| name | core-principles |
| description | Kon's two highest-priority principles for design, implementation, and review — first principles (don't hide the issue) and the simplest, most concise correct solution. Applies to every agent, skill, and workflow stage. |
Core Principles
Owner: all agents + orchestrator
Consumers: every agent, every skill, every /kon:* stage (explore, research, plan, design, debug, implement, review, gc, summarize)
These two principles rank above conventions, completeness, clever architecture, and "how we always do it."
1. Think from first principles — don't hide the issue
- Restate the actual problem in plain language before choosing an approach.
- Every decision, step, and changed line must trace back to that problem — or it is inherited complexity / cargo-cult.
- Don't hide the issue: unclear intent, missing evidence, or unverified claims → ask or stop — never assume, paper over, or defer with "we'll fix it later."
- Follow
skills/ask-dont-guess.
2. Simplest, most concise correct solution
- Among all ways that correctly solve the problem, choose the one with the fewest moving parts.
- Minimum that satisfies acceptance criteria — not a generalized version "for later."
- When trade-offs are close, simplicity wins. Reject layers, abstractions, and defensive bloat unless a concrete requirement demands them.
By stage
| Stage | First principles | Simplicity |
|---|
| Explore / research | Report what is provable; unknown stays unknown | Report only what downstream needs — no encyclopedic dumps |
| Plan / design | Restate problem; use ## Decisions needed instead of inventing scope | Default tie-breaker: fewer files, fewer steps, flat over layered |
| Implement | Code only what the step requires | Smallest correct diff |
| Review | Default BLOCKED until the change proves it solves the real problem | Block complexity without first-principles justification |
| GC / cleanup | Remove only verified dead weight | Simplify without changing behavior |
| Summarize | Record what happened — no invented outcomes | Concise; no padding |
Related skills
