Agents

Just like the transformer paper Attention Is All You Need proved, working with AI agents has taught me: Files is all you need. Simplicity is your greatest ally. The ecosystem offers many sophisticated tools—MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers for structured tool access, Skills frameworks for capability registration, Memory systems for persistent context. While powerful, these add layers of abstraction and ceremony that can obscure what the agent actually needs to do. After experimenting with these approaches, I’ve found that a simpler pattern often works better: plain files, executable scripts, and clear references. This keeps token usage low, workflows predictable, and debugging straightforward. You get the benefits of structure without the overhead of complex registration systems or protocol layers.