| name | karpathy-principles |
| description | Loads the four Karpathy coding-with-AI rails (Think Before Coding, Simplicity First, Surgical Changes, Goal-Driven Execution) as one reference page. Use only when the user explicitly asks for "the rails", "the principles", "Karpathy principles", "Karpathy guidelines", or "how should I work in this repo". |
Karpathy Principles
Four rails for coding with AI in this workspace. One rule and one
enforcement pointer per principle. Paraphrased from the MIT-licensed
upstream multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills (full notice in
ATTRIBUTION.md).
If you only remember one thing: define what success looks like before you
write code, then change the smallest thing that gets you there.
1. Think Before Coding
Surface assumptions before acting. Read the relevant files first; state the
assumption out loud; if it could be wrong in a way that matters, ask rather
than guess.
Enforcement: the interview skill (sdlc-plugin) walks a plan's decision
tree round by round. The /debug command in this plugin requires
hypotheses before investigation โ see
commands/debug.md.
2. Simplicity First
Pick the smallest design that solves the stated problem. Three similar lines
beats a premature abstraction. Don't add error handling for scenarios that
can't happen, don't refactor surrounding code in a bug-fix PR, and don't
build for hypothetical future requirements.
Enforcement: de-slop removes overproduction after
the fact; avoid-feature-creep prevents
it during planning.
3. Surgical Changes
Change only what the task requires. Touching unrelated code in the same diff
makes review harder, makes rollback wider, and turns a focused patch into a
refactor. Stage the task's files only and resist "while I'm in here"
cleanups.
Enforcement: /commit batches by intent;
worktree isolates work so unrelated changes can't
accumulate.
4. Goal-Driven Execution
Define verifiable success before writing code. A task without a test, a
check, or a definition of done has no stopping condition. Write the test
first when the change is testable; when it isn't, name the observable
outcome and how you'll check it.
Enforcement: the tdd skill (sdlc-plugin) enforces the test-first cycle
when tdd: strict is set in CLAUDE.md.
See also
