Subtract Before You Add
SkillAI & modelsApply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite. Remove dead code, redundant validators, and stub references first, then build on the simpler base.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.
Then ask your AI: use the Subtract Before You Add skill
What this skill tells your AI
The instructions your AI receives, as published by michael-denyer/pstack-claude in plugins/pstack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.
When evolving a system, remove complexity first, then build.
Why: Adding to a complex system compounds complexity. Removing first leaves less code, 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
- Simplify prompts (remove redundant instructions, excessive templates)
- When a reference has no novel content, delete it rather than leaving a stub
Signals
- GitHub stars
- 341
- Forks
- 41
- Last commit
- Sep 2026
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principle-subtract-before-you-add-michael-denyer- Source
- github.com/michael-denyer/pstack-claude