{"id":18118,"plugin_id":"plugins_6a85a87df50c8191bd7f010bb7b17794","kind":"skill","collection_source":null,"comparison_source":null,"observed_at":"2026-09-30T23:14:37.981Z","digest":"162dcae6f3d21aa989cef740cce6fd68a790bd6725d0ac3956e817bfb8f4302b","against":null,"payload":{"description":"Apply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite. Remove dead weight, redundant validators, and stub references first, then build on the simpler base.","included_files":[],"name":"principle-subtract-before-you-add","skill_md_contents":"---\nname: principle-subtract-before-you-add\ndescription: \"Apply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite. Remove dead weight, redundant validators, and stub references first, then build on the simpler base.\"\ndisable-model-invocation: true\n---\n\n# Subtract Before You Add\n\nWhen evolving a system, remove complexity first, then build. Deletion gives you a simpler base, which makes the next addition smaller and less brittle.\n\n**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.\n\nMake simplification a continual investment. Leave the design slightly simpler and more capable behind the same or smaller surface than you found it.\n\n**The pattern:**\n- Sequence removal before construction\n- Cut before you polish (get to the minimum before investing in quality)\n- Design for observed usage, not speculative edge cases\n- No speculative validators, parsers, or guards beyond what the spec demands\n- Out-of-spec features drag validators behind them. Persistence, retry-on-startup, and schema migration each need guards to defend their inputs.\n- Simplify prompts (remove redundant instructions, excessive templates)\n- When a reference has no novel content, delete it rather than leaving a stub\n"},"changes":[],"summary":"First saved snapshot. No earlier version is available for comparison.","summary_kind":"deterministic","summary_metadata":{}}