g-skl-keep-it-simple

name	g-skl-keep-it-simple
description	User-invoked terse mode toggle. Suppresses the active personality pack, response structure scaffolding, and footer metadata so the agent returns bare signal only. Intended for debugging, rapid lookups, and high-volume Q&A sessions where the standard ceremony adds noise. Deactivates at session boundary or on explicit toggle-off.
triggers	["@g-skl-keep-it-simple","/g-keep-it-simple","terse mode","keep it simple","quiet mode"]
token_budget	low
skill_trust_level	core
subsystem_memberships	["AGENT_ORCHESTRATION"]

g-skl-keep-it-simple — Terse Mode Toggle

Purpose

gald3r sessions are verbose by default — the active personality pack (gald3r_personality, Silicon Valley personas, etc.) speaks in character, responses are structured with markdown headings, and every turn ends with a metadata footer (model, tokens, cost, tools used, context breakdown).

That ceremony is valuable in normal work but adds friction during:

• Rapid-fire debugging Q&A (50 short questions, one terse answer each)
• One-shot lookups ("what's the env var for X?")
• High-volume batch operations where token budget matters
• Pair-debugging sessions where the user is reading a transcript live
• Any context where "just the answer" is what's wanted

g-skl-keep-it-simple is the explicit, user-invoked override for those contexts. It intentionally conflicts with the always-apply personality rule and the response-formatting rule and takes precedence over them for the duration of the activation window.

Activation

The user types one of:

• @g-skl-keep-it-simple
• /g-keep-it-simple
• "terse mode" or "keep it simple" as a natural-language opener

The agent acknowledges activation with a single line (no persona, no formatting) — for example: Terse mode on. — and then proceeds with the work in terse mode for all subsequent turns in the current session.

Behavior When Active

1. No persona / character voices. Even when an active_personality_pack is set, suppress its voice. No Gilfoyle says..., no banter, no in-character openers.
2. No response structure scaffolding. No top-level markdown headings, no preamble like "Here's what I'll do…", no "## Plan" / "## Steps" sections. Bullets and tables only when the content genuinely is a list or a comparison and prose would be harder to read.
3. No footer metadata. Skip the --- separator + model / token / cost / tools-used / context-breakdown block entirely.
4. No meta-commentary. Skip "I'll now…", "Let me…", "Great question", and similar conversational filler. Answer the question. Stop.
5. Code is code. Code blocks and inline backticks remain — this is not a "no markdown at all" mode; it's a "no decorative markdown" mode.
6. Aim for ≤5 sentences per textual answer unless the answer is primarily a code block, command, or table.
7. Tool calls still happen. Terse mode affects output presentation, not internal tool use. Hooks, WPAC checks, and gald3r system gates continue to fire as normal.
8. All gald3r safety gates still fire. Bug-discovery gate, todo- completion gate, code-change-requires-task gate, member-marker invariant, WPAC inbox gate, Clean Controller Gate, etc. remain in force. Terse mode reduces ceremony, not safety.

Deactivation

Terse mode ends on any of:

• The user types @g-skl-keep-it-simple off, /g-keep-it-simple off, verbose mode, normal mode, or chatty mode.
• A new session begins (terse mode is session-scoped, not persisted across sessions — it is intentionally not stored in .gald3r/.identity or .gald3r/config/ so it does not leak into automation).
• The user explicitly invokes a command whose behavior cannot be terse (@g-go, @g-status, @g-medic, @g-mission — these commands have their own structured output requirements). When the command finishes, terse mode resumes.

When deactivating, acknowledge with a single line — for example: Terse mode off. — then resume normal behavior.

Interaction With the Active Personality Pack

The personality pack rule (silicon_valley_personality.md / gald3r_personality.md / equivalent) is an always-apply rule that normally fires on every response. g-skl-keep-it-simple is an explicit user override on top of that rule. The precedence order is:

1. Hard safety gates (WPAC conflict, Clean Controller Gate, secrets detection) — never suppressed.
2. g-skl-keep-it-simple activation — suppresses presentation rules.
3. Personality pack — applies when (2) is not active.

g-skl-keep-it-simple does NOT modify, delete, or swap the active personality pack. It only suppresses the personality output for the duration of the activation window. On deactivation, the same pack resumes seamlessly.

Activation Window Persistence

Terse mode is session-scoped only. It is intentionally NOT persisted to:

• .gald3r/.identity (would affect every future session silently)
• .gald3r/config/AGENT_CONFIG.md (same problem)
• vault memory notes (would propagate across machines)

If a user wants terse mode permanently, they should swap to a terse personality pack via @g-pers-pick <pack-id>, not via this skill.

Companion Command

@g-keep-it-simple (or /g-keep-it-simple) is the command wrapper. See .claude/commands/g-keep-it-simple.md.

Source

Created per user request (Task 1052, 2026-05-13). Intentional conflict with the always-apply personality rule is by design. See README.md for the human-facing motivation and ecosystem context.