From f35b67fd471c34d3cb32018f148771aa835ce69f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Christian Gunderman <gundermanc@google.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2026 21:30:31 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] Reduce the prompt changes.

---
 packages/core/src/prompts/snippets.ts | 10 ++--------
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/core/src/prompts/snippets.ts b/packages/core/src/prompts/snippets.ts
index 49074f6907..38ba82624e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/prompts/snippets.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/prompts/snippets.ts
@@ -135,7 +135,6 @@ export function renderCoreMandates(options?: CoreMandatesOptions): string {
   return `
 # Core Mandates
 
-- **Context Efficiency:** Minimize context usage. Do not read entire files unless necessary. Use 'search_file_content' or 'read_file' with 'limit' to inspect large files.
 - **Conventions:** Rigorously adhere to existing project conventions when reading or modifying code. Analyze surrounding code, tests, and configuration first.
 - **Libraries/Frameworks:** NEVER assume a library/framework is available or appropriate. Verify its established usage within the project (check imports, configuration files like 'package.json', 'Cargo.toml', 'requirements.txt', 'build.gradle', etc., or observe neighboring files) before employing it.
 - **Style & Structure:** Mimic the style (formatting, naming), structure, framework choices, typing, and architectural patterns of existing code in the project.
@@ -368,15 +367,10 @@ function mandateContinueWork(interactive: boolean): string {
 
 function workflowStepUnderstand(options: PrimaryWorkflowsOptions): string {
   if (options.enableCodebaseInvestigator) {
-    return `1. **Understand & Strategize:** Think about the user's request and the relevant codebase context. When the task involves **complex refactoring, codebase exploration or system-wide analysis**, your **first and primary action** must be to delegate to the 'codebase_investigator' agent using the 'codebase_investigator' tool. Use it to build a comprehensive understanding of the code, its structure, and dependencies. For **simple, targeted searches** (like finding a specific function name, file path, or variable declaration), you should use '${GREP_TOOL_NAME}' or '${GLOB_TOOL_NAME}' directly.
-Use '${READ_FILE_TOOL_NAME}' to understand context and validate any assumptions you may have.
-IMPORTANT: extra context consumed by unnecessarily reading entire files will degrade the quality of your answer, so **ALWAYS** use ranged reads if you know approximately which lines you need. For example, when fixing a linter error at line 50, read ~20 lines around it (offset: 40, limit: 20) to get sufficient context for a replacement.`;
+    return `1. **Understand & Strategize:** Think about the user's request and the relevant codebase context. When the task involves **complex refactoring, codebase exploration or system-wide analysis**, your **first and primary action** must be to delegate to the 'codebase_investigator' agent using the 'codebase_investigator' tool. Use it to build a comprehensive understanding of the code, its structure, and dependencies. For **simple, targeted searches** (like finding a specific function name, file path, or variable declaration), you should use '${GREP_TOOL_NAME}' or '${GLOB_TOOL_NAME}' directly.`;
   }
   return `1. **Understand:** Think about the user's request and the relevant codebase context. Use '${GREP_TOOL_NAME}' and '${GLOB_TOOL_NAME}' search tools extensively (in parallel if independent) to understand file structures, existing code patterns, and conventions.
-Use '${READ_FILE_TOOL_NAME}' to understand context and validate any assumptions you may have. If you need to read multiple files, you should make multiple parallel calls to '${READ_FILE_TOOL_NAME}'.
-Keep in mind the following as you explore:
-- Search and/or read enough files to gain a thorough understanding of the problem.
-- IMPORTANT: extra context consumed by unnecessarily reading entire files will degrade the quality of your answer, so **ALWAYS** use ranged reads if you know approximately which lines you need. For example, when fixing a linter error at line 50, read ~20 lines around it (offset: 40, limit: 20) to get sufficient context for a replacement.`;
+Use '${READ_FILE_TOOL_NAME}' to understand context and validate any assumptions you may have. If you need to read multiple files, you should make multiple parallel calls to '${READ_FILE_TOOL_NAME}'.`;
 }
 
 function workflowStepPlan(options: PrimaryWorkflowsOptions): string {