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principle-subtract-before-you-add

Use when planning the order of an addition, refactor, or rewrite. Clear out dead code and redundancy before building, so the system ends up simpler and no less capable, with a surface the same size or smaller.

plugins/requie/endostack/skills/principle-subtract-before-you-add/SKILL.md

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# Subtract before you add

As a system changes, take complexity out before you put new code in. Make simplifying a habit, so every change leaves a design that is simpler, does at least as much, and exposes no more surface than before.

## When it applies

Sequencing any addition, refactor, or rewrite. Subtraction is the default.

## What to do

1. Schedule removal work before construction work, and land it in its own commit.
2. Cut to the minimum before polishing.
3. Design for observed usage, not hypothetical edge cases.
4. Write only the validators, parsers, and guards that the spec and the real trust boundaries call for. Validation at a genuine boundary is required ([principle-boundary-discipline](../principle-boundary-discipline/SKILL.md)); a third copy of it deeper in is not.