Community Bundle

Caveman Mode

Slash output tokens by ~75% while keeping full technical substance

Community · Active
April 2026
The Problem

LLMs won't shut up

🗣️

Filler everywhere

"Sure! I'd be happy to help you with that." You didn't ask if it was happy. You asked for a fix.

🪙

Token waste

Every pleasantry, hedge, and disclaimer costs output tokens. At scale, the fluff adds up fast on your bill.

⏱️

Time waste

You have to read through three paragraphs of preamble to find the one line that actually answers your question.

What It Does

Technical accuracy stays 100%.
Just the fluff dies.

❌ Before

Sure! I'd be happy to help you with that. The issue you're experiencing is likely caused by a problem in your authentication middleware. Specifically, it appears that the token expiry check is using a strict less-than comparison when it should be using a less-than-or-equal-to comparison. Here's how you can fix it:

✅ After — Caveman

Bug in auth middleware. Token expiry check use < not <=. Fix:

Same information. ~75% fewer tokens.
Key Concept

Not a mode — a behavior

Caveman is a behavior, not a mode. Modes are exclusive — you can only have one active at a time. Behaviors coexist. Use caveman while any Superpowers mode is active.

🧠 Brainstorm Mode
+
🦴 Caveman Behavior
=
✅ Both Active
🐛 Debug Mode
+
🦴 Caveman Behavior
=
✅ Both Active

How to invoke

Just say "use caveman" in conversation. That's it.

Intensity Levels

Three flavors, same substance

Q: "Why is my Docker container not connecting to the database?"

🔅 Lite
Professional but tight
The container can't resolve the database hostname. Docker containers on different networks can't see each other. Put both services on the same Docker network, or use the host IP instead of the container name.
  • No filler or hedging
  • Keep articles and full sentences
  • Professional tone preserved
🦴 Full (default)
Classic Caveman
Container can't resolve DB hostname. Different Docker networks = invisible to each other. Fix: put both on same network, or use host IP instead of container name.
  • Drop articles, fragments OK
  • Short synonyms preferred
  • Imperative voice
⚡ Ultra
Maximum compression
Container → DB hostname unresolved. Different networks → invisible. Fix: same network, or host IP.
  • Maximum abbreviation
  • Arrows for causality (X → Y)
  • One word when one word enough
Safety

Smart, not reckless

🛡️

Auto-clarity

Automatically reverts to clear, unambiguous English for security warnings, destructive operations, and ambiguous command sequences. Brevity never compromises safety.

🔒

Persistence

Anti-drift enforcement stays active every single response. Won't quietly revert to verbose mode after many turns — the behavior sticks for the entire session.

🤝

Delegation

Maintains caveman style even when loading skills, consulting experts, or delegating to sub-agents. The terse voice follows the work wherever it goes.

Get Started

Add a behavior to your bundle

Pick the intensity that suits your style. Add one line to your bundle's behaviors section:

🦴 Full (recommended)

git+https://github.com/bkrabach/amplifier-bundle-caveman@main#subdirectory=behaviors/caveman.yaml

🔅 Lite

git+https://github.com/bkrabach/amplifier-bundle-caveman@main#subdirectory=behaviors/caveman-lite.yaml

⚡ Ultra

git+https://github.com/bkrabach/amplifier-bundle-caveman@main#subdirectory=behaviors/caveman-ultra.yaml

Or toggle at runtime: /config behaviors disable caveman-behavior

Sources

Attribution & Methodology

Data as of: April 16, 2026

Feature status: Active — Community Bundle

Origin:

Content source:

Gaps:

🦴

Talk less. Ship more.

Add caveman to your bundle and reclaim your tokens.

View on GitHub Original caveman project
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