caveman-help
juliusbrussee/caveman
Quick-reference card for caveman modes, skills, and commands—display on demand.
What is caveman-help?
A one-shot help display that shows all available caveman modes (Lite, Full, Ultra, Wenyan variants), skills (commit, review, compress), and deactivation commands. Trigger it with /caveman-help or natural language queries like "caveman help" or "how do I use caveman". Does not change mode or persist state—purely informational.
- Display reference card for all 6 caveman modes and their compression levels
- List all 4 caveman skills with triggers and descriptions
- Show deactivation commands and language handling rules
- Provide configuration instructions for default mode via environment variable or config file
- Output help content in caveman style matching current mode
How to install caveman-help
npx skills add https://github.com/juliusbrussee/caveman --skill caveman-helpHow to use caveman-help
- 1.Trigger the help card by typing /caveman-help or asking "caveman help", "what caveman commands", or "how do I use caveman"
- 2.Read the Modes table to understand compression levels (Lite, Full, Ultra, Wenyan variants)
- 3.Check the Skills table to see available tools like caveman-commit, caveman-review, and caveman-compress
- 4.Review Language section to confirm your language is preserved while style is compressed
- 5.If needed, configure your default mode using CAVEMAN_DEFAULT_MODE environment variable or ~/.config/caveman/config.json
Use cases
- New user learning what caveman modes and skills are available
- Developer needing quick syntax for /caveman-commit or /caveman-review
- User forgetting how to deactivate caveman mode or switch between variants
- Team member checking token savings from caveman-compress before using it
- Developer configuring default caveman mode for their session
- Developers using caveman for terse code comments and commit messages
- Teams adopting caveman-style code reviews
- Users new to the caveman skill system
- Anyone needing a quick reference without leaving their editor
caveman-help FAQ
No. It is one-shot only—displays the reference card without changing mode, writing files, or persisting state.
Keep your original language. If you write Portuguese, caveman replies in Portuguese caveman style. Technical terms, code, and error strings stay verbatim unless you request translation.
Say "stop caveman" or "normal mode". Resume anytime with /caveman.
Use environment variable CAVEMAN_DEFAULT_MODE (highest priority), or set defaultMode in ~/.config/caveman/config.json. Default is "full".
Full drops articles, filler, and hedging while keeping sentence structure. Ultra uses extreme compression with bare fragments and prefers tables over prose.
Full instructions (SKILL.md)
Source of truth, from juliusbrussee/caveman.
name: caveman-help description: > Quick-reference card for all caveman modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display, not a persistent mode. Trigger: /caveman-help, "caveman help", "what caveman commands", "how do I use caveman".
Caveman Help
Display this reference card when invoked. One-shot — do NOT change mode, write flag files, or persist anything. Output in caveman style.
Modes
| Mode | Trigger | What change |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | /caveman lite | Drop filler. Keep sentence structure. |
| Full | /caveman | Drop articles, filler, pleasantries, hedging. Fragments OK. Default. |
| Ultra | /caveman ultra | Extreme compression. Bare fragments. Tables over prose. |
| Wenyan-Lite | /caveman wenyan-lite | Classical Chinese style, light compression. |
| Wenyan-Full | /caveman wenyan | Full 文言文. Maximum classical terseness. |
| Wenyan-Ultra | /caveman wenyan-ultra | Extreme. Ancient scholar on a budget. |
Mode stick until changed or session end.
Skills
| Skill | Trigger | What it do |
|---|---|---|
| caveman-commit | /caveman-commit | Terse commit messages. Conventional Commits. ≤50 char subject. |
| caveman-review | /caveman-review | One-line PR comments: L42: bug: user null. Add guard. |
| caveman-compress | /caveman-compress <file> | Compress .md files to caveman prose. Saves ~46% input tokens. |
| caveman-help | /caveman-help | This card. |
Deactivate
Say "stop caveman" or "normal mode". Resume anytime with /caveman.
Language
Keep user's language by default. User write Portuguese → reply Portuguese caveman. Compress the style, not the language. Technical terms, code, commands, commit types, and exact error strings stay verbatim unless user ask for translation.
Configure Default Mode
Default mode = full. Change it:
Environment variable (highest priority):
export CAVEMAN_DEFAULT_MODE=ultra
Config file (~/.config/caveman/config.json):
{ "defaultMode": "lite" }
Set "off" to disable auto-activation on session start. User can still activate manually with /caveman.
Resolution: env var > config file > full.
More
Full docs: https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman
Related skills
More from juliusbrussee/caveman and the wider catalog.
caveman
Cut token usage ~75% with caveman-mode responses — full technical accuracy, zero fluff
caveman-commit
Ultra-compressed commit messages in Conventional Commits format—terse, exact, why-focused.
caveman-review
Ultra-compressed code review comments: location, problem, fix. One line per finding.
caveman-compress
Compress memory files into caveman-speak to save input tokens while preserving code and structure.
cavecrew
Delegate to compressed subagents—investigator, builder, reviewer—to keep main context lean across long sessions.
caveman-stats
Display real token usage and estimated savings for your Claude Code session.