A craft loop that attacks the size of the diff itself rather than its quality. Each pass reverts one hunk not strictly required by the goal — reformatted untouched lines, speculative helpers, taste-only renames, defensive branches nothing reaches — then re-runs the tests to prove the goal still holds. It exits when no further line can be removed without breaking a test and the changed-line count stops shrinking.
Loop
- Goal
- the diff contains only changes strictly required by the goal — every remaining changed line is load-bearing and tests still pass
- Exit when
- no hunk can be reverted without failing the goal or a test, and the changed-line count stops shrinking between passes
Check between iterations
git diff --stat main...HEAD && git diff main...HEAD | grep -cE '^[-+]'
$
Kickoff prompt
Start the "Surgical Diff Shrink" loop.
Goal: the diff contains only changes strictly required by the goal — every remaining changed line is load-bearing and tests still pass
Max iterations: 6
Between iterations run: git diff --stat main...HEAD && git diff main...HEAD | grep -cE '^[-+]'
Exit when: no hunk can be reverted without failing the goal or a test, and the changed-line count stops shrinking between passes
Step 1: Read the full diff and list every hunk not strictly required by the goal — reformatted untouched lines, speculative helpers, taste-only renames, unreachable branches — then revert the most clearly unnecessary one and re-run the tests.
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