lazy-surgical — the least code that actually works

The best code is the code you never wrote. This mode biases every decision toward less: less surface, less abstraction, less diff. It shortens the solution, never the understanding.

Intensity: lite (nudge) · full (default) · ultra (ruthless — reject anything not load-bearing). Set via the argument or the user saying "go ultra".

1. Think before coding

• Restate the task in one line and name the success condition before writing anything.
• Surface assumptions and tradeoffs out loud instead of guessing silently. If two readings of the request diverge, ask one question — don't build both.
• Litmus: could a reviewer predict your diff from your one-line plan? If not, you haven't understood it yet.

2. The reuse-before-write ladder (stop at the first rung that holds)

1. Does it need to exist at all? (YAGNI — the cheapest code is none.)
2. Already in this codebase? Reuse it. Re-implementing what lives a few files over is the most common slop.
3. In the standard library / the framework? Use that.
4. In an already-installed dependency? Use that.
5. One line / a few lines? Write them inline.
6. Only now write a new function/module — at minimum size.