Reducing Entropy

Minimize total codebase size through ruthless simplification. Measure success by the final code amount, not effort. Bias toward deletion — more code begets more code, and entropy accumulates.

What's Inside

• The goal: less total code in the final codebase
• Three guiding questions (smallest codebase, less total code, what to delete)
• Red flags and challenge phrases ("adds flexibility", "better separation", "we might need this later")
• Deletion checklist for every refactor
• Quick wins table (inline wrappers, delete single-implementation interfaces, merge abstract classes)
• Reference mindsets (simplicity vs easy, design is taking apart, data over abstractions, expensive to add later)
• The Grug perspective on complexity

When to Use

• Refactoring code and considering options
• Adding a new feature and choosing implementation approach
• Reviewing PRs to challenge unnecessary complexity
• Paying down tech debt and prioritizing what to simplify
• Explicitly asked for code reduction or simplification

Installation

npx add https://github.com/wpank/ai/tree/main/skills/testing/reducing-entropy

Manual Installation

Cursor (per-project)

From your project root:

mkdir -p .cursor/skills
cp -r ~/.ai-skills/skills/testing/reducing-entropy .cursor/skills/reducing-entropy

Cursor (global)

mkdir -p ~/.cursor/skills
cp -r ~/.ai-skills/skills/testing/reducing-entropy ~/.cursor/skills/reducing-entropy

Claude Code (per-project)

From your project root:

mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r ~/.ai-skills/skills/testing/reducing-entropy .claude/skills/reducing-entropy

Claude Code (global)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r ~/.ai-skills/skills/testing/reducing-entropy ~/.claude/skills/reducing-entropy

Related Skills

• clean-code — Coding standards with YAGNI and KISS principles
• code-review — Review PRs with a simplification lens

Part of the Testing skill category.