/karpathy-check

name: karpathy-check
description: 'Pre-flight gate walking four Karpathy principles (think first, simplicity, surgical edits, goal-driven). Use before implementation.'
usage: /karpathy-check [task description]

Karpathy Check

A four-question pre-flight gate adapted from observations on common LLM coding pitfalls. Loads the `imbue:karpathy-principles` skill and walks each principle as a checkable question.

Usage

# Run as an inline pre-flight before starting work
/imbue:karpathy-check

# Pass a task description to anchor the check
/imbue:karpathy-check Add rate limiting to the signup endpoint

What It Does

1. Loads `Skill(imbue:karpathy-principles)`. 2. Walks the four-question battery:

• Think Before Coding: did I list assumptions, or

guess silently?

• Simplicity First: would a senior engineer call

this overcomplicated?

• Surgical Changes: does every changed line trace to

the request?

• Goal-Driven Execution: can I prove this is done

with a check, not a feeling? 3. For each question, captures the answer and any blockers. 4. Outputs a verdict: PASS, NEEDS CLARIFICATION, or REWORK.

Verdict Semantics

• **PASS**: all four answered concretely. Begin

implementation.

• **NEEDS CLARIFICATION**: at least one assumption or

ambiguity needs the user's input. Surface the question, do not guess.

• **REWORK**: the plan as drafted will violate one or

more principles. Reshape before starting.

When to Use

• Before any non-trivial implementation
• When converting a vague request into a verifiable plan
• During code review, applied to your own diff
• When a task feels "too easy" (often a sign of hidden

assumptions)

When NOT to Use

• Trivial typos and one-line fixes
• Throwaway scripts and exploratory spikes
• Documentation-only changes
• Production fires where the failing test wait is too

long

See `modules/tradeoff-acknowledgment.md` in the skill for the full boundary discussion.

Related

• `Skill(imbue:karpathy-principles)` - the underlying

four-principle synthesis

• `Skill(imbue:scope-guard)` - worthiness scoring before

the four-question gate

• `Skill(imbue:proof-of-work)` - Iron Law TDD enforcement

after the gate clears

• `/imbue:justify` - post-implementation audit using the

same principles in reverse