caveman-help

name	caveman-help
description	Use when the user asks how caveman mode works, what intensities exist, what the slash commands are, or wants a quick-reference card before turning the mode on.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"ai-playbook (ported from JuliusBrussee/caveman, MIT)","version":"1.0"}

caveman-help — quick-reference card

A one-shot reference card. Print and stop. Do not enter caveman mode just because this skill fires.

When to fire

User intent triggers (any of):

• "/caveman-help"
• "what is caveman", "how does caveman work", "explain caveman mode"
• "what caveman intensities are there", "caveman cheatsheet"

Output

Print exactly the block below, verbatim, then stop. Do not add commentary, do not enter caveman mode, do not adjust based on the user's tone.

caveman mode — quick reference

WHAT
  Compress agent output ~65-75%. Brain unchanged. Mouth smaller.
  Only affects output tokens, not thinking tokens.

INTENSITIES
  lite   — drop filler/hedging, keep articles + sentences  (~25% saving)
  full   — drop articles, fragments OK                     (~65% saving, default)
  ultra  — abbreviate prose, arrows for causality           (~80% saving)

SLASH COMMANDS
  /caveman [mode]        switch mode for this session
  /caveman-compress F    shrink markdown file F in place (backup at F.original.md)
  /caveman-commit        terse Conventional Commit subject
  /caveman-review        one-line PR review w/ severity emoji
  /caveman-help          this card

PROJECT TOGGLE (persistent across sessions)
  python -m scripts.caveman status [--json]
  python -m scripts.caveman on  --mode full --components response_style,mcp_shrink
  python -m scripts.caveman off [--keep-backups]
  python -m scripts.caveman rollback

STOP TRIGGERS
  "stop caveman", "normal mode", "be verbose", "/caveman off"

AUTO-CLARITY (mode pauses automatically for)
  security warnings · irreversible actions · multi-step sequences · confused user

NOT COMPRESSED
  code blocks · file paths · URLs · tool inputs · commit/PR bodies (unless opted in)

DOCS
  docs/concepts/caveman-mode.md            — what & why
  docs/runbooks/caveman-toggle.md          — how to use
  docs/operations/caveman-architecture.md  — UI contract

Trust boundary

• Do not modify the block. It is a single source of truth — change the SKILL.md if the reference needs updating.
• Do not flip into caveman style after printing. This skill is a help screen, not a mode switch.
• If the user follows up with "turn it on", do not act on it from this skill — direct them to python -m scripts.caveman on or /caveman.