refactoring audit workflow

Refactoring Audit Workflow

This skill guides the agent through the process of auditing the codebase for refactoring opportunities, validating findings, drafting implementation plans, and creating GitHub issues.

1. Analyze Codebase

Goal: Identify high-value refactoring targets by looking for specific code smells.

• God Classes: Look for files > 1000 lines or classes with too many responsibilities (e.g., App.axaml.cs handling UI, Startup, and Logic).
• Low Cohesion: Look for "Utils" or "Helpers" classes that contain unrelated methods (e.g., String manipulation mixed with API calls).
• OCP Violations: Look for giant switch statements or massive configuration classes that require modification for every new feature type (e.g., UploadersConfig).

Actions:

• Use list_dir to explore src and subdirectories.
• Use view_file to inspect largest files.
• Use grep_search to find "Helper" or "Manager" classes.

2. Verify Findings

Goal: Ensure the identified "pain point" isn't already solved or constrained by design.

• Check for existing solutions: Search for terms like "Bootstrapper", "Factory", "Service" to see if a better pattern already exists but isn't used.
• Check for constraints: Ensure the potential refactor doesn't violate specific project architectures (e.g., Avalonia specific patterns).

3. Draft Implementation Plans

Goal: Create a structured plan for each refactoring before creating issues.

Format: For each identified issue, draft a markdown section with:

1. Title: [Refactor] <Title>
2. Goal Description: What is the problem and why fix it?
3. Proposed Changes: Specific classes/interfaces to create or modify.
4. Implementation Plan: Checklist of steps.
5. Verification Plan: How to verify the refactor (Manual/Automated).

Action:

• Save these drafts to a temporary file (e.g., refactoring_plans.md) or the task.md artifact for user review.

4. Create GitHub Issues

Goal: proper tracking of the work.

Action:

• Use gh issue create to submit the vetted plans.
• Use the --title and --body-file arguments.
• Clean up: Delete temporary body files after creation.

Example Command:

gh issue create --title "[Refactor] Split GeneralHelpers.cs" --body-file "c:/path/to/body.md"