core-principles

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

• Unclear? Ask: skills/ask-dont-guess
• Plan stress-test: skills/design-debate
• Review checklist: skills/strict-review (item 1: simplest correct implementation)
• Team pipeline: skills/teammate-flow