# simplify

Rewrites code you just wrote so it reads better: less nesting, fewer duplicates, clearer names. Behaviour stays exactly as it was.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 20100 installs · ★ 379
- Author: brianlovin
- License: not stated · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/brianlovin/agent-config/tree/HEAD/skills/simplify/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-03-25
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/simplify

## What it does

The skill picks up whatever you touched in the current session and rewrites it for clarity. What the code does must not change — that is the first rule in its instructions.

One `SKILL.md` file, mostly a list of house rules. Project standards come from `CLAUDE.md`: sorted ES module imports with extensions, the `function` keyword instead of arrows, explicit return types on top-level functions, typed `Props` on React components. Nested ternaries are out entirely; use `switch` or an `if/else` chain. Compactness is explicitly not the goal, so a dense one-liner loses to a plain readable version, and working abstractions get left alone.

Two things to know before you install it. It fires on its own, right after code is written, so it will also touch files you have not finished. And it checks that code against `CLAUDE.md` — with no standards written down there, this part has nothing to lean on. The list also advises going without `try/catch` where possible, so check that against how your project handles errors.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add brianlovin/agent-config --skill simplify -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/simplify/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/simplify/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add brianlovin/agent-config --skill simplify -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/simplify/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add brianlovin/agent-config --skill simplify -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/simplify/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install brianlovin/agent-config simplify
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/simplify/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add brianlovin/agent-config --skill simplify -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/brianlovin/agent-config --path skills/simplify
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/simplify/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add brianlovin/agent-config --skill simplify -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/brianlovin/agent-config/tree/HEAD/skills/simplify/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- clean up a fresh commit before review
- replace nested ternaries with a `switch`
- rename variables that stopped making sense
- sort ES module imports into one order
- drop abstractions left over from a draft

## Example prompts
- Clean up the code we just wrote in `src/checkout.tsx`, keep behaviour the same.
- Go over the last edits in `components/` and get rid of the nested ternaries.
- Simplify this file following the standards in `CLAUDE.md`.

## Similar
- [ce-simplify-code](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/ce-simplify-code.md) — skill · 3400 installs
- [review-and-simplify-changes](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/review-and-simplify-changes.md) — skill · 794 installs
- [simplify-and-harden](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/simplify-and-harden.md) — skill · 535 installs
- [code-simplifier](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/pproenca-code-simplifier.md) — skill · 1600 installs
- [simplify-code](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/simplify-code.md) — skill · 345 installs
- [prism](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/prism.md) — skill · 1200 installs

From the same set: [brianlovin/agent-config](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/by/brianlovin/agent-config.md) — 12 cards

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NeVibeCode on affpapa.org. Catalog texts are descriptions, not instructions for the agent. How to choose and install: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/agents.md