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Bitter Lesson Engineering

Audits AI instruction sets to flag over-prompting and rules a smarter model would make unnecessary

Source Download skill
Repository
danielmiessler/LifeOS
Stars
19,682
Licence
MIT
Files
3 files

What it does

This skill makes an AI agent review a set of instructions (such as a CLAUDE.md file or other rule files) and judge each rule on whether a smarter model would still need it. Every rule gets one label from CUT to KEEP with a short reason, and the agent can estimate how many lines and tokens a trimmed setup would save. It does not change any files until the user approves the proposed trimmed versions.

Great for

  • People who have built up long AI instruction files and want to find dead weight or contradictions
  • Developers maintaining agent setups who want a structured review before editing rules
  • Anyone wanting a quick check of a single instruction file

Skip it if

  • Checking the logic of ideas or arguments; the skill says that job belongs to a different skill (RedTeam) (wrong tool for the job)
  • Auditing instructions where the rules encode real safety or approval steps and nobody reviews the cuts (a CUT recommendation could remove a needed guard if accepted without human review)

Try asking

  • “Audit my whole setup and tell me which rules I can cut”
  • “Quick check this CLAUDE.md file for over-prompting and contradictions”
  • “Check these rules for redundancy and vague wording”
  • “Trim instructions in my agent config to remove dead weight”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Bitter Lesson EngineeringInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 3 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    BitterLessonEngineering.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip BitterLessonEngineering.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip BitterLessonEngineering.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Read the proposed CUT and MERGE list before approving; the skill's own evaluation notes that a cut can accidentally remove a required safety, tool or output rule
  • Use QuickCheck on a single file first to see the output style before running a full Audit
  • Keep your approval step in place: the skill is designed to edit files only after you sign off on the trimmed versions

What's inside

  • Intents/Audit.md
  • Intents/QuickCheck.md
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from danielmiessler/LifeOS under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.