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01 / 73Principles5 min readUpdated Oct 2, 2026

Redesign From First Principles

Apply when integrating a new requirement into an existing design. Redesign as if the requirement had been a foundational assumption from day one, instead of bolting it on.

Lauren TanLauren TanAuthor
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Install this skill
$ npx skills add dhanji4U/skills --skill redesign-from-first-principles --global

Then type /redesign-from-first-principles in your coding agent.

When integrating a change, don’t bolt it onto the existing design. Redesign as if the requirement had been there from the start.

  • Read all affected files and understand the current design
  • Ask: “if we were writing this from scratch with this new requirement, what would we build?”
  • Propagate the change through every reference: types, docs, examples, rationale sections
  • Think about the whole redesign, then deliver it incrementally

This is the method for preserving option value when integrating changes into an existing design.

Part of the open-source dhanji4U/skills repository.Directory →