# caveman

> 🪨 why use many token when few token do trick — Claude Code skill that cuts 65% of tokens by talking like caveman

- **URL**: https://www.freshcrate.ai/projects/caveman
- **Author**: JuliusBrussee
- **Category**: Prompt Engineering
- **Latest version**: `v1.8.2` (2026-05-12)
- **License**: MIT
- **Source**: https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman
- **Homepage**: https://juliusbrussee.github.io/caveman/
- **Language**: Python
- **GitHub**: 42,198 stars, 2,156 forks
- **Registry**: github
- **Tags**: `ai`, `anthropic`, `caveman`, `claude`, `claude-code`, `llm`, `meme`, `prompt-engineering`, `python`

## Description

🪨 why use many token when few token do trick — Claude Code skill that cuts 65% of tokens by talking like caveman

## Recent releases

| Version | Date | Urgency | Changes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `v1.8.2` | 2026-05-12 | High | ## Fixes  - **`fix(install)`: curl\|bash one-liner now actually installs skills** (#370)   Upstream `skills` CLI rendered its interactive skill-picker TUI under   `curl\|bash` (stdin not a TTY), got no selection, exited 0, and installed   nothing — while our installer cheerfully reported `done`. Now passes   `--yes --all` to both the per-provider call and the auto-detect fallback   so every detected agent gets all 7 caveman skills, no prompt required.  - **`fix(gemini)`: strip stray YAML fences fr |
| `v1.8.1` | 2026-05-10 | High | ## Hotfix for v1.8.0 — curl\|bash one-liner  The headline install command in v1.8.0 was broken at first contact:  ``` $ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/main/install.sh \| bash -s -- --only openclaw bash: line 39: BASH_SOURCE[0]: unbound variable error: unknown flag: -- ```  Two regressions — neither caught by CI because both are stdin-pipe-only.  ### What broke  1. **`set -u` + `${BASH_SOURCE[0]}` is fatal under curl\|bash.** When bash reads from stdin, `BASH_SOUR |
| `v1.7.0` | 2026-05-01 | High | ## v1.7.0 — Stats receipts, smart installer, cavecrew, MCP-shrink  The biggest release since v1.0. Caveman now has measurement (real token receipts, not vibes), an installer that detects 30+ agents and runs each one's native install, three caveman-mode subagents that emit ~60% fewer handoff tokens than vanilla, an MCP middleware that shrinks tool descriptions in flight, and a one-command rule-file dropper for any repo.  Plus a critical macOS installer fix that was silently breaking detection for |
| `v1.6.0` | 2026-04-15 | High | ## v1.6.0 — Hardening release  11 community PRs merged plus a hardened security model for the flag file. This release fixes two real crash bugs that were silently breaking installs, two local-file-clobber vulnerabilities, and several portability gaps.  ### Critical fixes  - **Hooks no longer crash when an ancestor `package.json` declares `"type": "module"`.** Before this fix, any user with `~/.claude/package.json` set to ESM (common with several Claude Code plugins) hit `ReferenceError: require |
| `v1.5.1` | 2026-04-11 | High | ## Runtime SKILL.md loading  Activation hook now reads `skills/caveman/SKILL.md` at runtime instead of hardcoding rules inline. Edits to the source of truth propagate automatically — no duplication to go stale.  - Plugin installs resolve SKILL.md relative to the plugin root - Standalone installs (hooks only, no skills dir) fall back to a built-in minimal ruleset - `commit`/`review`/`compress` modes skip SKILL.md machinery entirely — they have their own independent skill files  ## Docs  - **Conso |
| `v1.5.0` | 2026-04-11 | High | ## Configurable default mode  Default mode is now configurable instead of always starting at `full`. Resolution order:  1. `CAVEMAN_DEFAULT_MODE` environment variable (highest priority) 2. Config file at `~/.config/caveman/config.json` (XDG-compliant, cross-platform) 3. `'full'` (unchanged default — fully backward compatible)  ```bash export CAVEMAN_DEFAULT_MODE=ultra ```  ```json { "defaultMode": "lite" } ```  All install/uninstall scripts (bash + PowerShell) updated. Invalid modes silently fal |
| `v1.4.1` | 2026-04-11 | Medium | ## Fix: Codex plugin compress skill broken on Windows  The `compress` skill in the Codex plugin shipped as symlinks (`plugins/caveman/skills/compress/SKILL.md` and `scripts`). On Windows and any git setup with `core.symlinks=false`, these checked out as plain text files containing the target path — causing Codex to reject the skill with "missing YAML frontmatter."  ### Changes - Replaced symlinks with real file copies (scripts identical to source, SKILL.md adapted for plugin context) - Added CI |
| `v1.4.0` | 2026-04-11 | Medium | ## Highlights  - Add Claude Code statusline badge support, including shell and PowerShell badge scripts. - Add standalone Claude hook install/uninstall flows for macOS/Linux and Windows, with safer settings merge behavior and better reinstall checks. - Add always-on rule/instruction files plus sync workflow for Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, Copilot, Codex, Gemini, and repo agent docs. - Add local verification coverage for hook install/uninstall flows, synced artifacts, manifests, syntax, and caveman- |
| `v1.3.5` | 2026-04-09 | Medium | ## What's new  - **Plugin-bundled hooks** — SessionStart and UserPromptSubmit hooks now ship in `plugin.json`. Install as a plugin and they auto-activate — no `install.sh` needed. - **Mode-aware statusline badge** — flag file at `~/.claude/.caveman-active` now stores the active mode (`full`, `lite`, `ultra`, `wenyan`, `commit`, `review`). Statusline scripts can show `[CAVEMAN:ULTRA]` etc. - **UserPromptSubmit mode tracker** — detects `/caveman ultra`, `/caveman-commit`, etc. and updates the flag |
| `v1.3.0` | 2026-04-08 | High | ## What's New  ### 📜 文言文 (Wenyan) Mode Classical Chinese literary compression — same technical accuracy, different era, fewer tokens. Three levels: wenyan-lite, wenyan-full, wenyan-ultra.  ``` English:  "Your component re-renders because you create a new object reference each render." Caveman:  "New object ref each render. Wrap in useMemo." Wenyan:   "物出新參照，致重繪。useMemo Wrap之。" ```  ### 🛠️ New Skills - **caveman-commit** — terse commit messages in Conventional Commits format. `/caveman-commit` |

## Dependency audit

- **Score**: 100/100
- **Total deps**: 0
- **Resolved**: 0
- **Unresolved**: 0
- **License conflicts**: 0
- **Warnings**: 0
- **Scanned**: 2026-06-01

## Citation

- HTML: https://www.freshcrate.ai/projects/caveman
- Markdown: https://www.freshcrate.ai/projects/caveman.md
- Dependencies JSON: https://www.freshcrate.ai/api/projects/caveman/deps

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