code-simplifier

STARTER_CHARACTER = 🧹

When starting, announce: "🧹 Using CODE-SIMPLIFIER skill".

Scope

Default scope: code modified in the current session or specified by the user. Broader scope only when explicitly requested.

Read CLAUDE.md for project-specific coding standards before making changes.

Process

1. Identify the code sections in scope
2. Analyze each section for simplification opportunities
3. Apply changes one at a time — run tests if available to verify behavior preservation
4. Summarize what changed and why

Simplification Principles

Prioritize clarity over brevity.

• Reduce nesting depth — extract early returns, guard clauses
• Eliminate dead code, unreachable branches, unused variables
• Replace complex conditionals with named booleans or extracted functions
• Consolidate duplicated logic only when the duplication is real (same reason to change), not coincidental
• Remove comments that restate what the code already says
• Flatten callback chains or deeply nested structures
• Use domain language in names — describe what things ARE, not implementation details

Over-Simplification Anti-Patterns

These make code worse, not better. Do not apply them:

• Nested ternaries: Use if/else or switch for multiple conditions
• Dense one-liners: A readable 3-line version beats a clever 1-line version
• Premature abstraction: Three similar lines are better than a generic helper used once
• Merging unrelated concerns: Two simple functions beat one "smart" function with flags
• Stripping useful abstractions: If an abstraction improves organization or testability, keep it
• Compressing at the cost of debuggability: Code that's hard to step through with a debugger is too compressed

What NOT to Change

• Test code (unless imports/names must follow production renames)
• Public API signatures (unless explicitly requested)
• Behavior — the code must do exactly what it did before
• Code outside of scope