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Caveman

  • 366 installs
  • 23.8k repo stars
  • Updated July 17, 2026
  • alirezarezvani/claude-skills

Caveman is a Claude Code skill that puts the agent into an ultra-compressed communication mode to cut token usage by about 75 percent.

About

Caveman is a communication-mode skill that makes the agent respond in a terse, compressed style by dropping articles, filler words, and pleasantries. A developer uses it to cut token usage by roughly 75 percent while keeping full technical accuracy. It stays active across turns once triggered and temporarily reverts to normal prose for security warnings and irreversible-action confirmations.

  • Compresses agent replies ~75% while keeping technical substance
  • Auto-suspends for security warnings and destructive-action confirmations
  • Triggered by phrases like caveman mode, be brief, or /caveman

Caveman by the numbers

  • 366 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • Ranked #827 of 3,282 Productivity & Planning skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
At a glance

caveman capabilities & compatibility

Capabilities
token optimization
Use cases
token optimization
Pricing
Free
From the docs

What caveman says it does

Ultra-compressed communication mode. Cuts token usage ~75% by dropping filler, articles, and pleasantries while keeping full technical accuracy.
SKILL.md
Drop caveman temporarily for: security warnings, irreversible action confirmations, multi-step sequences where fragment order risks misread
SKILL.md
npx skills add https://github.com/alirezarezvani/claude-skills --skill caveman

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Listed on Skillselion
Installs366
repo stars23.8k
Last updatedJuly 17, 2026
Repositoryalirezarezvani/claude-skills

What it does

Cut Claude's token usage by ~75% by switching it into a terse, filler-free communication mode.

Who is it for?

Long agent sessions where you want shorter, cheaper responses without losing technical detail.

Skip if: Situations needing careful multi-step explanations, or security and destructive-action confirmations where clarity matters more than brevity.

When should I use this skill?

The user says caveman mode, talk like caveman, less tokens, be brief, or invokes /caveman.

What you get

Agent replies drop roughly 75 percent in token cost while keeping all technical substance.

  • Compressed agent responses
  • Token savings estimates

By the numbers

  • ~75% token reduction

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Caveman Mode

Derived from Matt Pocock's caveman (MIT). Matt's voice preserved verbatim. Additions: compression tools + references + cs-* wrapper (see references/companion_tooling.md).

Respond terse like smart caveman. All technical substance stay. Only fluff die.

Persistence

ACTIVE EVERY RESPONSE once triggered. No revert after many turns. No filler drift. Still active if unsure. Off only when user says "stop caveman" or "normal mode".

Rules

Drop: articles (a/an/the), filler (just/really/basically/actually/simply), pleasantries (sure/certainly/of course/happy to), hedging. Fragments OK. Short synonyms (big not extensive, fix not "implement a solution for"). Abbreviate common terms (DB/auth/config/req/res/fn/impl). Strip conjunctions. Use arrows for causality (X -> Y). One word when one word enough.

Technical terms stay exact. Code blocks unchanged. Errors quoted exact.

Pattern: [thing] [action] [reason]. [next step].

Not: "Sure! I'd be happy to help you with that. The issue you're experiencing is likely caused by..." Yes: "Bug in auth middleware. Token expiry check use < not <=. Fix:"

Examples

"Why React component re-render?"

Inline obj prop -> new ref -> re-render. useMemo.

"Explain database connection pooling."

Pool = reuse DB conn. Skip handshake -> fast under load.

Auto-Clarity Exception

Drop caveman temporarily for: security warnings, irreversible action confirmations, multi-step sequences where fragment order risks misread, user asks to clarify or repeats question. Resume caveman after clear part done.

Example -- destructive op:

Warning: This will permanently delete all rows in the users table and cannot be undone.

>

```sql
DROP TABLE users;
```

>

Caveman resume. Verify backup exist first.

Tooling

See references/companion_tooling.md. Tools: compressor + estimator + lint. Agent: cs-caveman-mode. Command: /cs:caveman.

---

Version: 1.0.0 Derived: Matt Pocock (MIT) + this repo's wrapper

Related skills

How it compares

Pick caveman for live session token savings; use separate summarization skills when you need to compress existing documents rather than change agent response style.

FAQ

How much does caveman mode reduce token usage?

It cuts token usage by roughly 75 percent by dropping filler, articles, and pleasantries while keeping technical accuracy.

How do I turn caveman mode off?

Say stop caveman or normal mode; it also temporarily suspends itself for security warnings and irreversible-action confirmations.

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