caveman-ify

name	caveman-ify
description	Compress any skill to minimal tokens — rewrites SKILL.md, all references/, and scripts/ comments. Strips verbose prose, filler, redundancy while preserving technical accuracy and functionality. Use when user says "caveman-ify this skill", "compress skill", "shrink skill", or invokes /caveman-ify.'

Caveman-ify

Take existing skill. Make small. Keep smart.

Inputs

• Path to skill folder (or skill name if in known location)
• Compression level: standard (default) or aggressive

If no path given, ask.

Workflow

1. Read entire skill: SKILL.md, all references/*.md, all scripts/ file comments
2. Show token estimate before/after (rough line count as proxy)
3. Rewrite everything. Wait for user confirmation before writing files.

Compression Rules

Apply to ALL files in skill (SKILL.md, references, script comments):

Drop:

• Articles (a/an/the)
• Filler (just/really/basically/actually/simply/note that/it's worth noting/keep in mind)
• Pleasantries (sure/certainly/of course/happy to)
• Hedging (might/perhaps/possibly/consider/you may want to)
• Redundant examples when one suffices
• Restating what was already said
• "For example" / "In other words" / "That is to say"

Keep exact:

• Technical terms, API names, flags, paths
• Code blocks (unchanged)
• Error messages (quoted exact)
• Frontmatter name and description fields (rewrite description to be terse but keep discovery triggers)
• Constraint values (char limits, regex patterns, etc.)
• Decision logic / branching conditions

Transform:

• Long sentences -> fragments
• "You should X because Y" -> "X. Reason: Y."
• "In order to" -> "To"
• "Make sure to" -> drop, just state the action
• Bullet prose -> terse bullets
• Multi-sentence explanations -> single line where possible
• Paragraphs -> bullets or tables

Aggressive mode (additional):

• Abbreviate common terms (DB/auth/config/req/res/fn/impl/repo/dir/msg)
• Use arrows for causality (X -> Y)
• Merge related sections
• Strip all examples except one per concept

Output

Rewrite files in-place (after confirmation). Show before/after line counts.

Guardrails

• Never alter script logic, only comments
• Never change frontmatter name
• Never remove decision gates or branching conditions
• If skill has scripts, validate they still parse after comment compression: node -c <file>
• Preserve all file paths and cross-references between files