# The Right Primitive

By Rajdeep Mondal. Published 2026-05-18. 5 min read

Canonical: https://www.rajdeepmondal.com/writing/the-right-primitive

Tags: Agents, Claude Code, AI Systems

> Five primitives carry every behavior you add to a coding agent: hook, command, skill, tool, subagent. They line up by weight. Ask the questions lightest first and take the first yes. Name that primitive in one sentence before you build.

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