prune
Reviews code exclusively for over-engineering and lists what to delete: reinvented standard library, unneeded dependencies, speculative abstractions, dead flexibility. Use when the user says 'review for over-engineering', 'is this over-engineered', or invokes /prune. Complements
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/domengabrovsek/agent-config/tree/main/skills/prune
claude plugin marketplace add https://llmmart.ai/marketplace.json && claude plugin install domengabrovsek-claude@llmmart
git clone https://github.com/domengabrovsek/agent-config.git
The skills CLI installs just this skill, for any of its supported agents. Claude Code installs the whole domengabrovsek/claude collection as a plugin from our marketplace. Git is the plain clone.
Skill manifest
If no diff is in context, fetch one first: run git diff HEAD for uncommitted
changes, gh pr diff $ARGUMENTS for a PR number, or git diff main...HEAD
for the current branch.
Review diffs for unnecessary complexity. One line per finding: location, what to cut, what replaces it. The diff's best outcome is getting shorter.
Format
L<line>: <tag> <what>. <replacement>., or <file>:L<line>: ... for
multi-file diffs.
Tags:
delete:dead code, unused flexibility, speculative feature. Replacement: nothing.stdlib:hand-rolled thing the standard library ships. Name the function.native:dependency or code doing what the platform already does. Name the feature.yagni:abstraction with one implementation, config nobody sets, layer with one caller.shrink:same logic, fewer lines. Show the shorter form.
Examples
❌ "This EmailValidator class might be more complex than necessary, have you considered whether all these validation rules are needed at this stage?"
✅ L12-38: stdlib: 27-line validator class. "@" in email, 1 line, real validation is the confirmation mail.
✅ L4: native: moment.js imported for one format call. Intl.DateTimeFormat, 0 deps.
✅ repo.py:L88: yagni: AbstractRepository with one implementation. Inline it until a second one exists.
✅ L52-71: delete: retry wrapper around an idempotent local call. Nothing replaces it.
✅ L30-44: shrink: manual loop builds dict. dict(zip(keys, values)), 1 line.
Scoring
End with the only metric that matters: net: -<N> lines possible.
If there is nothing to cut, say Lean already. Ship. and stop.
Boundaries
why-no-hook: scope and YAGNI exceptions are subjective complexity judgments; no hook can detect that a finding belongs in a "correctness" pass versus a "complexity" pass.
- Complexity only - correctness bugs, security holes, and performance go to a normal review pass, not this one
(review-time: see section note) - A single smoke test or
assert-based self-check is the minimum, not bloat - never flag it for deletion(review-time: see section note) - Does not apply the fixes, only lists them
(review-time: see section note)
Attribution
Adapted from DietrichGebert/ponytail (MIT).
Files (claude)
-
SKILL.md 2.6 KB
--- name: prune description: "Reviews code exclusively for over-engineering and lists what to delete: reinvented standard library, unneeded dependencies, speculative abstractions, dead flexibility. Use when the user says 'review for over-engineering', 'is this over-engineered', or invokes /prune. Complements correctness-focused review; this one only hunts complexity." --- If no diff is in context, fetch one first: run `git diff HEAD` for uncommitted changes, `gh pr diff $ARGUMENTS` for a PR number, or `git diff main...HEAD` for the current branch. Review diffs for unnecessary complexity. One line per finding: location, what to cut, what replaces it. The diff's best outcome is getting shorter. ## Format `L<line>: <tag> <what>. <replacement>.`, or `<file>:L<line>: ...` for multi-file diffs. Tags: - `delete:` dead code, unused flexibility, speculative feature. Replacement: nothing. - `stdlib:` hand-rolled thing the standard library ships. Name the function. - `native:` dependency or code doing what the platform already does. Name the feature. - `yagni:` abstraction with one implementation, config nobody sets, layer with one caller. - `shrink:` same logic, fewer lines. Show the shorter form. ## Examples ❌ "This EmailValidator class might be more complex than necessary, have you considered whether all these validation rules are needed at this stage?" ✅ `L12-38: stdlib: 27-line validator class. "@" in email, 1 line, real validation is the confirmation mail.` ✅ `L4: native: moment.js imported for one format call. Intl.DateTimeFormat, 0 deps.` ✅ `repo.py:L88: yagni: AbstractRepository with one implementation. Inline it until a second one exists.` ✅ `L52-71: delete: retry wrapper around an idempotent local call. Nothing replaces it.` ✅ `L30-44: shrink: manual loop builds dict. dict(zip(keys, values)), 1 line.` ## Scoring End with the only metric that matters: `net: -<N> lines possible.` If there is nothing to cut, say `Lean already. Ship.` and stop. ## Boundaries **why-no-hook:** scope and YAGNI exceptions are subjective complexity judgments; no hook can detect that a finding belongs in a "correctness" pass versus a "complexity" pass. - Complexity only - correctness bugs, security holes, and performance go to a normal review pass, not this one `(review-time: see section note)` - A single smoke test or `assert`-based self-check is the minimum, not bloat - never flag it for deletion `(review-time: see section note)` - Does not apply the fixes, only lists them `(review-time: see section note)` ## Attribution Adapted from [DietrichGebert/ponytail](https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail) (MIT).
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