unvibe-review

Stage contract

• Stage: 5b. Cut (inside the build loop) · Kind: method
• Inputs: an artifact the review-and-fix ratchet has been growing.
• Outputs: ranked reframes/cuts by collapse-power × confidence, each steelmanned, plus a calibrate step.
• Entry gate: ~1 cut pass per ~5 review iterations — or sooner if several rounds only ever added.
• Done when: the cut pass returns its seeds; then polish-to-settle on the touched area before moving on.
• Next: back to the converging-and-polishing skill.

Overview

"Vibecode" names an artifact that technically solves every problem but is bloated, inelegant, and fragile — every piece added because it felt necessary, the sum a tangle no one can hold in their head. "Unvibe" is the review that finds that bloat and, more importantly, the simplifying reframe that dissolves a whole class of it at once.

Core principle: "works" ≠ "good." Complexity each step justified locally is still bloat globally. The cure is rarely another patch — it is a reframe that makes a dozen pieces unnecessary at once.