refactoring-decision-matrix

refactoring-decision-matrix is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills. It costs 50 tokens per session (2,343 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A reference table for choosing refactoring techniques after finding code smells, which are signs that code may be difficult to maintain. It maps common smells to possible fixes, related skills, difficulty, and risk.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it after detecting code smells to choose fixes for issues such as long methods, large classes, repeated data, or long parameter lists, and to assess when refactoring may not be worthwhile.
Why use it?
It helps turn a detected problem into a suitable, prioritized change. It also makes the risks and effort of different refactoring options easier to compare.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one.

Good fit Use it after detecting code smells to choose fixes for issues such as long methods, large classes, repeated data, or long parameter lists, and to assess when refactoring may not be worthwhile.

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Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills/refactoring-decision-matrix
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills --skill refactoring-decision-matrix
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for refactoring-decision-matrix

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills/refactoring-decision-matrix/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills/refactoring-decision-matrix)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills/refactoring-decision-matrix"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills/refactoring-decision-matrix/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for refactoring-decision-matrix

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills/refactoring-decision-matrix"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills/refactoring-decision-matrix.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 50 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 2,343 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00050 $0.02343
Opus 5 $0.00025 $0.01171
Sonnet 5 $0.00010 $0.00469
Haiku 4.5 $0.00005 $0.00234

Measured 10d ago against content hash c9eb552e6483, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-10, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

refactoring-decision-matrix scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 10d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

skills/refactoring-decision-matrix/SKILL.md · 191 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 191 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Prerequisite: Run detect-code-smells first to identify issues, then use this matrix to select the fix.

Refactoring Decision Matrix

How to Use

  1. Identify the smell from detect-code-smells
  2. Find the smell row in the matrix below
  3. Select fix based on context; check difficulty and risk
  4. Apply the "When NOT to Refactor" rules before starting

Decision Matrix: All 23 Smells

Bloaters (5 smells)

Smell Primary Fix Primary Skill Secondary Fix Secondary Skill Difficulty Risk
Long Method Extract Method refactor-composing-methods Replace Method with Method Object refactor-composing-methods Easy Low
Large Class Extract Class refactor-moving-features Extract Subclass refactor-generalization Medium Medium
Primitive Obsession Replace Data Value with Object refactor-organizing-data Replace Type Code with State/Strategy refactor-organizing-data Medium Medium
Long Parameter List Introduce Parameter Object refactor-simplifying-method-calls Preserve Whole Object refactor-simplifying-method-calls Easy Low
Data Clumps Extract Class refactor-organizing-data Introduce Parameter Object refactor-simplifying-method-calls Easy Low

Object-Orientation Abusers (4 smells)

Smell Primary Fix Primary Skill Secondary Fix Secondary Skill Difficulty Risk
Switch Statements Replace Conditional with Polymorphism refactor-simplifying-conditionals Replace Type Code with State/Strategy refactor-organizing-data Medium Medium
Temporary Field Extract Class (with Null Object) refactor-organizing-data Introduce Null Object refactor-organizing-data Medium Medium
Refused Bequest Replace Inheritance with Delegation refactor-generalization Extract Superclass (restructure hierarchy) refactor-generalization Hard High
Alternative Classes with Different Interfaces Rename Method + Extract Superclass refactor-generalization Move Method to align interfaces refactor-moving-features Medium Medium

Read the full file on GitHub · 191 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 10d ago First seen · 191 lines · 50 tokens per session scan A c9eb552e6483

Subscribe to this mod's changes

refactoring-decision-matrix is a skill published in the GitHub repository mickeyyaya/refactoring-skills (6 stars, last pushed 5mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 50 tokens to every session and 2,343 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.