before-you-refactor SKILL.md skillA
before-you-refactor from oribarilan/97 is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add oribarilan/97/before-you-refactor@git:20260510.17c5ab8Pins git:20260510.17c5ab8 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- oribarilan/97
- Path
skills/before-you-refactor/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 5
- Latest version
- git:20260510.17c5ab8, committed May 10, 2026
- First version recorded
- May 5, 2026
- Size
- 8,806 bytes
- Repository stars
- 25
- License
- a license file GitHub does not identify
Use when considering, evaluating, or performing a refactor, restructure, cross-file rename, or cleanup.
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
# Before You Refactor ## Overview **Stop. Read the code that already exists. Understand the tests that protect it. Take small steps. Keep the tests green.** This is a **rigid** skill. Run the checklist; don't skip steps. When assessing code (not actively refactoring), steps 1–2 and 6 are the assessment; report findings without editing. ## When to invoke Invoke when you're about to: - Refactor existing code (extract function, inline, rename across multiple files, restructure a module) - "Clean up" code you didn't write - Rewrite a function or module because the existing one feels ugly, outdated, or wrong - Replace an existing implementation with a "better" one - Restructure tests, fixtures, or shared helpers used in more than one place - Assess whether existing code needs refactoring (reading for smells, coupling, complexity) - Review a refactoring proposal or PR that restructures code If you're touching ≥3 lines of existing non-trivial logic to change its **shape** (not its behavior), invoke this skill. ### Non-triggers — do NOT invoke for - Fixing a one-line bug where the change is obvious and the test exists …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add oribarilan/97/before-you-refactor@sha256:57d2f8d8d3e3ae26The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260510.17c5ab8, 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.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_vfigwdo5yw6hawnq)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 5 versions of this file, between May 5, 2026 and May 10, 2026, about one every day.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260510.17c5ab8 latest | 2026-05-10 | 17c5ab8 | 8,806 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260510.d25f843 | 2026-05-10 | d25f843 | 8,932 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260508.b5cf0ab | 2026-05-08 | b5cf0ab | 8,680 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260506.fc5ff18 | 2026-05-06 | fc5ff18 | 10,187 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260505.ace11d0 | 2026-05-05 | ace11d0 | 9,742 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (8806 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
oribarilan/97 · 25 stars · license a license file GitHub does not identify · pushed 2026-10-29 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_vfigwdo5yw6hawnq GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=oribarilan/97/before-you-refactor GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/57d2f8d8d3e3ae2605a760d56cdc80bc3a9ab2f5655949d59587199a0b06d7ec
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.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.