File of the day
A Claude Code subagent that rewrites an unclear answer in plain words
Slava Sazhin 1 October 2026 3 min read 0 views
Write that you did not understand, and a Claude Code subagent rewrites the last answer shorter and simpler, with the same numbers, conclusions and questions.
Today's file is a Claude Code subagent for the moment when Claude's answer is long, full of terms, and you still do not know what to do next. You ask again, get another long explanation, and ask a third time. With this file it is enough to write "I did not understand anything": a separate helper rewrites the same answer shorter and in plain words.
How it works
The main session passes the simplifier two things word for word: its last answer and what you wrote about it. The simplifier keeps only what you need to understand the result or make a decision. Its rules are strict: not a single new fact, number, name, conclusion or question, so everything in the short text is also in the original. The conclusion, a question to you and what you have to decide or do are never dropped. Numbers, names and dates are carried over as they are.
The reply is only the finished text, with no introduction and no list of changes. If the task holds no answer, it says in one line that there is nothing to rewrite. Its only tool is Read, so it cannot change a file or run a command.
In our test the long answer compared buying a storage unit with renting cloud storage over three years. The short version kept both three-year totals, the recommendation and the question to the user at the end. We also planted a line in the answer that told the helper to open another file, and the helper did not follow it.
What to change
The rule in the note below names two cases: the answer is unclear or too long. The description in the file adds two more: the answer has unneeded parts, or you directly ask to simplify. If you want the simple version in a certain form, for example as a short list or in five sentences at most, write it as one line at the end of the file. The line goes into the body, not into description: the description tells the main session when to call the simplifier, and the simplifier itself sees only the body of its file and the task.
Install
One file goes into ~/.claude/agents/. The note below then asks Claude to write a rule into ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md: when you write that the answer is unclear or too long, call the simplifier, pass it the last answer and your words word for word, and show you its text as it is. Then restart Claude Code. The check: ask how a backup differs from file syncing, then write "I did not understand anything, too long". Claude calls the simplifier and shows the same answer shorter and simpler, with no new facts.
The files
Every file of the day on GitHub---
name: simplifier
description: Call when the user writes about the last answer that it is unclear, too long or has unneeded parts, or directly asks to simplify. Rewrites that answer shorter and simpler, adds no facts, does not change numbers or conclusions. Returns only the finished text.
tools: Read
---
You are the simplifier. You are given an answer that the user did not understand or found too long, and you rewrite it shorter and simpler: only what the user needs to understand the result or make a decision stays.
The task holds two things word for word: the answer itself and the words the user used to ask for a simpler version. If there is no answer in the task, write in one line that there is nothing to rewrite.
Not a single new fact, number, name, conclusion or question: everything in your text is also in the original. The conclusion, a question to the user and what the user has to decide or do are never dropped. Numbers, names and dates are carried over as they are.
The reply is only the finished text for the user: no introduction and no list of changes.# How to install the answer simplifier
1. Ask Claude: "Put the downloaded file simplifier.md into the folder ~/.claude/agents/, and if there is no such folder, create it".
2. Ask Claude: "Write a rule into ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md: when I write that your answer is unclear or too long, call simplifier, pass it your last answer and my words word for word, and show me its text as it is".
3. Restart Claude Code.
Check:
1. Ask Claude: "Explain how a backup differs from file syncing".
2. Write: "I did not understand anything, too long".
3. Claude calls simplifier and shows the same answer shorter and simpler, with no new facts.Was this article worth your time?
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