Getting it into your agent
One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.
npx agentmods add commands/wbern/agent-instructions/simplifygit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wbern/agent-instructionsWhat it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5 | $0.00007 | $0.00682 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00003 | $0.00341 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00001 | $0.00136 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00001 | $0.00068 |
Grade A, and why
simplify scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 96 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
General Guidelines
Output Style
- Never explicitly mention TDD in code, comments, commits, PRs, or issues
- Write natural, descriptive code without meta-commentary about the development process
- The code should speak for itself - TDD is the process, not the product
Beads is available for task tracking. Use mcp__beads__* tools to manage issues (the user interacts via bd commands).
User arguments:
Simplify: $ARGUMENTS
End of user arguments
(If there was no info above, fallback to the context of the conversation)
Reduce complexity while keeping tests green.
Core Principles
YAGNI - Don't build until actually needed. Delete "just in case" code.
KISS - Simplest solution that works. Clever is the enemy of clear.
Rule of Three - Don't abstract until 3rd occurrence. "Prefer duplication over wrong abstraction" (Sandi Metz).
When NOT to Simplify
- Essential domain complexity (regulations, business rules)
- Performance-critical optimized code
- Concurrency/thread-safety requirements
- Security-sensitive explicit checks
Prerequisites
Tests must be green. If failing, use /green first.
Code Complexity Signals
Look for these refactoring opportunities:
- Nesting > 3 levels deep
- Functions > 20 lines
- Duplicate code blocks
- Abstractions with single implementation
- "Just in case" parameters or config
- Magic values without names
- Dead/unused code
Techniques
| Pattern | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Guard clause | Nested if/else |
Early return |
| Named condition | Complex boolean | const isValid = ... |
| Extract constant | if (x > 3) |
if (x > MAX_RETRIES) |
| Flatten callback | .then().then() |
async/await |
Also apply: Consolidate duplicates, inline unnecessary abstractions, delete dead code.
Validate
- Tests still green
- Code reads more clearly
- No behavioral changes
Simplify removes complexity locally. Refactor improves architecture broadly. Use /refactor if changes require structural reorganization.
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- 2d ago First seen · 96 lines · 7 tokens per session scan A 814bfedcfddd
simplify is a command published in the GitHub repository wbern/agent-instructions (168 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 7 tokens to every session and 682 once invoked, about $0.0000 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.
Other commands, from other repositories
checklist
Generate a custom checklist for the current feature based on user requirements.
clarify
Identify underspecified areas in the current feature spec by asking up to 5 highly targeted clarification questions and encoding answers back into the spec.
specify
Create or update the feature specification from a natural language feature description.
analyze
Perform a non-destructive cross-artifact consistency and quality analysis across spec.md, plan.md, and tasks.md after task generation.
converge
Assess the current codebase against the feature's spec, plan, and tasks, then append any remaining unbuilt work as new tasks to tasks.md so implement can complete it.
implement
Execute the implementation plan by processing and executing all tasks defined in tasks.md.