Safe refactoring and technical debt remediation skill. Enforces Strangler Fig patterns, characterization testing, and decomposition of bloated files.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Safe Refactoring & Technical Debt Remediation (`/refactor`)
> **Philosophy**: *Never refactor without tests. Change behavior or change structure, never both in the same turn. Decompose god files before they hit 500 lines. Strangler Fig over big-bang rewrites.*
This skill establishes disciplined patterns for paying down technical debt, decomposing bloated modules, and modernizing legacy code without introducing regressions or downtime.
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## 1. Quick Navigation & Progressive Disclosure
| Resource Type | Document | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Reference** | [references/strangler-fig-pattern.md](references/strangler-fig-pattern.md) | Phased execution steps, abstraction facades, rollback safety nets. |
| **Reference** | [references/characterization-testing.md](references/characterization-testing.md) | Pinning down legacy behavior, boundary assertion protocols, regression prevention. |
| **Utility** | [scripts/detect_refactor_opportunities.py](scripts/detect_refactor_opportunities.py) | Scans codebase for files $>350$ lines, functions $>40$ lines, and nesting $>3$ levels. |
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## 2. The Two-Hat Refactoring Protocol
```mermaid
flowchart TD
…
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261029.1aa6bef, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_24aynr4ptz6izw27
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=darknecrocities/skillbuilder/.cursor/rules/refactor.mdc
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/1bca591a6a83c59f7af33df4dc29786e6d68ca93be40b9eecebe3e7c7629759d
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
darknecrocities/skillbuilder · .cursor/rules/ai.mdc · Architect, implement, and maintain production AI systems, Gemini API agents, Antigravity multi-agent orchestration…
code-yeongyu/oh-my-openagent · packages/shared-skills/skills/refactor/SKILL.md · Guides a refactor, cleanup, or restructure with the right decomposition. Use when the user asks to refactor, simplify…
rsmdt/the-startup · plugins/start/skills/refactor/SKILL.md · Refactor, simplify, or clean up code for improved maintainability without changing business logic
boshu2/agentops · skills/refactor/SKILL.md · Restructure or clean up code with no behavior change, proved by before-and-after checks. Use when: asked to clean up…
boshu2/agentops · plugin/skills/refactor/SKILL.md · Restructure or clean up code with no behavior change, proved by before-and-after checks. Use when: asked to clean up…
