Simplify

Produce the smallest clear implementation that fully satisfies the required behavior. Minimize concepts and moving parts, not line count.

Cadence

Before adding code, decide the smallest change that meets the requirement; each new concept must earn its place.
During construction, apply the priorities locally while discovering behavior. Allow clearly temporary instrumentation or scaffolding when it accelerates learning.
At convergence, once a logical behavior slice passes, simplify that slice, remove superseded attempts and scaffolding, and rerun focused validation.
For an explicitly requested branch audit, compare with the intended base. Otherwise review only the requested change; do not broaden a small cleanup into a whole-branch audit.