karpathy-guidelines
Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. Use when writing, reviewing, or refactoring code to avoid overcomplication, make surgical changes, surface assumptions, and define verifiable success criteria.
Best for Teams using LLMs for codingWorks with GitHubLow risk
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@multica-ai- language
- unknown
★56kstars
4.8kforks
Apr 18, 2026
✦overview.md
Key Features
- ·Behavioral guidelines to reduce LLM coding mistakes
- ·Bias toward caution over speed for non-trivial tasks
- ·Focus on simplicity and minimal code
- ·Emphasize surgical changes to existing code
- ·Require explicit statement of assumptions and tradeoffs
Use Cases
- →Writing new code with LLM assistance
- →Reviewing code generated by LLMs
- →Refactoring existing code to reduce complexity
- →Establishing team coding standards for LLM use
Best for
- ✓Teams using LLMs for coding
- ✓Code review processes
- ✓Maintaining code quality with AI assistance
Not ideal for
- !Trivial coding tasks where speed is critical
- !Situations requiring rapid prototyping over caution
FAQs
name
karpathy-guidelines
description
Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. Use when writing, reviewing, or refactoring code to avoid overcomplication, make surgical changes, surface assumptions, and define verifiable success criteria.
license
MIT
Karpathy Guidelines
Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes, derived from Andrej Karpathy's observations on LLM coding pitfalls.
Tradeoff: These guidelines bias toward caution over speed. For trivial tasks, use judgment.
1. Think Before Coding
Don't assume. Don't hide confusion. Surface tradeoffs.
Before implementing:
- State your assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask.
- If multiple interpretations exist, present them - don't pick silently.
- If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted.
- If something is unclear, stop. Name what's confusing. Ask.
2. Simplicity First
Minimum code that solves the problem. Nothing speculative.
- No features beyond what was asked.
- No abstractions for single-use code.
- No "flexibility" or "configurability" that wasn't requested.
- No error handling for impossible scenarios.
- If you write 200 lines and it could be 50, rewrite it.
Ask yourself: "Would a senior engineer say this is overcomplicated?" If yes, simplify.
3. Surgical Changes
Touch only what you must. Clean up only your own mess.
When editing existing code:
$install
1-click copynpx skills add multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills --skill karpathy-guidelinesSafety assessment
★
Clarity score
How clear and easy to understand the SKILL.md instructions are, rated from 1 to 5.
4/ 5
very goodClear and well structured, with only minor parts that might need a second read.
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Actionability score
How directly an agent can act on the SKILL.md instructions, rated from 1 to 5.
3/ 5
mediumPartially actionable with several concrete steps, but still missing important details.