# Deepen modules, simplify interfaces

Thinking prompt · Thinking prompts · M12

Use it as a cleanup pass on each pull request, or on a schedule for overdue maintenance. It pushes the agent to merge duplicated code, put core logic in one place and cut lines. Shared by Chris (@_khrus) on X on 7 Nov 2026; the idea is John Ousterhout's, from A Philosophy of Software Design, and Matt Pocock pointed him to it. /improve-codebase-architecture is the longer version: a scan, a report and an interview.

## Prompt

```text
Deepen modules and simplify interfaces.
```

## Related

- [/improve-codebase-architecture](https://www.atlasscope.dev/prompts/improve-codebase-architecture): Looks at recently busy parts of the code for modules that add little behind their interface, writes a before/after HTML report to the temp folder, then interviews you about one.
- [Layers that don't earn their keep](https://www.atlasscope.dev/prompts/layers-that-dont-earn-their-keep): Finds extra layers of code you could delete so the code, and the agents reading it, get simpler.
- [Simpler first](https://www.atlasscope.dev/prompts/simpler-first)

Source: https://www.atlasscope.dev/prompts/deepen-modules-simplify-interfaces