So im a non-coder who got really into AI tools over the past year. I use claude code mainly for vibe coding python/typescript stuff and scientific research/writing. You know how it goes - you see some cool MCP server on twitter, a new skill pack on reddit, someone recommends an agent bundle and before you know it youve got this massive bloated setup My setup had gotten ridiculous: 20 MCP servers, 80+ skills, 86 slash commands, 25+ agents, 10 plugins, 7 hooks. I didnt even know what half of them did anymore Today i just asked claude “why are you so slow” and we basically did an audit together. Claude made a cleanup plan and we archived everything i wasnt actually using. Heres what got removed:
- 15 out of 20 MCP servers gone (had 3 different search MCPs, 2 duplicate obsidian connectors, a postgres server i never once used
- 6 out of 10 plugins gone
- ~50 skills archived (had Go, Java, Spring Boot, Swift, C++ skills… i dont write any of those languages lol)
- ~52 commands removed
- 12 agents removed
- 4 hooks removed went from ~235 components down to ~87. Everything archived not deleted so i can restore if needed .The difference is night and day. Responses are noticeably faster, less token waste on startup, context window isnt getting polluted with tool definitions i never use. One of the removed MCPs even had a hardcoded bearer token sitting in my config which is a nice security bonus to catch. My advice for anyone like me whos not a professional developer: stop installing stuff preemptively. Seriously. Dont add an MCP server because some youtube-reddit post video said its cool. Dont install a skill pack “just in case”. Keep your setup minimal and only add something when you actually feel the pain of not having it. Like “im doing this manually and its slow, there has to be a better way” - thats when you install something every MCP server is a process running in the background. Every skill and agent definition eats into your context window. Every hook runs on every tool call. It all adds up and you end up with slower dumber assistant that costs more tokens. Less is more submitted by /u/StandardKangaroo369
Originally posted by u/StandardKangaroo369 on r/ClaudeCode