helix.mcp: Skill for Claude Code

Skill: Codebase Slop Audit (C#)

Domain: Code quality / technical debt discovery
Language: C# (but method generalizes to any language)
Effort: 2–4 hours for mid-size codebase (10K–50K LOC)
Output: Markdown report with prioritized findings, refactor recommendations, risk assessments

Definition of Slop (C#-specific)

Slop ≠ bugs or style violations. Slop = low-value, redundant code patterns that add maintenance burden without functional benefit:

• Copy-paste duplication: Near-identical methods/catch blocks across 2+ files (same logic, cosmetic variation)
• Boilerplate that should be a helper: Repeated try/catch+log, exception wrapping, JSON serialization
• Dead code: Unused public methods, commented-out blocks, orphaned test methods
• Pseudo-abstraction: Wrappers that delegate without adding value; interfaces with single implementations that don't aid testability
• Schema drift: DTOs/records that mirror each other with small differences (common in API → internal model → CLI model pipelines)
• String-template slop: Repeated error message patterns ($"Failed to {action}: {ex.Message}")
• Over-broad catches: catch (Exception) masking specific failures; shadow catching with poor re-throw
• Magic number/string repetition: Same literal in 5+ call sites (should be const or helper)
• Long methods screaming for extraction: 100+ LOC with clear logical phases
• Test slop: Repeated arrange blocks; copy-paste test methods varying by 1 parameter (should be [Theory]/[InlineData])

Audit Method (Systematic)

Phase 1: Baseline & Survey (30 min)

1. Count LOC by directory:

   find src -name '*.cs' -not -path '*/obj/*' -not -path '*/bin/*' \
     -not -name '*.g.cs' -type f -exec wc -l {} + | sort -rn | head -20
   

   • Establish baseline (total LOC).
   • Identify largest files (slop often correlates with size).

2. List all source files by size:

   find src -name '*.cs' -type f ! -path '*/obj/*' | xargs wc -l | sort -rn
   

   • Top 10–20 files merit deep inspection.