karpathy-guidelines
Behavioral checklist for disciplined LLM coding. Use when starting non-trivial tasks to enforce assumption surfacing, minimal changes, and verifiable goals. Derived from Andrej Karpathy's observations on LLM coding pitfalls.
What this skill does
# Karpathy Guidelines Four behavioral rules for non-trivial coding tasks. Trivial one-liners don't need the full rigor. ## 1. Surface Assumptions Before implementing, state assumptions explicitly. When multiple interpretations exist, present them — don't pick silently. If confused, name what's unclear and ask. **Test:** Can you trace every design choice to something the user said? If not, you assumed. ## 2. Minimum Viable Change Write the least code that solves the problem. No speculative abstractions, no configurable hooks for single-use logic, no error handling for impossible scenarios. If 200 lines could be 50, rewrite. **Test:** Would a senior engineer say "this is overcomplicated"? If yes, simplify. ## 3. Surgical Edits Every changed line traces to the user's request. Don't improve adjacent code, comments, or formatting. Match existing style. If your changes orphan imports or variables, clean those up — but don't touch pre-existing dead code unless asked. **Test:** Can every diff hunk be justified by the request? If not, revert the extras. ## 4. Verifiable Goals Transform tasks into goals with success criteria: | Vague | Verifiable | |-------|-----------| | "Add validation" | Write tests for invalid inputs, make them pass | | "Fix the bug" | Write a reproducing test, make it pass | | "Refactor X" | Tests pass before and after | For multi-step work, state a plan with verification at each step: ``` 1. [Step] → verify: [check] 2. [Step] → verify: [check] ``` ## Working Indicators These rules are working when: diffs contain only requested changes, code is simple on the first attempt, questions come before implementation, and PRs have no drive-by refactoring.
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