nw-command-design-patterns-reduction

name	nw-command-design-patterns-reduction
description	What is reducible in a bloated command - the duplication triangle, the anti-pattern catalog, and the compress/never-compress rules
user-invocable	false
disable-model-invocation	true

Command Reduction: Duplication, Anti-Patterns, Compression (KNOWLEDGE)

Kind: KNOWLEDGE (reference). Composed by nw-command-design-patterns core. Fires when: a command is bloated and the question is "what here is reducible / what should be removed / how far can I compress" (the duplication triangle + anti-pattern + compression rules). No forced sequence.

The Duplication Triangle

Commands duplicate content in three directions, all waste tokens:

1. Command-to-Command: Orchestrator briefings, agent registries, parameter parsing repeated in 5-12 files (~620 lines waste)
2. Command-to-Agent: Domain knowledge belonging in agents (~1,300 lines waste). Examples: TDD phases in execute.md, DIVIO templates in document.md, refactoring hierarchies in refactor.md
3. Command-to-Self: develop.md embeds other commands inline (~1,000 lines)

Fix: Extract shared content to preamble skill. Move domain knowledge to agents. Have orchestrators reference sub-commands.

Anti-Patterns

Anti-pattern	Impact	Fix
Procedural overload	Step-by-step for capable agents wastes tokens, "lost in the middle"	Declare goal + constraints, let agent apply methodology
Duplicated briefings	Same orchestrator constraints in every command (30-80 lines each)	Extract to shared preamble, reference once
Embedded domain knowledge	Refactoring hierarchies, review criteria, TDD cycles in commands	Move to agent definitions or skills
Aggressive language	"CRITICAL/MANDATORY/MUST" causes overtriggering in Opus 4.6	Direct statements without emphasis markers
Example overload	50+ lines of JSON examples	2-3 canonical examples suffice
Inline validation logic	Prompt template validation in command text	Platform/hook responsibility
Dead code	Deprecated formats, aspirational metrics, old signatures	Remove; version control preserves history
Verbose JSON state examples	200+ lines of unused JSON	Show actual format (pipe-delimited), 3 examples max

Compression Guidelines

When optimizing command files for token efficiency:

Safe to compress:

1. Prose descriptions → pipe-delimited
2. Verbose explanations → imperative voice
3. Filler words ("in order to", "it is important to") → remove
4. Related bullet items → single line with | separators

Never compress:

1. ### Example N: section headers — keep verbatim (eval tools and agents depend on these)
2. AskUserQuestion decision tree options — these are runtime menu items, not documentation
3. **Question**: lines in decision points — runtime behavior
4. Code blocks and YAML — preserve verbatim
5. YAML frontmatter — preserve exactly

Compression evidence: Pipe-delimited compression achieves 15-30% token reduction on prose-heavy files. Code-heavy files (PBT skills, code examples) yield <5%. Average across framework: ~7.4% overall.

Orchestrator skill loading section: Commands dispatching sub-agents must include SKILL_LOADING in the Task prompt reminding the agent to read its skills at ~/.claude/skills/nw-{skill-name}/SKILL.md. Sub-agents can invoke the Skill tool (but not slash commands); the skills: frontmatter field eagerly preloads full skill content into custom subagents, so this reminder targets skills meant to load at point-of-use instead. Without it, sub-agents operate without domain knowledge.