simplicity-guide

name	simplicity-guide
description	Reference for choosing the simplest stack that meets a stated requirement. Use during the salvage architecture interview to frame each technical fork and record a rationale. Covers data store, frontend, realtime, auth, jobs, and deploy.

Simplicity Guide

The spine of opinions behind salvage. For every technical choice, start at the lowest rung of its ladder and climb ONLY when a written requirement forces it.

The ladders

Each fork has a reference file under references/, structured identically: one ## rung section per rung, each with Use when, Climb when, Cost, and a Rationale template.

• Data store → references/data-store.md (flat files → SQLite → Postgres)
• Frontend → references/frontend.md (server-rendered → HTMX → SPA)
• Realtime → references/realtime.md (manual refresh → polling → SSE → websockets)
• Auth → references/auth.md (framework sessions → library → third-party)
• Jobs → references/jobs.md (inline → cron → queue)
• Deploy → references/deploy.md (one box → containers → orchestration)

How to consult during the interview

For each relevant fork:

1. Open the matching reference.
2. Find the lowest rung whose Use when the project satisfies.
3. Check the Climb when — climb one rung only if a stated requirement matches it. Never climb "to be safe."
4. Weigh Cost against the developer's maintenance ceiling (from Stage 1).
5. Record the decision in tech-stack.md by filling the rung's Rationale template, citing the rung (e.g. data-store.md#sqlite).