Stop Building Cathedrals When You Just Need a Shed

We’ve officially entered the era of "The Bloated Prompt."

Today, if you ask an AI to build you a simple wiki, it doesn't just give you a wiki. It hands you a React frontend, a Node.js backend, a Redis cache, and three different Tailwind config files. It’s impressive (assuming the massive project even compiles) but it’s mostly fluff. We’ve traded "solved problems" for "managed complexity."

Enter: antonmedv/wiki

I recently stumbled upon a GitHub repo that serves as a refreshing slap in the face: antonmedv/wiki.

It is a fully functional, version-controlled, Markdown-based wiki. The kicker? The entire thing is contained within a single PHP file.

There is no npm install. There is no composer update. There is no existential dread caused by a "Container Failed" error message. You just drop the file on a server, and it works. It reminds us that "useful" doesn't have to mean "distributed."

Why "Small" is the New "Powerful"

In a world obsessed with AI-generated complexity, there is a quiet, powerful beauty in software that is small enough to understand, but big enough to solve the problem.

When your entire stack is one file:

1. Maintenance is zero: There are no dependencies to go stale.
2. Portability is absolute: Move it anywhere, anytime.
3. Ownership is real: You can actually read every line of code in ten minutes.

Sometimes, the most sophisticated thing you can do is refuse to make things complicated.