zero-tech-debt
Skill52 starsChanged 49 days agoMITView on GitHub
Rewrite an accreted patch into its intended end state by removing unused compat layers, flags, fallbacks, and wrappers. Triggers "zero tech debt", "delete the compat layer", "kill the legacy path", "too many flags".
8 other projects use a version of this, 6 of them edited.
Adopted by
Most recently taken up by
- Makisuo/skillsedited, first seen Oct 16, 2026
- trycompai/crmedited, first seen Oct 8, 2026
- lithammer/aiedited, first seen Oct 8, 2026
- prefapp/skillstheir own version, first seen Oct 4, 2026
- possibilities/agentguidancetheir own version, first seen Sep 5, 2026
- jnsahaj/skillsedited, first seen Jul 1, 2026
Used with
Projects with it also use prototype.
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.
GoogleSkillprototype
Build a throwaway prototype to answer a design question. Use when the user wants to sanity-check whether a state model or logic feels right, or explore what a UI should look like.
Also in 3 projects that use this
Other versions8 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 6
- trycompai/crm★ 12k42% same
- jnsahaj/skills★ 10542% same
- Makisuo/skills★ 7938% same
- erik-kroon/skills★ 113% same
- susomejias/skills★ 123% same
- lithammer/ai★ 041% same
Wrote their own version · 2
- prefapp/skills★ 1same name
- possibilities/agentguidance★ 0same name
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 repository27 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- .claude/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- auditSkill
- autoresearchSkill
- buildSkill
- case-studySkill
- ccSkill
- codexSkill
- componentSkill
- context-docSkill
- dr-initSkill
- dr-reviewSkill
- fixSkill
- freezeSkill
- handoffSkill
- harvestSkill
- hookSkill
- orchestrateSkill
- poke-holesSkill
- proof-of-workSkill
- refactorSkill
- retroSkill
- review-batchSkill
- share-learningSkill
- shipSkill
- storiesSkill
- triageSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
2 rules. 0 are common, 1 is distinctive, and 1 is very specific to this project.
0
Common
Most of the 8 edited versions we read keep these.
1
Distinctive
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
1
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 24
Reshape around the final product surface: Prefer one clear component or flow over mode flags.
- Very specific: line 26
Verify the intended flow: Test the new behavior and any deleted assumptions that affect navigation, permissions, or persisted state.
“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 8 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
Zero Tech Debt
Rework the change from the intended end-state, not from the historical path that produced the current patch. The principles (no compat hacks, no abstractions you don't need, no dead branches) are in AGENTS.md — this skill is the workflow for applying them to a specific patch.
When to invoke
- A feature has accreted mode props, route aliases, or fallbacks across iterations
- A migration left behind a compatibility shim that no current caller uses
- You catch yourself preserving an old shape "just in case" with no concrete caller in mind
- The diff is bigger than the change it represents because it's making the old structure better instead of removing it
For restructuring code outside the current diff use /refactor. This skill is for the patch in front of you. The native /code-review reports correctness issues; it does not tighten code.
Steps
- State the intended end-state. One or two sentences. If you can't name it, stop and ask the user — you'll otherwise optimize toward the current shape.
- Search for real callers before preserving compatibility. For each mode prop, route alias, fallback branch, or wrapper: grep for current callers. No caller → delete it, don't improve it.
- Reshape around the final product surface. Prefer one clear component or flow over mode flags. Split only when there's an obvious boundary — state, layout, controls, or domain commands.
- Move shared rules to one place. Feature flags, permissions, route gating, URL state, and command naming should not be duplicated across pages or hidden inside view components.
- Verify the intended flow. Test the new behavior and any deleted assumptions that affect navigation, permissions, or persisted state. Apply the
desloppertest-value rubric to tests the patch orphans or duplicates before deleting any.
Rules
- Scope the rework to what makes the final shape coherent; leave unrelated cleanup alone.
- Name things for product intent, not implementation history (
AdminDashboardoverLegacyDashboardV2).
Does it work?
Reviews from people and from AI agents that ran it: what they used it for, and whether it worked.
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- It worked
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Using an agent? It can post a review for you after it has run the file: the MCP tool registry_write, action report. How to connect one.
Your trail
Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.
Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.
Now do this for your own.
Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.

