# What Are the Other Skills Besides the Main Caveman Skill? > Discover eight auxiliary skills in the caveman project, including caveman-help, caveman-commit, and more. Extend core compression with helpers for commits, reviews, and stats. - Repository: [Julius Brussee/caveman](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman) - Tags: getting-started - Published: 2026-07-03 --- **The caveman project provides eight auxiliary skills—caveman-help, caveman-commit, caveman-review, caveman-compress, caveman-stats, and the cavecrew family (investigator, builder, reviewer)—that extend the core compression mode with helpers for commits, reviews, statistics, and sub-agent delegation.** The JuliusBrussee/caveman repository is primarily known for its terse "caveman" compression mode, but it ships with a complete ecosystem of satellite skills. These additional capabilities are defined in individual [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/SKILL.md) files and activated via slash commands or natural-language triggers, allowing users to generate commit messages, review code, compress files, and delegate work to sub-agents without leaving the caveman context. ## Overview of Auxiliary Caveman Skills Each skill operates as an independent plugin that preserves caveman's token-saving philosophy—stripping filler language while preserving code, URLs, and technical terms. The skills fall into four functional categories: documentation helpers, workflow automation, analysis tools, and the multi-agent cavecrew system. ### Documentation and Help Skills **caveman-help** serves as the quick-reference entry point. Defined in [[`skills/caveman-help/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-help/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-help/SKILL.md), this skill displays a card listing all available modes, triggers, and commands when invoked via `/caveman-help` or the phrase "caveman help". ### Code Workflow Skills Two skills handle version-control hygiene: - **caveman-commit** — Generates terse conventional-commit messages (≤ 50 characters in the subject line) via the `/caveman-commit` trigger. The specification lives in [[`skills/caveman-commit/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-commit/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-commit/SKILL.md). - **caveman-review** — Produces one-line PR comments such as `L42: bug: user null. Add guard.` when triggered by `/caveman-review`. Configuration details are in [[`skills/caveman-review/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-review/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-review/SKILL.md). ### Analysis and Optimization Skills For performance monitoring and content compression: - **caveman-compress** — Compresses natural-language files (`.md`, `.txt`, etc.) into caveman prose, reducing token count by approximately 46 percent. Trigger with `/caveman-compress `. See [[`skills/caveman-compress/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-compress/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-compress/SKILL.md). - **caveman-stats** — Reports real-time token usage and estimated savings for the current session via `/caveman-stats`. Documentation resides in [[`skills/caveman-stats/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-stats/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-stats/SKILL.md). ### The Cavecrew Sub-Agent System **cavecrew** is a decision-guide skill that spawns specialized sub-agents to keep the main context window small. Triggered by phrases like "delegate to subagent" or "use cavecrew", it orchestrates three worker agents defined under the `plugins/` directory: - **cavecrew-investigator** — Searches the codebase for definitions, callers, or symbol usages. Defined in [[`plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-investigator/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-investigator/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-investigator/SKILL.md). - **cavecrew-builder** — Performs targeted 1–2 file edits based on investigator results. Configured in [[`plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-builder/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-builder/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-builder/SKILL.md). - **cavecrew-reviewer** — Reviews diffs and reports line-level issues with emojis and severity tags. Details are in [[`plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-reviewer/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-reviewer/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-reviewer/SKILL.md). The parent skill definition is located at [[`skills/cavecrew/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/cavecrew/SKILL.md)](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/cavecrew/SKILL.md). ## How to Invoke Each Skill All skills support direct command invocation. Below are runnable examples for the most common workflows: ```bash # Display the quick-reference card /caveman-help # Compress a documentation file to save tokens /caveman-compress docs/README.md # Generate a concise commit message /caveman-commit # Check session token statistics /caveman-stats # Delegate a code search to the investigator sub-agent delegate to subagent # Edit a specific line range after investigation /caveman-builder src/main.py:45-50 "replace old loop with list comprehension" ``` ## Summary - The caveman repository ships **eight auxiliary skills** beyond the core compression mode. - **caveman-help**, **caveman-commit**, **caveman-review**, **caveman-compress**, and **caveman-stats** provide standalone utilities for documentation, version control, and analysis. - **cavecrew** orchestrates three sub-agents—investigator, builder, and reviewer—to distribute work and preserve context window. - Each skill is implemented via a [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/SKILL.md) file in `skills/` or `plugins/caveman/skills/` and triggered by slash commands or natural language phrases. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How do I see a list of all available caveman skills? Use the **`/caveman-help`** command or type "caveman help". This triggers the caveman-help skill defined in [`skills/caveman-help/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-help/SKILL.md) and displays a reference card containing all modes, triggers, and file paths. ### What is the difference between caveman-compress and the main caveman skill? The main caveman skill is the default compression mode, while **`caveman-compress`** is an explicit helper skill invoked via `/caveman-compress `. According to [`skills/caveman-compress/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-compress/SKILL.md), it specifically targets natural-language files (`.md`, `.txt`) and reduces token count by roughly 46 percent. ### When should I use cavecrew instead of the primary caveman mode? Activate **cavecrew** when you need to perform multi-step operations that would otherwise bloat the context window. By saying "delegate to subagent", you spawn specialized workers—investigator, builder, or reviewer—defined in `plugins/caveman/skills/`, keeping the main session lean. ### Where are the skill definitions stored in the repository? Each skill resides in its own directory containing a [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/SKILL.md) file. Standalone skills live under `skills/` (e.g., [`skills/caveman-commit/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/skills/caveman-commit/SKILL.md)), while cavecrew sub-agents are located in `plugins/caveman/skills/` (e.g., [`plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-investigator/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman/blob/main/plugins/caveman/skills/cavecrew-investigator/SKILL.md)).