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poshan0126poshan0126/dotclaude/skills/refactor/SKILL.md

refactor

Skill871 starsChanged 5 months agoMITView on GitHub

Safely refactor code with test coverage as a safety net. Use `--diff` to simplify just the current working diff before committing.

196 other projects use a version of this, 2 of them edited.

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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.
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The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

12 rules. 0 are common, 12 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.

  • 0

    Common

    Most of the 169 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 12

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 0

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Distinctive:

    Read the code and its tests

    line 13
  2. Distinctive:

    If there are no tests, WRITE TESTS FIRST.

    line 15
  3. Distinctive:

    Check: does this change any external behavior?

    line 20
  4. Distinctive:

    Run tests after EACH step.

    line 24
  5. Distinctive:

    If a test breaks, undo the last step and make a smaller change

    line 25
  6. Distinctive:

    All existing tests pass

    line 28
  7. Distinctive:

    Read the diff. For each hunk ask: would a reviewer write this more simply?

    line 37
  8. Distinctive:

    Remove dead parameters, unused returns, speculative generality ("might need it later")

    line 39
  9. Distinctive:

    Delete comments that restate the code, and defensive checks duplicating guarantees the codebase already makes

    line 40
  10. Distinctive:

    If you can't run the tests, don't refactor

    line 47
  11. Distinctive:

    Never mix refactoring with behavior changes in the same commit

    line 48
  12. Distinctive:

    If the refactoring is large (10+ files), break it into multiple commits

    line 49

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 169 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

Refactor $ARGUMENTS safely. If $ARGUMENTS contains --diff, use Diff mode below instead.

Process

1. Understand the current state

  • Read the code and its tests
  • Identify what the code does, its callers, and its dependencies
  • If there are no tests, WRITE TESTS FIRST. You need a safety net before changing anything

2. Plan the refactoring

  • State what you're changing and why (clearer naming, reduced duplication, better structure)
  • List the specific transformations (extract function, inline variable, move module, etc.)
  • Check: does this change any external behavior? If yes, this isn't a refactor. Reconsider.

3. Make changes in small, testable steps

  • One transformation at a time
  • Run tests after EACH step. Not at the end
  • If a test breaks, undo the last step and make a smaller change

4. Verify

  • All existing tests pass
  • Lint and typecheck pass
  • The public API hasn't changed (unless that was the explicit goal)
  • The code is objectively simpler. Fewer lines, fewer branches, clearer names

Diff mode (--diff): simplify what you just wrote

The pre-commit polish pass. Target = the current working diff (git diff + git diff --cached; if clean, the last commit). Goal: make the diff smaller and clearer with identical behavior.

  1. Read the diff. For each hunk ask: would a reviewer write this more simply?
    • Inline abstractions used once that the diff itself introduced
    • Remove dead parameters, unused returns, speculative generality ("might need it later")
    • Delete comments that restate the code, and defensive checks duplicating guarantees the codebase already makes
    • Align naming with the surrounding file's conventions
  2. Touch ONLY lines in the diff (plus mechanical consequences like an import). Never expand into surrounding code — that's regular refactor mode.
  3. Show the proposed simplifications, confirm, apply in small steps, run the tests for the touched files after each.
  4. Report: lines before → after. If nothing to simplify, say "diff is already minimal" and stop — don't invent work.

Rules

  • If you can't run the tests, don't refactor
  • Never mix refactoring with behavior changes in the same commit
  • If the refactoring is large (10+ files), break it into multiple commits

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