Simple by default

Two people open the same AI agent. One says “just do X for me” and wants a result, not a settings page. The other has opinions about git, autonomy, and what gets reviewed, and wants every dial in reach. Most tools pick one and lose the other — and the loss is mutual: make it simple and the power user feels handcuffed; make it configurable and everyone else bounces off the complexity.

MemMini treats that as a false choice. The resolution is progressive disclosure: ship a good default, and make every deeper decision a knob you reach for, never a wall you hit.

The rule

For anything MemMini does on your behalf:

1. A default that just works. Say what you want; a sensible version of you handles it. No configuration required to get value.
2. The knob is visible, not buried. Wherever MemMini decided something for you, you can see the decision and change it — in plain words, in the same flow.
3. You discover depth by using it. You meet MemMini at “run X for me.” You find the knobs by reading on, exactly when you want more — not before.

The person who never turns a knob still gets a good outcome. The person who turns every knob is never blocked. Same system — no fork between a “simple” product and a “pro” one.

Where it already shows up

This isn’t a feature bolted on; it’s how MemMini’s pieces are shaped:

• Autonomy — by default the agent does the safe, reversible work and asks before anything it can’t take back. The knob slides from “just run it” to “show me, ask first.”
• Version control — a non-coder says draft and publish; the git underneath (branch, commit, merge) is the knob a git-literate user reaches for. See how work flows.
• Knowledge — the lean, always-on you is the default; the deep knowledge graph is walked on demand, only when a topic needs it.
• Install depth — paste one file, fork it, or compile overlays for a fleet (or mount it as a submodule when your mind lives inside a project). Same files, the depth you choose. See Quickstart.

Why it matters

The two audiences aren’t a segmentation problem to solve with two products — they are the same person on different days, and the same person as they grow. A default that’s good and a knob that’s visible is what lets one system carry both without either side being in conflict.

Go deeper

The agent-facing pattern that builds this — engine, easy button, glass box: wiki/patterns/easy-button-glass-box.md.