Caveman encoding for SPEC.md and spec-adjacent writes. Loaded by /spec, /build, /check. Cuts tokens ~75% vs prose while staying precise. Triggers on any write to SPEC.md or when user says "caveman", "compress this", "be brief".

caveman — spec encoding Applies to SPEC.md writes, spec referencing prose, backprop entries. Does NOT apply to code, error strings, commit messages, PR descriptions. GRAMMAR Drop articles (a, an, the). Drop filler (just, really, basically, simply, actually). Drop aux verbs where fragment works (is, are, was, were, being). Drop pleasantries. No hedging (skip "might", "perhaps", "could be worth"). Fragments fine. Short synonyms: fix implement, big extensive, run execute. SYMBOLS Prefer over words: PRESERVE VERBATIM Never compress: Code blocks, snippets, one liners with backticks. Paths: src/auth/mw.go . URLs. Identifiers: function names, variable names, env vars. Numbers and versions. Error message strings. SQL, regex, JSON, YAML. Quoted strings. SHAPES Invariant : Bug row (pipe table under §B): Task row (pipe table under §T): Status: x done, ~ wip, . todo. Escape literal as \ . Interface : EXAMPLES Bad : The system should ensure that every incoming request is properly authenticated before being forwarded to its corresponding handler function. Good : V1: ∀ req → auth check before handler Bad : We discovered that the token expiration check in the middleware was using a strict less than comparison operator, which meant tokens were being rejected at the exact moment of their expiry. Good : B1: token < not ≤ → reject @ expiry boundary. Bad : The POST endpoint at /x accepts a JSON body and returns a 200 response with an object containing the created id. Good : api: POST /x → 200 {id} BOUNDARIES User asks for prose explanation → switch to normal English. Spec documents for external review (RFC, pitch) → normal English. Commit message → normal English (git readers expect it). Diff comment in code → normal English. WHEN UNSURE If cutting a word loses a fact, keep it. Caveman is compression, not amputation.