Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward deletion and the smallest change that solves the problem.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Laziness Protocol
Writing code is cheap for you, which makes over-engineering easy. Counter it by borrowing a human maintainer's fatigue. Aim for the most result with the least code and complexity.
- **Prefer deletion.** When asked to refactor or improve, look for removals before additions.
- **Maintain a flat call hierarchy.** Avoid deep call chains. A rich interface that hides substantial work is not a deep call chain. If answering a question requires tracing through more than 3 files or layers, flatten it.
- **Consolidate decisions.** Do not repeat the same choice in several places. Put it behind one source of truth and pass the result as a simple flag.
- **Minimize the diff.** Make the smallest change that solves the problem. Fewer lines beat "elegant" boilerplate.
- **Question the threading.** If a task asks you to pass a new signal through types, schemas, pipelines, or similar layers, stop and look for a more direct path.
- **Sweat the small leaks.** Remove tiny pass-throughs, representation leaks, and duplicated choices before they spread. Small leaks compound into permanent coordination costs.
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The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260910.57b918f, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_gikfhevoibpuypjl
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=edbertchan/catstack/principle-laziness-protocol
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/bb60ed2c3c0c70d8a2aecb9ce9aa28d64b2b55934893252814f8240afd2a7e7c
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/cat-mode/SKILL.md · Edbert's personal working conventions, mined from real session history across his projects. Use when Edbert asks to…
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/principle-assert-invariants-not-last-bug/SKILL.md · Apply after a bug ships past review or a passing grade/check: assert the general class of failure instead of patching…
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/principle-bind-to-named-inventory/SKILL.md · Apply after an audit, scoring review, or a request for a "real classifier" / "less arbitrary weights" when existing…
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/principle-build-the-lever/SKILL.md · Apply to any non-trivial work, not just bulk work: edits, migrations, analyses, checks. Build the tool that does it or…
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/principle-encode-lessons-in-structure/SKILL.md · Apply when you catch yourself writing the same instruction a second time, or notice a recurring correction. Encode the…
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/principle-experience-first/SKILL.md · Apply when product, UX, or feature-scope tradeoffs come up. Choose user delight over implementation convenience; ship…
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/principle-fix-root-causes/SKILL.md · Apply when debugging. Trace each symptom to its root cause and fix it there; reproduce first, ask why until you reach…
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/principle-flag-your-own-corrections/SKILL.md · Apply whenever you are about to admit fault in any wording — a fact, number, claim, or check you already stated turns…
edbertchan/catstack · corpus/skills/principle-generalize-from-rejection/SKILL.md · Apply when a mechanical gate — a lint, validator, blocked-command guard, or CI check — rejects your output for the same…
cursor/plugins · harness/pstack/claude-code/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
cursor/plugins · pstack/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
michael-denyer/pstack-claude · plugins/pstack/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
backnotprop/pstack · skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite · assets/.agent/skills/engineering-principles/laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
arjitj2/open-pstack · plugins/pstack/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
painhardcore/pstack · .opencode/skills/principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md · Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward…
