CAVEYou commented this keyword
Caveman
A skill that makes your AI agent answer in short, direct sentences while keeping code, commands and numbers exact, so you burn fewer tokens.
- Claude Code (or another coding agent)
- Node.js (for npx)
- Setup
- 1 min
- Level
- Beginner
- Stars
- 110k
- License
- Apache-2.0
What it does
Caveman changes how Claude talks. Answers come first, one idea per sentence, with no greetings, no "let me" and no recap at the end. Code, file paths, commands and error messages stay word for word, and words like not, never and only are never dropped.
The README's own example: a 63-token explanation of a React bug becomes "New object ref each render, so React re-renders. Wrap the prop in useMemo." at 20 tokens. Security warnings and irreversible actions still get full sentences.
Install it
- Open your terminal.
- Run the command below. It works in Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor and more.
- Open Claude Code. Type /caveman if it does not start on its own.
Copy this
npx skills add JuliusBrussee/caveman -g
Or install as a Claude Code plugin (starts every session)
- In your terminal, run: claude plugin marketplace add JuliusBrussee/caveman && claude plugin install caveman@caveman
Use it
- Type /caveman for the normal mode, /ultracave for even shorter, or /megacave for the shortest.
- Type /caveman status to see the mode. Say "stop caveman" or type /caveman off to go back to normal.
- Other commands: /caveman-commit writes a one-line commit message, /caveman-review gives one finding per line, /caveman-help lists everything.
Good to know
The rules add about 1,000 input tokens to every call. If you pay per request instead of per token (for example GitHub Copilot premium requests), the README says to skip it.
On npm 12 or newer, the README notes the one-line installs can fail. Use npx --allow-git=root -y github:JuliusBrussee/caveman#v3.1.0 instead. To uninstall: npx -y github:JuliusBrussee/caveman -- --uninstall
The skill sends nothing. The separate caveman CLI (an optional proxy that shrinks what the agent reads) sends usage stats by default; turn that off with caveman telemetry off.
Links
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