supersterling/grug-brain-dev

Overview

This skill apply grug brain to software development. grug fight complexity demon spirit, prefer simple code and maintainable shape. Use when code feel big-brain or trapped in crystal and need make simple.

How this skill works

grug inspect code for over-engineering, premature abstractions, and separation that spread logic. grug point to concrete changes: simplify functions, co-locate behavior, break complex expressions, prefer 80/20 solutions and small refactors. grug give list of red flags and concrete refactor steps to remove complexity spirit.

When to use it

• When user says "simplify this code" or "grug brain"
• During code review to find over-engineering
• When considering new abstractions or big refactor
• When architecture choices risk microservice or heavy SPA complexity
• When tests and debugging are hard because logic spread across files

Best practices

• Say "no" to features that invite complexity spirit
• Delay factoring until cut points emerge
• Favor clear repetition over clever DRY that hides intent
• Break complex expressions into named steps for debuggability
• Keep refactors small and verifiable; avoid grand rewrites
• Prefer integration tests and evidence-based optimizations

Example use cases

• Review pull request with many small layers and recommend co-locate logic
• Refactor a tangled function: split intermediate variables for clarity
• Evaluate proposed microservice split and recommend monolith stay until cut point clear
• Turn over-engineered API into simple common-case wrapper plus optional advanced calls
• Audit front-end heavy app and suggest server-render or lightweight JS alternative