refactor

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name: refactor description: 'Surgical code refactoring to improve maintainability without changing behavior. Covers extracting functions, renaming variables, breaking down god functions, improving type safety, eliminating code smells, and applying design patterns. Less drastic than repo-rebuilder; use for gradual improvements.' license: MIT

Refactor

Overview

Improve code structure and readability without changing external behavior. Refactoring is gradual evolution, not revolution. Use this for improving existing code, not rewriting from scratch.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Code is hard to understand or maintain
• Functions/classes are too large
• Code smells need addressing
• Adding features is difficult due to code structure
• User asks "clean up this code", "refactor this", "improve this"

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Refactoring Principles

The Golden Rules

1. Behavior is preserved - Refactoring doesn't change what the code does, only how
2. Small steps - Make tiny changes, test after each
3. Version control is your friend - Commit before and after each safe state
4. Tests are essential - Without tests, you're not refactoring, you're editing
5. One thing at a time - Don't mix refactoring with feature changes

When NOT to Refactor

- Code that works and won't change again (if it ain't broke...)
- Critical production code without tests (add tests first)
- When you're under a tight deadline
- "Just because" - need a clear purpose

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Common Code Smells & Fixes

1. Long Method/Function

# BAD: 200-line function that does everything
- async function processOrder(orderId) {
-   // 50 lines: fetch order
-   // 30 lines: validate order
-   // 40 lines: calculate pricing
-   // 30 lines: update inventory
-   // 20 lines: create shipment
-   // 30 lines: send notifications
- }

# GOOD: Broken into focused functions
+ async function processOrder(orderId) {
+   const order = await fetchOrder(orderId);
+   validateOrder(order);
+   const pricing = calculatePricing(order);
+   await updateInventory(order);
+   const shipment = await createShipment(order);
+   await sendNotifications(order, pricing, shipment);
+   return { order, pricing, shipment };
+ }