---
schema: 1
type: term
title: _YAGNI_
description: >-
  _YAGNI_ (You Aren't Gonna Need It) — the practice of not building a capability
  until real-world usage actually demands it, rather than on speculation.
canonical: 'https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/yagni-2e07494262bc'
markdown: 'https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/yagni-2e07494262bc.md'
llms: null
parent: 'https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt'
channel: everyinc
updated: '2026-10-23T22:12:35.346Z'
language: null
children: []
---


# \_YAGNI\_

Canonical: https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/yagni-2e07494262bc

Parent: [Channel index](https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt)

## Definition

_YAGNI_ (You Aren't Gonna Need It) — the practice of not building a capability until real-world usage actually demands it, rather than on speculation.

In this channel's material, **_YAGNI_** — short for _You Aren't Gonna Need It_ — is the discipline of not building capability until real-world usage demands it. In his conversation on building agent-native products, Mike Krieger invokes YAGNI as the counterweight to AI acceleration: agents can now rebuild an entire product in hours, but speed of construction does not tell you what belongs in the product. What remains **inherent and hard** is the judgment to decide what to cut, and that judgment comes only from **incremental exposure to real-world usage** — watching actual users, resisting the temptation to add features on speculation. In other words, YAGNI is treated not as a reason to avoid exploration, but as a reason to explore through shipping: expose the product to real usage early, and let observed need — not anticipated need — drive what gets built. Tree-without-wind metaphor aside, the evidence positions YAGNI as the test applied after AI makes building trivial: if you aren't gonna need it (because no real usage has asked for it), don't build it yet.