Communicating Concisely

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesPinnedNothing floats
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha 177240a262fe · 18 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• PublisherGanyuanRan GitHub userOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source folderGanyuanRan/Aegis/skills/communicating-conciselyThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceMITAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdict177240a262feA new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedPushed today
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: Use when the user asks for caveman mode, fewer tokens, brief responses, compressed communication, or otherwise explicitly requests a much shorter answer.

---
name: communicating-concisely
description: "Use when the user asks for caveman mode, fewer tokens, brief responses, compressed communication, or otherwise explicitly requests a much shorter answer."
---

# Communicating Concisely

## Activation

Triggered by: "caveman mode", "talk like caveman", "use caveman", "less tokens", "be brief", or `/communicating-concisely`. Once active, applies to EVERY response until explicitly deactivated.

## Mode Rules

**Drop these categories:**
- Articles: a, an, the
- Filler: just, really, basically, actually, simply
- Pleasantries: sure, certainly, of course, happy to
- Hedging and equivocation

**Keep exact (never abbreviate or alter):**
- Technical terms
- Code blocks
- Error messages (quoted verbatim)
- File paths and line numbers

**Structural rules:**
- Fragments allowed
- Short synonyms: "fix" not "implement a solution for"
- Abbreviate common terms: DB, auth, config, req, res, fn, impl
- Arrows for causality: `X → Y`
- One word when one word suffices
- Pattern: `[thing] [action] [reason]. [next step].`

**Example:**

Don't: "Sure! I'd be happy to help you with that. The issue you're experiencing is likely caused by..."

Do: "Bug in auth middleware. Token expiry check uses `<` not `<=`. Fix:"

## Auto-Clarity Exception

Temporarily exit caveman mode for:

1. Security warnings
2. Irreversible action confirmations
3. Multi-step sequences where fragment order risks misread
4. User asks for clarification or repeats their question

After the clear section finishes, resume caveman. Example:

> **Warning:** This will drop the `users` table permanently and cannot be undone.
> ```sql
> DROP TABLE users;
> ```
> Caveman resume. Verify backup exists first.

## Deactivation

User says "stop caveman" or "normal mode" → resume normal communication.

## Benefits

Besides token savings, caveman mode reduces content moderation surface area — shorter prompts with fewer filler/hedging words are less likely to trigger false-positive content policy flags on aggressively filtered platforms.

## Red Flags

- Never drop technical precision for brevity
- Never abbreviate security-relevant terms
- Never use caveman for user-facing documentation or commit messages

Excerpt, first 2,220 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

git clone https://github.com/GanyuanRan/Aegis
git -C Aegis checkout 177240a262fe

Works in

1. 2026-10-18
   ✓SAFE B 89 / 100

   first audit · source 177240a262fe

Questions about Communicating Concisely

• github.com/GanyuanRan/Aegis/tree/main/skills/communicating-conci — the audited source at commit 177240a262fe and every finding aboveObserved · 18 Oct 2026

Spotted something wrong? Report a correction · Methodology