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darkroomengineeringdarkroomengineering/cc-settings/skills/zero-tech-debt/SKILL.md

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.

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Most recently taken up by

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.
  • GoogleSkill

    prototype

    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

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
  1. Distinctive:

    Reshape around the final product surface: Prefer one clear component or flow over mode flags.

    line 24
  2. Very specific:

    Verify the intended flow: Test the new behavior and any deleted assumptions that affect navigation, permissions, or persisted state.

    line 26

“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.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Verify the intended flow. Test the new behavior and any deleted assumptions that affect navigation, permissions, or persisted state. Apply the deslopper test-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 (AdminDashboard over LegacyDashboardV2).

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