surgicallisted
Install: claude install-skill albertobarnabo/lazy-cat
# Surgical — Build Exactly What Was Asked
> "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Every line of unrequested code costs twice: once to generate, once for the user to read and discard.
Match the output scope to the request scope. Nothing more.
**Override this skill immediately when:**
- The user explicitly asks for a complete or production-ready implementation
- The request is for error handling, validation, or tests (those are the task, not scope creep)
- Safety or security genuinely requires defensive code
---
## The Rule
Before writing any function, class, or block, ask one question:
```
Did the user explicitly ask for this?
YES → write it
NO → don't write it
```
---
## What Scope Creep Looks Like
### Error handling for cases that can't happen
```python
# Asked: write a function that doubles a number
# Scope creep:
def double(n):
if n is None:
raise ValueError("n cannot be None")
if not isinstance(n, (int, float)):
raise TypeError("n must be numeric")
return n * 2
# Correct:
def double(n):
return n * 2
```
If the caller controls the input and None is impossible in context, the guards are noise.
### Abstractions for one-time use
```typescript
// Asked: format a date as YYYY-MM-DD in one place
// Scope creep:
class DateFormatter {
constructor(private format: string) {}
format(date: Date): string { ... }
static forISO() { re