A simplified instruction you can paste directly into Codex: prefer the simplest design that meets the current, demonstrated requirements; do not add abstractions, dependencies, or infrastructure for hypothetical future needs; comments add nuance about balancing simplicity with modular boundaries.
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Jump to main content Stop GPT 5.6 Sol from over-engineering with Occam's razor : r/codex Advertise on Reddit Open chat Create Create post Open inbox Expand user menu Repost Go to “codex” r/codex • 18 days ago SlimyResearcher Stop GPT 5.6 Sol from over-engineering with Occam's razor Suggestion
A simple way I have found to stop Sol model from over-engineering is to simply tell it to use Occam's razor technique with the prompt below. If you find specific aspects of the design are still over-engineered, tell codex to apply Occam's razor to those parts and it will simplify them.
Prefer the simplest design and implementation that fully satisfies the current, demonstrated requirements.
Do not add abstractions, layers, configuration, extension points, dependencies, or infrastructure for hypothetical future needs. Introduce them only when concrete requirements or repeated patterns justify their cost.
Before adding code, consider whether the goal can be met by deleting, consolidating, or reusing existing code.
When multiple approaches are correct, choose the one with fewer concepts, moving parts, and maintenance obligations, unless evidence shows that a more complex approach is necessary.
Treat patterns and principles as tools, not goals. Do not apply SOLID, design patterns, or architectural boundaries in ways that make a small solution more complicated than the problem requires. Share Sort by: Comments section mindstuff8 • 18 days ago
I think you've missed something here that is super important and that is dealing with context.
I’ve seen vibe-coded projects become giant single-file apps because “keep it simple” was interpreted as “don’t create boundaries.” Then AI struggles because every change pulls too much unrelated code into context.
Modularity isn’t over-engineering.
The goal should be to create the simplest design that still preserves clear responsibilities and boundaries.
Reply Share -AJacobs- • 18 days ago
Any reason to believe that this is better than ponytail?
Reply Share Dolo12345 • 18 days ago Top 1% commenter
sol max is amazing don’t touch a thing tibo
Reply Share abazabaaaa • 17 days ago
I probably wouldn’t write the word “delete” especially not the way you have it written
Reply Share JD3Lasers • 15 days ago
Rm -rf / The simplest method was no method.
NaturallyFarOut • 14 days ago
always has been
EmilPlaysGames • 18 days ago
can someone tell me is this actually good
nicky_factz • 18 days ago
There’s nothing technically wrong with any of these rules as an agents.md set, but all this is simply guidance if you already inject similar rules elsewhere or have a lot of compaction it’s going to lose this like it would any nuance over time.
A lot of these prompts work fine in isolation because it’s good advice, doesn’t mean the agent won’t wander or get context poisoning from other parts of your harness
SlimyResearcher • 18 days ago
You have to tell it speciifcally to use Occam's razor. Otherwise, it may still over-engineer even if the instructions are in the AGENTS.md file.
2053_Traveler • 17 days ago
Isn’t Occam’s razor most popularly used to refer to simple explanations being best? In principle, and in truth maybe it works. But I wonder if something much shorter like “Ruthlessly practice YAGNI” would be better
nicky_factz • 18 days ago
I hear ya, I think a lot of people have more of a self inflicted harness problem than just the model itself however. They installed 300 skills and 15 plugins that all repeat the same guidance in different flavors, or worse, they conflict, all from the 5.4 days and need to loosen up the guardrails first then look for this kind of tweak, because sol has not been an issue for me with over engineering like at all, I had some problems on launch with ultra mode but general sol seems very capable at medium/high OOTB and mostly on a clean setup too.
These are solid rules and Occam’s razor is definitely a good well known concept for an LLM to pick up on so I may throw those words into my plugin cuz I like it.
adolf_twitchcock • 17 days ago
It's not.
It could have been a simple sentence. Mentioning occams razor doesn't do anything.
BlacksmithLittle7005 • 15 days ago
Just put karpathy rules in your AGENTS md, was enough for me
TorgoNUDH0 • 17 days ago
I use a multi dimensional epistemic analysis dual adversarial super review/verifier stage. I put all the eponymous laws in there with a bit of hydratation crawl on arxiv. This cause my workflow to loop forever. I once caught it authenticate into a system jusg to prove a point to the planning agent. So add a fail fast clause
Historical-Donut-918 • 17 days ago
What?
TalosStalioux • 16 days ago
Isn't using DRY principles enough?
[Deleted] • 18 days ago
Comment removed by moderator
EmilPlaysGames • 18 days ago
not profitable for open ai if you’re on plan, it’s just a deficit and they would actually save by making it under-engineered
SlimyResearcher • 18 days ago
I found that simply adding it to AGENTS.md doesn't work, but when you tell it specifically to use Occam's razor and give it the instructions above, it does produce simpler designs.
[Deleted] • 18 days ago
Comment removed by moderator
Fit-Palpitation-7427 • 18 days ago
So whats your alternative ? Terra? Luna? Sol medium?
ComSenseisnotCommon • 18 days ago
You are correct people who build these agents in that way don’t understand they using the wrong model. Idk if it’s fomo or some syndrome that because it’s considered the highest marketed of something it’s just always the best and efficient that people force everything down it.
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GPT-5.6 Sol
