Refactor

Make the smallest change that improves the structure. Handle incidental simplification within the current task. Raise a separate change when the work expands scope, such as merging untouched helpers with multiple callers.

Establish what must stay true

• Inspect the callers and behavior the edit could affect, including outputs, ordering, errors, and side effects. Use Adapt if project facts are missing. If a consumer might rely on undocumented behavior, show the evidence and ask what to preserve. Continue work that cannot change it. Route lasting boundary choices to Architect.
• Reuse focused checks that cover the affected behavior. If an important outcome is untested and the edit could change it, add a focused characterization case and run it before and after. Reuse the existing test file when it fits.
• Record baseline failures. Continue if a failure is demonstrably unrelated; if it might overlap, investigate that overlap before editing.

Simplify and verify

• Remove duplication when it enforces one shared rule. Keep similar logic local when its callers or requirements evolve independently. Review the affected diff for scope and unintended changes.
• Fix a bounded, in-scope violation of an established contract in the same task. Verify the correction separately and report the exact behavior that changed. Use Debug if the cause is unclear. Flag unrelated defects and ask before changing a product rule.
• Compare against the baseline and rerun relevant and required project checks. Use Test when verification needs specialist work. Report pre-existing failures and what actually passed. If a behavior check cannot run, deliver the patch with the exact steps still needed and mark that behavior unverified. Honor explicit completion gates and use Preflight for setup blockers.
• Describe what became simpler or what work was removed. Claim a runtime gain only with comparable measurements.