原始内容
laconic
Philip II: "If I invade Laconia, I shall turn you out."
Sparta: "If."
Install • Benchmarks • Examples • Caveman vs Laconic
laconic is a 300 word skill for AI coding agents inspired by caveman.
It cuts filler. It keeps meaning. It trusts context.
Every word earns its place.
Benchmarks
Caveman Benchmark
Claude Sonnet 4 via Langdock API. Each prompt: generic system prompt vs full laconic SKILL.md. Median of 3 runs per mode.
| Task | Normal (tokens) | Laconic (tokens) | Saved | vs Caveman |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explain React re-render bug | 885 | 68 | 92% | +5pp |
| Fix auth middleware token expiry | 1059 | 39 | 96% | +13pp |
| Set up PostgreSQL connection pool | 2167 | 189 | 91% | +7pp |
| Explain git rebase vs merge | 996 | 95 | 90% | +32pp |
| Refactor callback to async/await | 494 | 62 | 87% | +65pp |
| Architecture: microservices vs monolith | 826 | 209 | 75% | +45pp |
| Review PR for security issues | 940 | 126 | 87% | +46pp |
| Docker multi-stage build | 2635 | 149 | 94% | +22pp |
| Debug PostgreSQL race condition | 1370 | 49 | 96% | +15pp |
| Implement React error boundary | 4096 | 400 | 90% | +3pp |
| Average | 1547 | 139 | 90% | +25pp |
Range: 75%–96% savings across prompts. Caveman benchmarks averaged 64%.
[!IMPORTANT] Laconic cuts output tokens only.
Run benchmarks yourself
cd benchmarks
pip install -r requirements.txt
echo "LANGDOCK_API_KEY=sk-your-key" > ../.env.local
python run.py --dry-run
python run.py
python run.py --update-readme
Examples
Prompt: "My Express auth middleware is letting expired JWT tokens through. The expiry check uses Date.now() compared to the token's exp field. What's wrong and how do I fix it?"
🗣️ Normal (~1,300 tokens)Explains JWT spec, Unix timestamps vs JavaScript milliseconds, walks through middleware architecture, adds error handling, suggests libraries, and outputs a full refactored file (...) |
Λ Laconic (19 tokens)
|
Caveman vs Laconic
| Caveman | Laconic | |
|---|---|---|
| Tone | Primitive | Terse |
| Explanation | Normal | Trusts context, skips what reader knows |
| Code | Normal | Just enough code |
| Token savings | ~65% | ~90% |
Install
Any agent (40+ supported)
npx skills add GabrielBarberini/laconic
npx skills supports Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and 40+ more. To install for a specific agent:
npx skills add GabrielBarberini/laconic -a cursor
npx skills add GabrielBarberini/laconic -a copilot
npx skills add GabrielBarberini/laconic -a cline
npx skills add GabrielBarberini/laconic -a windsurf
Pi
pi install https://github.com/GabrielBarberini/laconic
Or from npm:
pi install npm:tau-laconic
On pi you also get an extension: /laconic [on|off] (full laconic or off), natural-language triggers ("be laconic", "normal mode"), a laconic statusline, and per-project state in .pi/laconic-mode.json. It reads its rules from the same SKILL.md.
Claude Code (plugin)
claude plugin marketplace add GabrielBarberini/laconic
claude plugin install laconic@laconic
Codex
- Clone repo
- Open Codex in repo
- Run
/plugins - Search
Laconic - Install plugin
Or copy the plugins/laconic/ directory into your Codex plugins folder.
Usage
Trigger with:
/laconic- "laconic mode"
- "be laconic"
License
MIT — Sparta needed no walls. Neither does this license.