safe-refactor
Skill0 starsChanged 2 months agoMITView on GitHub
Restructure existing code while preserving observable behavior and compatibility. Use for an assigned refactor or necessary structural change, not opportunistic cleanup during unrelated work.
26 other projects use a version of this.
Adopted by
Most recently taken up by
- sudeepgupta90/my-ai-marketplacetheir own version, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- mjlueck-hash/cavemantheir own version, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- dhruvsaxena1998/skillstheir own version, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- MMACABRE/SKILLStheir own version, first seen Nov 8, 2026
- pahlevikun/levistacktheir own version, first seen Nov 1, 2026
- Terryc21/sitreptheir own version, first seen Nov 1, 2026
Used with
Projects with it also use verify-and-stop, investigate-first 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.
JuliusBrusseeSkillverify-and-stop
Prove existing work meets acceptance conditions without expanding scope. Use for validation-only tasks, completion checks, focused gate runs, and last-mile proof.
Also in 8 projects that use this
- JuliusBrusseeSkill
investigate-first
Diagnose ambiguous failures before editing. Use for unknown causes, intermittent behavior, performance regressions, or investigations needing evidence-ranked hypotheses.
Also in 7 projects that use this
- +10 more from JuliusBrussee
Other versions26 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 0
None found.
Wrote their own version · 26
- JuliusBrussee/caveman★ 118ksame name
- Terryc21/sitrep★ 50same name
- JPeetz/agent-skills★ 14same name
- yeaight7/agent-powerups★ 6same name
- dfedoryshchev/weftworks★ 5same name
- Linchi1997yeh/craftsman-suite★ 2same name
- nomdedev/agent-manager-template★ 2same name
- xingtu1996/dsh-xingtu-skills★ 2same name
- dennisrongo/claude-skills★ 1same name
- dhruvsaxena1998/skills★ 1same name
16 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 repository18 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- elixir-docsSkill
- feature-planSkill
- independent-reviewSkill
- multi-repo-changeSkill
- package-readinessSkill
- parallel-deliverySkill
- security-reviewSkill
- stack-elixirSkill
- stack-nextjsSkill
- stack-phoenix-liveviewSkill
- stack-rustSkill
- stack-svelteSkill
- systematic-debuggingSkill
- technical-writingSkill
- ui-validationSkill
- unslopSkill
- worktree-integrationSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
1 rule. 0 are common, 1 is distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
0
Common
Most of the 24 edited versions we read keep these.
1
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
- Distinctive: line 16
Run applicable project checks and report remaining behavioral uncertainty.
“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 24 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
Preserve behavior while changing structure
Define what must remain stable: return values, errors, ordering, side effects, public interfaces, and relevant performance or concurrency constraints. Inspect callers, tests, and targeted history before replacing an apparent oddity.
Where existing tests do not characterize a consequential contract, add a small meaningful check before transforming it. Keep intentional behavior changes separate and explicit; a refactor is not permission to revise the contract.
Make coherent transformations with useful checks between them. Preserve established abstractions when they carry real ownership or policy; do not delete them to satisfy a line-count or caller-count target. Avoid broad renames that obscure the relevant diff.
Review the resulting diff for weakened assertions, altered defaults, error handling, resource lifetime, and generated interfaces. In Elixir, truthiness is not a substitute for an exact Boolean contract.
Run applicable project checks and report remaining behavioral uncertainty. Complete planned simplification before independent review. Any later edit changes the candidate: record the new SHA and refresh affected review and validation instead of carrying approval from the earlier version.
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