Katharsis

Katharsis is an output style for Claude Code. Before each reply, the model classifies your message into an exchange type. Each type sets what the reply opens with, what it leaves out, and how long it can run.

The user asks whether to change the code or the tests, then says to go with the recommendation. The default reply opens with “Neither, yet” and ends by offering two more tasks. The Katharsis reply opens with its recommendation, and its report on the work runs 87 words against the default’s 449.

What changes in your replies

• The answer opens the reply, and the reasoning follows it.
• Each exchange type sets a word ceiling, so a status check gets a sentence and a diagnosis gets room to argue.
• Each item you might refer back to gets a reference code, such as F1 or NA2. “Do NA2” is a complete instruction.
• The model makes calls that are cheap to undo and asks only when a wrong answer is expensive.
• A ledger on disk records every code, so F3 still resolves after a compaction or in a later session.

Other models

Recordings of the same exchange: Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5, Fable 5.1, and Fable 5. The demo directory has every reply verbatim and the steps to reproduce them.