Streamline

MANDATORY PREPARATION

Invoke /agent-workflow — it contains workflow principles, anti-patterns, and the Context Gathering Protocol. Follow the protocol before proceeding — if no workflow context exists yet, you MUST run /teach-maestro first. Consult the agent-architecture reference in the agent-workflow skill for complexity assessment and topology simplification.

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Reduce complexity without reducing capability. Every component should earn its place.

Streamlining Analysis

For each component, ask:

1. Does this add measurable value? If you can't name the specific value, remove it.
2. Can this be combined with another component? Merge overlapping responsibilities.
3. Is this solving a real problem or an imagined one? Remove speculative complexity.
4. Would a simpler alternative work? Prefer simplicity over elegance.

Common Streamlining Targets

Pipeline Steps

• Remove steps that transform data without changing it meaningfully
• Combine sequential steps that could be one prompt
• Eliminate validation steps that duplicate downstream validation

Tool Consolidation

• Merge tools that operate on the same data with different filters
• Remove tools the model never selects (check usage logs)
• Combine read tools with similar signatures

Prompt Simplification

• Remove instructions the model follows by default
• Consolidate redundant constraints
• Shorten few-shot examples to minimum viable length

Configuration Reduction

• Remove config parameters that always use the default
• Hardcode values that never change between environments
• Merge related config into logical groups

Streamlining Report

For each recommendation:

1. What to remove/simplify — specific component or code
2. Why it's safe — what ensures functionality is preserved
3. Expected impact — latency reduction, cost reduction, or maintainability improvement

Complexity Score

| Component | Current | Minimal Viable | Action | |-----------|---------|---------------|--------| | Pipeline steps | ? | ? | Remove/merge ? | | Tools | ? | ? | Consolidate ? | | Config params | ? | ? | Remove ? | | Agent count | ? | ? | Collapse ? |

Streamlining Checklist

• [ ] Each component justified with concrete value
• [ ] Redundant steps identified and marked for removal
• [ ] Tool usage logs checked for never-used tools
• [ ] Golden test set passes after each simplification
• [ ] No safety guardrails, logging, or error handling removed

Recommended Next Step

After streamlining, run /evaluate to verify functionality is preserved, then /refine for final polish.

NEVER:

• Remove error handling in the name of simplicity
• Streamline without verifying the golden test set still passes
• Remove logging or observability
• Simplify below the level of correctness
• Remove safety guardrails

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: sharpdeveye
• Source: sharpdeveye/maestro
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://maestroskills.dev

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.