karpathy-coding-discipline

name	karpathy-coding-discipline
description	Use for coding tasks where ambiguity, over-engineering, drive-by refactors, or unverifiable success criteria could hurt. Distills the Karpathy-inspired four principles: think first, simplicity, surgical changes, goal-driven execution.

Karpathy Coding Discipline

Apply these four constraints before and during code changes.

1. Think Before Coding

• Surface assumptions before acting when the request is ambiguous.
• Present tradeoffs when multiple interpretations would produce different code.
• Push back when the simpler path is better for the stated goal.
• Stop and ask only when guessing would create real risk.

2. Simplicity First

• Build the minimum behavior requested.
• Do not add extension points, frameworks, flags, or options unless the codebase already needs them.
• Prefer direct code over a new abstraction for a single use.
• If the patch feels clever, shrink it.

3. Surgical Changes

• Touch only files required for the request.
• Match existing style, even if you would design it differently from scratch.
• Do not reformat, rename, reorganize, or delete adjacent code as a side quest.
• Remove only dead code created by your own change unless the user asked for cleanup.

4. Goal-Driven Execution

Convert tasks into verifiable outcomes:

• "Fix the bug" means reproduce it, make the reproduction pass, and verify the user path.
• "Add validation" means define invalid inputs and prove the behavior.
• "Refactor" means verify behavior before and after.

For multi-step work, pair each step with a check. Finish only when the checks pass or the remaining risk is explicitly reported.

Source Notes

Adapted from github.com/forrestchang/andrej-karpathy-skills.