canon: add doing-less-enables-more — the empirical principle behind vodka architecture

[klappy]

PR: canon/principles/doing-less-enables-more — the empirical principle behind vodka architectureSuggested branch: canon/inversion-principle-doing-less-enables-moreSuggested commit message: canon: add doing-less-enables-more principle (the inversion principle behind vodka architecture)Suggested PR title: canon: add doing-less-enables-more — the empirical principle behind vodka architecture---## SummaryThis PR adds one new Tier-2 principle: klappy://canon/principles/doing-less-enables-more.The principle is the empirical claim behind why canon/principles/vodka-architecture.md works as a design pattern. Vodka architecture is the discipline; this principle is the structural reason the discipline pays. The two articles are complements: discipline + rationale.The empirical lineage walked in the principle: TCP/IP, Unix pipes, HTTP, oddkit itself, and AMS. Each substrate was contemporaneously criticized as too thin to be useful. Each enabled an ecosystem that opinionated alternatives could not host. The principle names the three structural forces that make the inversion work: layered orthogonality, composability under uncertainty, and maintenance asymmetry.## File| File | Status | Notes ||------|--------|-------|| canon/principles/doing-less-enables-more.md | new (12.8 KB) | Tier-2 principle. Frontmatter shape matches existing canon/principles/ files. Section structure matches vodka-architecture.md, kiss-simplicity-is-the-ceiling.md, and dry-canon-says-it-once.md: pull-quote intro, Summary, The Lineage in Detail, Why the Inversion Works, Smell Test, Failure Modes, Relationship to Vodka Architecture, See Also. |## Why This Belongs UpstreamThe principle generalizes beyond any one program. Two AMS-overlay principles already in klappy/agent-messaging-service are downstream applications of the same claim:- ams://canon/principles/per-query-dynamic-orchestration — applies the inversion to the agent-orchestration latency budget- ams://canon/principles/envelope-altitude-consensus — applies the inversion to the 2025–2026 agent-comms protocol clusterBoth reference the new upstream principle in their derives_from and complements fields. The pattern follows the established overlay/upstream split: klappy:// for general principles, ams:// for AMS-specific applications. The pattern is the same one that produced klappy://canon/principles/vodka-architecture upstream and ams://canon/principles/vodka-architecture-applied in the AMS overlay.## Relationship to Existing Canon- canon/principles/vodka-architecture.md — this principle is the empirical complement. Vodka architecture says infrastructure should be thin, stateless, and domain-agnostic. This principle says why the discipline wins: refused opinions become composable layers above; adopted opinions become irrevocable constraints below.- canon/principles/kiss-simplicity-is-the-ceiling.md — sibling principle. KISS is the surface-area constraint that follows from this principle's structural claim.- canon/principles/dry-canon-says-it-once.md — sibling principle. DRY's duplication-avoidance is one specific application of this principle to governance.- canon/principles/prompt-over-code.md — sibling principle. Prompt-over-code is the same pattern applied to governance specifically.No existing principle is duplicated or contradicted. The principle adds a new abstraction level (empirical claim) that complements the existing pattern level (vodka architecture) and rule level (KISS, DRY, prompt-over-code).## Companion WorkThis PR is a companion to a separate PR in klappy/agent-messaging-service that lands the resonance-batch and security-as-subscriber-pattern work that surfaced this upstream-promotion as a needed canon move. The two PRs are independent; either can land first. The derives_from and complements references resolve once both are merged.## Validation- Voice-cliché audited against klappy://canon/constraints/ai-voice-cliches. Zero formulaic transitions, summary clichés, sycophantic openers, or puffing-importance hits.- Em-dash density within bounds (one bullet-list paragraph in the Smell Test section; each em-dash separates a bolded label from its explanation as distinct semantic work, matching the pattern in vodka-architecture.md).- Frontmatter shape verified against vodka-architecture.md, kiss-simplicity-is-the-ceiling.md, dry-canon-says-it-once.md.- No README index update needed (per the existing canon/principles/ convention of no README index).

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Note

Low Risk
Documentation-only change adding a new canon principle; no runtime or behavioral impact. Risk is limited to potential conceptual/terminology inconsistencies with existing canon references.

Overview
Adds a new Tier-2 canon principle document, canon/principles/doing-less-enables-more.md, articulating the inversion principle that substrates win by refusing higher-layer opinions.

The new article ties the claim explicitly to canon/principles/vodka-architecture.md, provides historical/internal examples (TCP/IP, Unix pipes, HTTP, oddkit, AMS), and includes guidance sections (smell tests, failure modes, and related links) for evaluating substrate proposals.

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[github-actions]

Canon Quality — oddkit_audit ✅

No dead klappy:// references or legacy link patterns found in writings/. 39 files scanned.

_{Spec: klappy://docs/oddkit/specs/oddkit-audit · Workflow: .github/workflows/canon-quality.yml · Run: #27}