boyscoutlisted

# Boy Scout ## The failure mode this fixes Two opposite failures rot codebases. One: never cleaning up, so entropy compounds until the file is a no-go zone. The other: a "quick change" balloons into a 600-line refactor that's impossible to review and ships three bugs. Agents swing wildly between both — either touching nothing around the change or rewriting the whole file uninvited. The Boy Scout Rule threads the needle: leave the code a little better than you found it. Small, bounded, in-scope, separate from the behavior change. This skill enforces the *little* — disciplined cleanup, not a crusade. ## When to Use This Skill - You're editing an existing file to make a change (any non-trivial edit) - You notice something adjacent that's mildly wrong (a vague name, a dead line, a muddy condition) - A reviewer asked "while you're in there, can you also..." **Don't use when:** the file is brand new (nothing to clean), or the cleanup is large enough to deserve its own PR. If cleanup would exceed roughly a third of the size of your actual change, stop and file it as separate work — the cleanup is the tip, not the meal. For a *deliberate* dead-code sweep across a module, use `delete-this` instead — this skill is only for small, opportunistic, in-scope cleanup riding along with a change you're already making. ## Instructions ### 1. Make your real change first Do the thing you came to do. Get it working and verified. The cleanup is a tip, not the meal — never let it block or b