Code Simplifier

Code Simplifier Skill

Expert guidance for analyzing and simplifying recently modified code to improve clarity, consistency, and maintainability while preserving exact functionality.

Overview

This skill enables agents to:

• Analyze code changes from the last 24 hours
• Apply targeted simplifications that improve code quality
• Create pull requests with improvements
• Validate changes through tests and linting

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• User asks to simplify or refactor recent code changes
• User wants to improve code quality without changing functionality
• User requests code review with automatic improvements
• Scheduled code quality checks are needed

Simplification Principles

1. Preserve Functionality

• NEVER change what the code does - only how it does it
• All original features, outputs, and behaviors must remain intact
• Run tests before and after to ensure no behavioral changes

2. Enhance Clarity

• Reduce unnecessary complexity and nesting
• Eliminate redundant code and abstractions
• Improve readability through clear variable and function names
• Consolidate related logic
• Remove unnecessary comments that describe obvious code
• IMPORTANT: Avoid nested ternary operators - prefer switch statements or if/else chains
• Choose clarity over brevity - explicit code is often better than compact code

3. Apply Project Standards

• Use project-specific conventions and patterns
• Follow established naming conventions
• Apply consistent formatting
• Use appropriate language features (modern syntax where beneficial)

4. Maintain Balance

Avoid over-simplification that could:

• Reduce code clarity or maintainability
• Create overly clever solutions that are hard to understand
• Combine too many concerns into single functions
• Remove helpful abstractions that improve code organization
• Prioritize "fewer lines" over readability
• Make the code harder to debug or extend

Workflow

Phase 1: Identify Recently Modified Code

1.1 Find Recent Changes

Identify files modified in the last 24 hours from all sources:

Option A: Local File Changes (filesystem-based)

# Find files modified in the last 24 hours (includes uncommitted changes)
find . -type f -mtime -1 -not -path './.git/*' -not -path './node_modules/*' -not -path './vendor/*'

# Or using git to find modified files (staged and unstaged)
git status --porcelain

# Find recently modified tracked files
git diff --name-only HEAD~10  # Adjust based on commit frequency

Option B: Git History (committed changes)

# Get yesterday's date in ISO format
YESTERDAY=$(date -d '1 day ago' '+%Y-%m-%d' 2>/dev/null || date -v-1d '+%Y-%m-%d')

# List recent commits
git log --since="24 hours ago" --pretty=format:"%H %s" --no-merges

# List files changed in recent commits
git log --since="24 hours ago" --name-only --pretty=format:"" | sort -u

Option C: GitHub PRs and Commits (remote changes)

Use GitHub tools to:

• Search for pull requests merged in the last 24 hours
• Get details of merged PRs to understand what files were changed
• List commits from the last 24 hours to identify modified files

Combine all sources to get a comprehensive list of recently modified files.

1.2 Extract Changed Files

From all identified sources (local changes, commits, PRs):

• Collect files modified on the filesystem in the last 24 hours
• List changed files from recent commits
• List changed files from merged PRs
• Deduplicate the combined file list
• Focus on source code files (.go, .js, .ts, .tsx, .jsx, .py, .rb, .java, .cs, .php, .cpp, .c, .rs, etc.)
• Exclude test files, lock files, generated files, and vendored dependencies

# Example: Combine filesystem and git changes, filter source files
{
  find . -type f -mtime -1 -not -path './.git/*' 2>/dev/null
  git log --since="24 hours ago" --name-only --pretty=format:"" 2>/dev/null
  git diff --name-only 2>/dev/null
} | sort -u | grep -E '\.(go|js|ts|tsx|jsx|py|rb|java|cs|php|cpp|c|rs)$'

1.3 Determine Scope

If no files were changed in the last 24 hours (no local modifications, no commits, no merged PRs), exit gracefully:

✅ No code changes detected in the last 24 hours.
Code simplifier has nothing to process today.

If files were changed (from any source: local edits, commits, or PRs), proceed to Phase 2.

Phase 2: Analyze and Simplify Code

2.1 Review Project Standards

Before simplifying, review the project's coding standards:

• Check for style guides, coding conventions, or contribution guidelines
• Look for language-specific conventions (STYLE.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, README.md)
• Identify established patterns in the codebase

2.2 Perform Code Analysis

For each changed file:

1. Read the file contents
2. Identify refactoring opportunities:
   • Long functions that could be split
   • Duplicate code patterns
   • Complex conditionals that could be simplified
   • Unclear variable names
   • Missing or excessive comments
   • Non-idiomatic patterns
3. Design the simplification:
   • What specific changes will improve clarity?
   • How can complexity be reduced?
   • What patterns should be applied?
   • Will this maintain all functionality?