karpathy-claude-md

---
name: karpathy-claude-md
description: "Use when you want a drop-in CLAUDE.md that encodes Karpathy's coding guardrails — think before coding, simplicity first, surgical changes, and goal-driven execution."
source: https://github.com/forrestchang/andrej-karpathy-skills
generated: 2026-05-17T04:18:26.596Z
category: concept
audience: engineers
---

## When to use

- Bootstrapping a new repo and you want sane defaults for Claude Code on day one
- Claude keeps overengineering — adding flexibility, abstractions, and error handling you didn't ask for
- Edits keep sprawling into adjacent code that wasn't part of the request
- You want Claude to state assumptions and ask before silently picking an interpretation
- You want every task framed as a verifiable success criterion plus a loop until it's met
- You're adding to an existing CLAUDE.md and want Karpathy's rules appended

## Key concepts

### Think Before Coding

State assumptions explicitly rather than guessing. Present multiple interpretations when the request is ambiguous, push back with simpler alternatives, and name confusion instead of plowing ahead with a silent choice.

### Simplicity First

Write the minimum code that solves the problem. Eliminate speculative features, single-use abstractions, unrequested flexibility, and impossible-scenario error handling. Litmus test: would a senior engineer call this overcomplicated?

### Surgical Changes

When editing existing code, do not improve adjacent code or refactor unbroken sections. Match the existing style and comments. Remove only imports and variables that your changes orphaned — never pre-existing dead code unless asked.

### Goal-Driven Execution

Transform tasks into verifiable success criteria with explicit verification loops. Instead of 'add validation,' write 'create tests for invalid inputs, then make them pass.' Define success, then loop until verified.

### Every line traces to the request

A core rule across all four principles: every changed line must trace back to the user's request. Drive-by improvements, opportunistic refactors, and unrelated cleanups are explicitly discouraged.

## API reference

```
/plugin marketplace add + install
```

Install the Karpathy guardrails as a Claude Code plugin via the recommended marketplace flow.

```
/plugin marketplace add forrestchang/andrej-karpathy-skills
/plugin install andrej-karpathy-skills@karpathy-skills
```

```
curl -o CLAUDE.md ...
```

Download CLAUDE.md into a fresh project so the rules apply from the very first turn.

```
curl -o CLAUDE.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/forrestchang/andrej-karpathy-skills/main/CLAUDE.md
```

```
Append to existing CLAUDE.md
```

Append the Karpathy rules onto an existing project CLAUDE.md without clobbering whatever is already there.

```
echo "" >> CLAUDE.md
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/forrestchang/andrej-karpathy-skills/main/CLAUDE.md >> CLAUDE.md
```

## Gotchas

- Guidelines bias toward caution over speed — appropriate for non-trivial work, overkill for typo fixes
- Use judgment on trivial tasks; applying the full rigor to a one-line change wastes turns
- Drive-by improvements are explicitly disallowed — every changed line must trace to the user's request
- Don't strip pre-existing dead code unless the user asked; only remove imports your own edits orphaned
- If the request is ambiguous, decline-and-clarify beats silently choosing an interpretation
- Appending the file blindly to an existing CLAUDE.md can duplicate rules — review the merged result

---
Generated by SkillMake from https://github.com/forrestchang/andrej-karpathy-skills on 2026-05-17T04:18:26.596Z.
Verify against source before relying on details.

File: ~/.claude/skills/karpathy-claude-md/SKILL.md