skill to diagnose the retry and flag machinery in the payment service and propose a behavior-preserving reduction.
