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Caveman Terse Voice

Makes the agent reply in short, fragment-style prose while keeping all technical facts intact.

Source Download skill
Repository
JuliusBrussee/caveman
Stars
116,835
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
2 files

What it does

Once installed, the agent drops filler like greetings, hedging and closing summaries, and answers first in terse, caveman-style sentences to save tokens and make replies quick to read in a terminal. Code, commands, paths, numbers and error messages are kept exact, and negations are never dropped. It stays on for the whole session until the user says stop caveman or normal mode.

Great for

  • Developers who use an AI agent in a terminal and want shorter, faster-to-scan answers
  • People who pay per token and want to cut output costs without losing technical detail
  • Users who find chatty AI replies tiresome

Skip it if

  • Readers who need polished, full-sentence prose, such as customer-facing or formal documents, because the style is deliberately clipped
  • Tasks where the agent must explain nuanced reasoning to a beginner, since compressed replies can omit context

Try asking

  • “/caveman”
  • “talk like caveman, then review this pull request for bugs”
  • “stop caveman and explain the migration plan in full sentences”
  • “/caveman status”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Caveman Terse VoiceInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 2 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    caveman.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip caveman.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip caveman.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Say stop caveman or normal mode when you need full prose, for example for documents or commit messages.
  • Check the reply's code and error text, since the skill says they stay verbatim but you should still verify.
  • Use /caveman status to see which mode is active; the skill reports it without changing anything.

What's inside

  • agents/openai.yaml
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from JuliusBrussee/caveman under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.