--- title: I added one line to my Codex prompts, and it fixed the... description: A user shares a prompt tweak for OpenAI's Codex to curb its tendency to over-engineer simple tasks: adding the line 'Make the smallest change that fully solves... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-added-one-line-to-my-codex-prompts-and-it-fixed-the-tool-s-biggest-problem-uwdjbfvs1 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I added one line to my Codex prompts, and it fixed the tool's biggest problem | daily.dev og:description: A user shares a prompt tweak for OpenAI's Codex to curb its tendency to over-engineer simple tasks: adding the line 'Make the smallest change that fully solves... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-added-one-line-to-my-codex-prompts-and-it-fixed-the-tool-s-biggest-problem-uwdjbfvs1 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/uWdjbfvs1.png og:image:alt: I added one line to my Codex prompts, and it fixed the tool's biggest problem og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I added one line to my Codex prompts, and it fixed the tool's biggest problem **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A user shares a prompt tweak for OpenAI's Codex to curb its tendency to over-engineer simple tasks: adding the line 'Make the smallest change that fully solves the task. Do not add abstractions, fallbacks, defensive guards, refactors, or features unless they are strictly required.' The author notes this behavior is especially common with GPT-5.6 Sol, the newest and most capable model in OpenAI's lineup, as reasoning-heavy models increasingly take initiative to refactor, add abstractions, or handle edge cases beyond the scope of the original request. Adding this explicit boundary reportedly reduced unnecessary scope creep without limiting Codex's ability to reason through legitimate changes. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I stop Codex from adding unnecessary refactors and abstractions to simple coding tasks? Add a line to the end of the prompt telling Codex to make the smallest change that fully solves the task and to avoid abstractions, fallbacks, defensive guards, refactors, or features unless strictly required. This gives the model a clear boundary without dictating the exact implementation approach, reducing scope creep while still allowing it to reason through genuinely necessary changes. _Developers refining agent prompts to curb scope creep can compare workflow tips like this on daily.dev._ ### Why does Codex tend to over-engineer simple coding requests? Newer OpenAI coding models, particularly GPT-5.6 Sol, are optimized for long-running autonomous work, making them better at exploring codebases, breaking tasks into steps, and spotting adjacent issues without guidance. That same initiative becomes excessive on simple tasks, leading Codex to add unnecessary helper functions, defensive checks for hypothetical edge cases, and unrequested abstractions, especially at higher reasoning effort settings. _Anyone weighing coding agent behavior across models can track these trade-offs on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I stripped my prompts down after OpenAI's new guide, and my results got better](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stripped-my-prompts-down-after-openai-s-new-guide-and-my-results-got-better-y9gjbkpk9) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Coding Models Are Doing Too Much](https://daily.dev/posts/coding-models-are-doing-too-much-ribjn9dws) · Hacker News · 2 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#chatgpt](https://daily.dev/tags/chatgpt), [#prompt-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/prompt-engineering), [#vibe-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/vibe-coding), [#openai-codex](https://daily.dev/tags/openai-codex) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-added-one-line-to-my-codex-prompts-and-it-fixed-the-tool-s-biggest-problem-uwdjbfvs1) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I added one line to my Codex prompts, and it fixed the tool's biggest problem","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-added-one-line-to-my-codex-prompts-and-it-fixed-the-tool-s-biggest-problem-uwdjbfvs1","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-added-one-line-to-my-codex-prompts-and-it-fixed-the-tool-s-biggest-problem-uwdjbfvs1"},"datePublished":"2026-08-17T14:30:28.415Z","dateModified":"2026-08-17T14:30:52.651Z","description":"A user shares a prompt tweak for OpenAI's Codex to curb its tendency to over-engineer simple tasks: adding the line 'Make the smallest change that fully solves...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0306244fb232ce237140082fcb726376?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0306244fb232ce237140082fcb726376?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-added-one-line-to-my-codex-prompts-and-it-fixed-the-tool-s-biggest-problem-uwdjbfvs1","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"chatgpt,prompt-engineering,vibe-coding,openai-codex","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I added one line to my Codex prompts, and it fixed the tool's biggest problem"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-added-one-line-to-my-codex-prompts-and-it-fixed-the-tool-s-biggest-problem-uwdjbfvs1#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I stop Codex from adding unnecessary refactors and abstractions to simple coding tasks?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Add a line to the end of the prompt telling Codex to make the smallest change that fully solves the task and to avoid abstractions, fallbacks, defensive guards, refactors, or features unless strictly required. 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