improve-codebase-architecture
Skill1 starsChanged 3 months agoMITView on GitHub
Use when the user wants architectural deepening opportunities for a codebase or named files, shown as a visual HTML report, and when they then pick candidates from that report to implement in the code already reviewed.
195 other projects use a version of this, 157 of them edited.
Adopted by
Most recently taken up by
- chrysogonus/power-agentsedited, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- caidanw/skillsedited, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- domengabrovsek/agent-configedited, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- domengabrovsek/claudeedited, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- The-Vibe-Company/quivredited, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- miklschmidt/archboardedited, first seen Nov 8, 2026
Used with
Projects with it also use migrate-to-shoehorn, writing-beats and 10 more.
Other files people use alongside this one.
Files found in the same public projects as a version of this one, more often than they turn up anywhere else. Each project counts once, large collections count for less, and this file's own repository is left out.
simo97Skillmigrate-to-shoehorn
Migrate test files from `as` type assertions to @total-typescript/shoehorn. Use when user mentions shoehorn, wants to replace `as` in tests, or needs partial test data.
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LesaniSkillwriting-beats
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Also in 68 projects that use this
simo97Skillrequest-refactor-plan
Use this skill when user wants to create a refactor plan.
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liufeng1976Skillsetup-ts-deep-modules
Wire dependency-cruiser into a TypeScript repo so each package is a deep module — implementation hidden in subfolders, reachable only through its entry-point files. User-invoked.
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FabienDehopreSkilldecision-mapping
Turn a loose idea into a sequenced map of investigation tickets, then drive them to resolution one at a time.
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LesaniSkillwriting-shape
Take a markdown file of raw material and shape it into an article through a conversational session — drafting candidate openings, growing the piece paragraph by paragraph, arguing about format (lists, tables, callouts, quotes) at each step. Use when the user has a pile of notes, fragments, or a rough draft and wants help turning it into something publishable.
Also in 65 projects that use this
- +2 more from simo97
Other versions195 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 157
- mattpocock/skills★ 309k60% same
- danny-avila/LibreChat★ 47k62% same
- LibreChat-AI/LibreChat★ 47k62% same
- QuivrHQ/quivr★ 40k62% same
- The-Vibe-Company/quivr★ 40k62% same
- windmill-labs/windmill★ 18k59% same
- GreyDGL/PentestGPT★ 16k55% same
- humanlayer/humanlayer★ 13k61% same
- ArcReel/ArcReel★ 6.3k61% same
- withcoral/coral★ 4.9k61% same
147 more not listed
Wrote their own version · 38
- sanity-io/sanity★ 6.4ksame name
- vinvcn/mattpocock-skills-zh-CN★ 5.5ksame name
- openstatusHQ/data-table-filters★ 2.3ksame name
- stevesolun/ctx★ 583same name
- devcxl/mattpocock-skills-zh★ 522same name
- drvoss/everything-copilot-cli★ 48same name
- WenWuZhiDao/mattpocock-skills-zh★ 27same name
- aveproject/ave★ 24same name
- Integralist/agent-skills★ 23same name
- narumiruna/skills★ 17same name
28 more not listed
How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.
In this repository13 other files it gives its agents.
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- bug-analysisSkill
- cavemanSkill
- code-review-with-filesSkill
- diagnoseSkill
- fetch-yuque-docSkill
- git-commit-workflowSkill
- handoffSkill
- ios-i18n-workflowSkill
- java-to-nextjsSkill
- java-to-swiftSkill
- question-answerSkill
- reconstructing-ui-from-screenshotsSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
7 rules. 0 are common, 5 are distinctive, and 2 are very specific to this project.
0
Common
Most of the 184 edited versions we read keep these.
5
Distinctive
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
2
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 16
Keep code identifiers (class names, method names, file paths) in their original code form.
- Distinctive: line 19
Write for human developers who want to grasp the problem in 5 seconds, not for an academic architecture textbook.
- Distinctive: line 22
Keep every sentence short and direct.
- Distinctive: line 35
If the user named a direction (a module, a subsystem, a pain point), take it, and skip the inference below.
- Very specific: line 38
Read the project's domain glossary (CONTEXT.md) and any ADRs in the area you're touching first.
- Distinctive: line 73
Do NOT propose detailed code interfaces in the report.
- Very specific: line 94
The edit makes a fuzzy term in
CONTEXT.mdprecise?: Update that term in the same edit.
“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 184 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Improve Codebase Architecture
Surface architectural friction and propose deepening opportunities: refactors that turn shallow modules into deep ones. The aim is testability and AI-navigability.
Language and Expression Rules
- Follow User / Context Language:
- Determine the output language from the user's request, recent conversation context, or project documentation (
CONTEXT.md,CLAUDE.md, README, commit history). If the user only provides a slash command and file paths (e.g./improve-codebase-architecture path/to/File.swift), infer the language from the conversation history, user rules, or codebase comments/docs (defaulting to Simplified Chinese when working in a Chinese user/project context). - Both the HTML report and the chat conclusion MUST use that language — including HTML
<html lang="...">,<title>, section headers, legend, candidate titles, badges, diagram labels/annotations, Problem/Solution descriptions, benefits, Top Recommendation, and follow-up questions. - Keep code identifiers (class names, method names, file paths) in their original code form.
- Determine the output language from the user's request, recent conversation context, or project documentation (
- Concise, Plain, and Easy to Understand (精炼通俗,直白易懂):
- Write for human developers who want to grasp the problem in 5 seconds, not for an academic architecture textbook.
- Replace obscure academic jargon with plain, concrete cause-and-effect language. For example, instead of "split-brain state bounces across the engine seam via raw DTOs", write "结果页的 6 个修改接口直接写在 VC 里,改完又塞回 Engine 刷新,状态两头跑".
- State what is messy right now, how to merge/simplify it, and what concrete benefit we get (e.g., fewer places to touch, delete dead code, testable without UI).
- Keep every sentence short and direct. No filler, no pompous phrasing.
This command is informed by the project's domain model and built on a shared design mindset:
- Focus on core architecture concepts: module (模块), interface (接口/对外入口), depth (深度:小接口封装复杂实现 vs 浅层透传), seam (接缝/解耦点), adapter (适配层), leverage (杠杆率:一处实现多处复用), and locality (内聚性/局部性:改动集中在同一处). Apply these principles directly: the deletion test, "the interface is the test surface", "one adapter = hypothetical seam, two = real". Express conclusions in natural, everyday developer language.
- The domain language in
CONTEXT.mdgives names to good seams; ADRs indocs/adr/record decisions this command should not re-litigate.
Process
1. Explore
Scope before you scan: YAGNI. Deepening a module pays off by making future changes to it easier, so put extra weight on the parts of the codebase that have recently changed. Decide where to look before you look:
- If the user named a direction (a module, a subsystem, a pain point), take it, and skip the inference below.
- Otherwise, walk back a good stretch of the commit history (
git log --oneline) to find the codebase's hot spots, the files and areas that keep coming up, and let those paths pull your attention first. If the changes are scattered with no clear hot spot, widen the net.
Read the project's domain glossary (CONTEXT.md) and any ADRs in the area you're touching first.
Then spawn a sub-agent to walk the codebase. Don't follow rigid heuristics; explore organically and note where you experience friction:
- Where does understanding one concept require bouncing between many small modules?
- Where are modules shallow, with an interface nearly as complex as the implementation?
- Where have pure functions been extracted just for testability, but the real bugs hide in how they're called (no locality)?
- Where do tightly-coupled modules leak across their seams?
- Which parts of the codebase are untested, or hard to test through their current interface?
Apply the deletion test to anything you suspect is shallow: would deleting it concentrate complexity, or just move it? A "yes, concentrates" is the signal you want.
2. Present candidates as an HTML report
Write a self-contained HTML file to the OS temp directory so nothing lands in the repo. Resolve the temp dir from $TMPDIR, falling back to /tmp (or %TEMP% on Windows), and write to <tmpdir>/architecture-review-<timestamp>.html so each run gets a fresh file. Open it for the user (xdg-open <path> on Linux, open <path> on macOS, start <path> on Windows) and tell them the absolute path.
The report uses Tailwind via CDN for layout and styling, and Mermaid via CDN for diagrams where a graph/flow/sequence reliably communicates the structure. Mix Mermaid with hand-crafted CSS/SVG visuals: use Mermaid when relationships are graph-shaped (call graphs, dependencies, sequences), and hand-built divs/SVG when you want something more editorial (mass diagrams, cross-sections, collapse animations). Each candidate gets a before/after visualisation. Be visual.
For each candidate, render a card (all text in the user's context language) with:
- Files: which files/modules are involved
- Problem (现状痛点): plain, everyday explanation of why the current code is painful to read, change, or test (1–2 short sentences)
- Solution (优化方案): clear, down-to-earth description of how to consolidate or simplify it (1–2 short sentences)
- Benefits (收益): concrete, easy-to-read bullets showing what gets deleted, where changes concentrate (locality), and how testing becomes simpler
- Before / After diagram: side-by-side, custom-drawn, illustrating the current mess vs. the simplified structure (use the user's language for diagram annotations and explanations, keeping only real code symbols in code font)
- Recommendation strength: one of
Strong(强烈推荐),Worth exploring(值得探索),Speculative(可选尝试), rendered as a badge
End the report with a Top recommendation (优先改造建议) section: which candidate you'd tackle first and why, explained in plain language.
Use CONTEXT.md domain terms and keep architectural explanations natural. Do not force awkward English glossary words into non-English reports. Explain module depth, interface size, and coupling in clear, idiomatic language that any developer on the team can immediately understand.
ADR conflicts: if a candidate contradicts an existing ADR, only surface it when the friction is real enough to warrant revisiting the ADR. Mark it clearly in the card (e.g. a warning callout: "contradicts ADR-0007, but worth reopening because…"). Don't list every theoretical refactor an ADR forbids.
See HTML-REPORT.md for the full HTML scaffold, diagram patterns, and styling guidance.
Do NOT propose detailed code interfaces in the report. After the file is written, summarize the candidates briefly in the user's language (concise and plain) and ask which candidates to implement.
3. Implement the chosen candidates
When the user names one or more candidates — by number, title, or quoted report text — and asks to do, optimize, or land them, implement that selection in the codebase under review. This step has no other skill and no lookup step: the report and the code already read are the procedure. Several named candidates are one change when they touch the same state.
The spec is already in context:
- the HTML report's Problem, Solution, and Before / After for the chosen cards
- the files, methods, and call paths read during Explore
- the user's selection
Follow behavior the current code already shows, except where the chosen Solution explicitly changes it. User-visible copy, error codes, popup and toast ownership, paywall triggers, and refresh timing come from that code and the report. Put the deepened logic in the module the report named. Leave UI the report left in the view layer (popups, toasts, navigation, paywalls) there. Shape the new interface to match the module's existing types and call style. Do not design a second interface in parallel.
A fact you can read from code already opened is not a question. If the report's Solution and that code name the module, the methods to move, and what stays in the UI, edit now.
Stop and ask one question only when a behavior the candidate must change is neither stated in the report nor visible in the code you read. State the choice and a recommended default, then wait. Do not open a decision tree or a round of design questions before that.
While editing:
- The deepened module needs a domain term
CONTEXT.mddoes not already name? Add that term. CreateCONTEXT.mdonly in that case. - The edit makes a fuzzy term in
CONTEXT.mdprecise? Update that term in the same edit. - The user rejects a candidate for a reason a later review would need in order not to suggest it again? Offer one ADR: "Want me to record this as an ADR so future architecture reviews don't re-suggest it?" Skip "not worth it right now" and reasons that are obvious from the code.
After the edit, run the check the repo already uses for those files (its test target or compiler command). Do not add a new test harness as a side task. If the repo has no such check, say so. The moved logic must be callable without presenting UI.
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