Lean Tighten

this skill

Tighten specified files in the working tree and print a diff. Never commits, never pushes, never requires a clean tree, never scans repo-wide.

This skill is invoked by name, never routed to on the model’s initiative: it edits files, so it must be user-explicit.

Difference from the slop-scan skill

Use this skill when

The slop is in files you are actively editing and you want a quick in-place tidy with a diff to review — no commit ceremony, dirty tree fine.

Use the slop-scan skill when

You want repo-wide coverage with one reviewable, revertable commit per finding, on a clean tree.

$ARGUMENTS

• paths/globs — files to tighten (via git ls-files -- <glob> when tracked, else literal paths).
• --stdin — tighten a pasted draft read from stdin instead of files; print the tightened text and edit nothing.
• --gates — after editing, run the project's discovered format/lint/typecheck once and report. Never commits.
• --diff-only — show what would change without editing.

If $ARGUMENTS is empty, ask which files via ask-user-choice.

Steps

1. Resolve targets. Expand paths/globs, or read stdin with --stdin. Reject an empty target set with a clear message.
2. Load the rubric and voice. Read references/lean-rubric.md, then ./AGENTS.md and ./CLAUDE.md for the host's rubric and accepted voice. For --gates, take the format/lint/typecheck commands from a checks section in those files; if none is defined, skip gates.
3. Detect. Flag slop per the rubric — AI signatures, brittle references, diff narration, prose inflation, coded labels, and tables where prose reads cleaner. Preserve every load-bearing reference and "why" comment.
4. Preview and confirm. Show the proposed edits and confirm via ask-user-choice before writing; the preview and the printed diff (Step 6) are the review surface. Skip when --diff-only.
5. Apply in place. Use Edit. Replacements must be concrete and shorter than the original.
6. Diff. Print git diff -- <targets>. With --gates, run the discovered checks once and report; commit on neither pass nor fail.
7. Report and hand off. Summarize findings resolved and skipped, then offer next steps via ask-user-choice: commit with /commit, run the slop-scan skill for repo-wide coverage, or discard the edits — review the printed diff first, since git checkout -- <file> resets the whole file to HEAD and drops any other uncommitted work in it.

What this does not do

• Commit or push — you decide; use /commit.
• Rewrite history — that is the pr-deslop skill.
• Scan the whole repo — that is the slop-scan skill.
• Delete whole files — too consequential; report them instead.

Portability notes

• ask-user-choice — present the listed options and wait for the user to pick one. Hosts with a structured multiple-choice tool (Claude Code's AskUserQuestion) should use it; otherwise print a numbered list and wait for a numbered reply. Never proceed on an assumed answer.
• $ARGUMENTS — the text the user passed when invoking this skill. If your host does not substitute it, read it as the user's request in the current turn, and ask when there is none.
• Bundled files — every relative path in this skill points at a file shipped inside this skill directory. Read them from here, not from the host's plugin tree.