---
name: principle-laziness-protocol
description: "Apply when refactoring, evaluating diff size, or tempted to add abstractions, layers, or signal threading. Bias toward deletion and the smallest change that solves the problem."
disable-model-invocation: true
---
## OpenAI runtime contract

Read [the adapter contract](../../references/runtime-contract.md) before this workflow. It maps provider selection, agent calls, loops, persistent state, history, verification, and authorization. That contract supersedes Cursor-specific execution syntax and unverified model fallbacks below; the engineering steps remain required. Use native tools in the current host by default. Cloud uses its available OpenAI models. No remote laptop connection, server URL or MCP setup is permitted. Optional local CLI adapters require explicit environment-local selection. Do not claim cross-provider diversity for OpenAI-only review.


# Laziness Protocol

Aim for the most result with the least code and complexity.

- **Prefer deletion.** When asked to refactor or improve, look for removals before additions.
- **Maintain a flat call hierarchy.** Avoid deep call chains. A rich interface that hides substantial work is not a deep call chain. If answering a question requires tracing through more than 3 files or layers, flatten it.
- **Consolidate decisions.** Do not repeat the same choice in several places. Put it behind one source of truth and pass the result as a simple flag.
- **Minimize the diff.** Make the smallest change that solves the problem. Fewer lines beat "elegant" boilerplate.
- **Question the threading.** If a task asks you to pass a new signal through types, schemas, pipelines, or similar layers, stop and look for a more direct path.
- **Sweat the small leaks.** Remove tiny pass-throughs, representation leaks, and duplicated choices before they spread. Small leaks compound into permanent coordination costs.

**The test:** If a human developer would find the code exhausting to maintain, it is a bad solution.