How to use the Simplify Recent Changes agent skill

What the simplify skill makes the agent do

An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file with instructions the agent loads when a task matches. The simplify skill covers a post-implementation cleanup pass. The agent first looks at your git state and picks a scope: staged changes compared against HEAD, otherwise the current uncommitted diff, and if neither exists it falls back to other modified or untracked files that git does not ignore, then to files edited in the conversation.

It then runs three read-only review passes in parallel. One looks for existing helpers that should be reused and duplicated logic. One looks at maintainability, such as copy-paste variants, unnecessary nesting and comments that explain what rather than why. One looks for wasteful work, such as repeated computation, serial work that could be parallel, and redundant updates. After merging the findings, the agent directly edits the code to apply low-risk fixes and skips anything speculative or risky.

Finally it runs focused tests for the changed area, or a targeted build, typecheck or lint on the edited files if no tests apply.

Install the simplify skill

You can install the skill in either of two ways. The first is a personal install: download the ZIP from this page, unzip it, and place the simplify folder inside ~/.claude/skills/. The second is a project install: place the folder inside the .claude/skills/ directory of a specific project, so only that project gets the skill.

If you use the Claude apps, you can instead upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal: unzip the download into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project: unzip the download into your project's .claude/skills/ folder
• Claude apps: upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Trigger the skill with a natural request or a slash command

You can invoke the skill with /simplify, or /simplify followed by a focus such as performance, duplication, rendering, API clarity, testability or naming consistency. The skill also activates when you ask for a post-implementation cleanup pass, pre-PR polish, or to simplify or refine recent changes.

Extra focus words are treated as additional priorities alongside the default review dimensions.

• /simplify
• /simplify performance
• Clean up what I just implemented before I open a PR
• Refine the recent changes to the parser for readability

Example workflow from start to finish

Suppose you have just added a feature and have not committed it. Make sure your tests or build run in the project, then ask the agent to simplify your recent changes, optionally with a focus. The agent reads your diff, runs the three review passes, edits the code for safe improvements, and then runs verification on the touched files.

Read the final diff yourself before committing. Because the skill writes directly to your files, git diff is your review point.

• Commit or back up your work first so you can revert any edit you do not want
• Invoke /simplify or describe the cleanup you want
• Review the resulting git diff and the verification output

What you need before using it

The skill inspects git diff and git status, so the project must be a git repository and git must be available. It also needs a project test, build, typecheck or lint setup to verify its edits. Without these, the automatic edits cannot be checked and may introduce bugs.

The agent runtime must support the tools the skill lists: agent subagents, shell commands, file read, write and edit, grep and glob.

• git installed, with the project as a git repository
• A test, build, typecheck or lint setup in the project
• An agent runtime that supports agent, shell, file read/write/edit, grep and glob

Safety notes: scripts and network

The skill runs scripts, because it executes shell commands such as git commands and your project's tests or checks. It does not use the network, according to the skill's listing. Because it edits files without asking for approval on each change, treat it as you would any tool that writes to your codebase.

Do not use it on code you have not committed or backed up, and skip it for large architectural refactors, which the skill is told to leave alone.

• Runs scripts: yes, via shell commands
• Uses network: no, according to the listing
• Commit or back up before running, since edits are written directly to your files

Tips for better results

Keep review prompts specific by naming a focus after /simplify, so the agent prioritises what matters to you. Run it after a feature is working but before you open a pull request, when the diff is small enough to review.

If a change touches code with no tests, add at least a lint or typecheck command to the project first, so the verification step has something to run.

• Run it after a working feature, before the pull request
• Name one focus, such as duplication or performance
• Make sure a lint or typecheck exists so verification has something to run