principle-subtract-before-you-add SKILL.md skillA

This file is byte-identical to the first copy the registry indexed. Same content hash, so the same checks give both the same grade.

principle-subtract-before-you-add from j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.

mdr add j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite/principle-subtract-before-you-add@git:20260821.1b830a3

Pins git:20260821.1b830a3 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade

A, 17 of 17 checks passed

Kind

SKILL.md skill

Repository

j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite

Path

assets/.agent/skills/engineering-principles/subtract-before-you-add/SKILL.md

Versions recorded

1

Latest version

git:20260821.1b830a3, committed Aug 21, 2026

Size

1,337 bytes

Repository stars

26

License

ISC

Apply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite. Remove dead weight, redundant validators, and stub references first, then build on the simpler base.

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

# Subtract Before You Add

When evolving a system, remove complexity first, then build. Deletion gives you a simpler base, which makes the next addition smaller and less brittle.

**Why:** Adding to a complex system compounds complexity. Removing first cuts the surface area, reveals the essential structure, and usually makes the next design obvious. Default to subtraction.

Make simplification a continual investment. Leave the design slightly simpler and more capable behind the same or smaller surface than you found it.

**The pattern:**
- Sequence removal before construction
- Cut before you polish (get to the minimum before investing in quality)
- Design for observed usage, not speculative edge cases
- No speculative validators, parsers, or guards beyond what the spec demands
- Out-of-spec features drag validators behind them. Persistence, retry-on-startup, and schema migration each need guards to defend their inputs.
- Simplify prompts (remove redundant instructions, excessive templates)
- When a reference has no novel content, delete it rather than leaving a stub

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

mdr add j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite/principle-subtract-before-you-add@sha256:3999888dc21ced33

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_krj7x4syflfecfmo.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_krj7x4syflfecfmo)

Versions

The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Aug 21, 2026.

Audit of the latest version

Source

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_krj7x4syflfecfmo
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite/principle-subtract-before-you-add
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/3999888dc21ced33b86054c2ffde1a3cb438e16bed1213f5dab2b5c000446292

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.

Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.

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