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Agent skill

Nw Refactor

by nWave-ai in nWave-ai/nWave

Applies the Refactoring Priority Premise (RPP) levels L1-L6 for systematic code refactoring.

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Nw Refactor

skills CLI
$ npx skills add nWave-ai/nWave --skill nw-refactor -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install nWave-ai/nWave nw-refactor --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/nWave-ai/nWave.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/nWave/skills/nw-refactor .claude/skills/nw-refactor && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
nw-refactor
GitHub stars
617
Token cost
~1.2k tokens
SKILL.md length
498 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
14
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Applies the Refactoring Priority Premise (RPP) levels L1-L6 for systematic code refactoring.

  • Works in 4 steps: Cascade governs PLANNING ORDER only —… → Edits applied as one coherent batch —… → Run the test suite exactly ONCE, at the… → …
  • Improving code quality through structured refactoring passes
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, Execution Model —…, Context Files Required and Agent Invocation, plus 5 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Nw Refactor is an agent skill from nWave-ai/nWave. Applies the Refactoring Priority Premise (RPP) levels L1-L6 for systematic code refactoring. Use when improving code quality through structured refactoring passes.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development, covering Refactoring. The repository describes itself as: AI agents that guide you from idea to working code, with you in control at every step. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Improving code quality through structured refactoring passes
  • Tasks that involve Refactoring

Example prompts

  • “Use the nw-refactor skill to apply the Refactoring Priority Premise (RPP) levels L1-L6 for systematic code refactoring”
  • “/nw-refactor”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Cascade governs PLANNING ORDER only — analyze and plan lower levels before higher (L2 transformations build on L1, L3 on L2, etc.). The…
  2. Edits applied as one coherent batch — apply all planned L1-L6 transformations in a single editing session. NO interleaved test runs…
  3. Run the test suite exactly ONCE, at the very end, after all L1-L6 edits.
  4. If RED after the batch: diagnose the breakage and fix the production code. Do NOT modify tests to make them pass. A test that must change…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit da401a8. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Nw Refactor loads about 1.2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 44 tokens; SKILL.md has 498 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~44
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from nWave-ai/nWave at commit da401a8, republished under its MIT licence (© nWave-ai). 498 words, ~1,190 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/nw-refactor/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
nw-refactor
description
Applies the Refactoring Priority Premise (RPP) levels L1-L6 for systematic code refactoring. Use when improving code quality through structured refactoring passes.
user-invocable
true
argument-hint
[target-class-or-module] - Optional: --level=[1-6] --method=[extract|inline|rename|move] --scope=[method|class|module]

NW-REFACTOR: Systematic Code Refactoring

Wave: CROSS_WAVE Agent: Crafty (nw-software-crafter) Command: *refactor

Overview

Applies the Refactoring Priority Premise (RPP) — 6-level hierarchy L1 Readability|L2 Complexity|L3 Responsibilities|L4 Abstractions|L5 Design Patterns|L6 SOLID++. For complex multi-class refactorings, agent applies Mikado Method internally.

Execution Model — Batch-Then-Verify (default, unconditional)

/nw-refactor runs batch-then-verify by default, regardless of test-suite speed:

  1. Cascade governs PLANNING ORDER only — analyze and plan lower levels before higher (L2 transformations build on L1, L3 on L2, etc.). The cascade is a planning discipline, not a test-gating sequence.
  2. Edits applied as one coherent batch — apply all planned L1-L6 transformations in a single editing session. NO interleaved test runs between levels.
  3. Run the test suite exactly ONCE, at the very end, after all L1-L6 edits.
  4. If RED after the batch: diagnose the breakage and fix the production code. Do NOT modify tests to make them pass. A test that must change to pass means either (a) the refactor altered observable behavior — revert that transformation — or (b) the test encoded an implementation detail rather than behavior — flag this to the user explicitly before touching it. Tests changing during a refactor is a signal, not a step.

Legacy incremental variant (opt-in only): the nw-progressive-refactoring skill documents the incremental L1→test→L2→test cycle. It is NOT the default — use it only when explicitly requested. Anchor: feedback_refactor_batch_when_test_suite_slow_2026_05_19 (the prior "only batch when suite slow" conditional is removed — batch is now unconditional).

Context Files Required

  • src/* - Production codebase
  • tests/* - Test codebase

Agent Invocation

@nw-software-crafter

Execute *refactor for {target-class-or-module}.

Context Files:

  • src/*
  • tests/*

Configuration:

  • level: 3 # Shorthand: --from=1 --to=3 (RPP range)
  • from: 1 # Start RPP level (default: 1)
  • to: 3 # End RPP level (default: same as level)
  • scope: module # file/module/project
  • method: extract # extract/inline/rename/move
  • mikado_planning: false # Use Mikado Method for complex refactorings
Show full SKILL.md (208 more words)Show less

Progress Tracking

The invoked agent MUST create a task list from its workflow phases at the start of execution using TaskCreate. Each phase becomes a task with the gate condition as completion criterion. Mark tasks in_progress when starting each phase and completed when the gate passes. This gives the user real-time visibility into progress.

Success Criteria

  • Code quality metrics improved (measured before/after)
  • L1-L6 transformations planned in cascade order, applied as one batch
  • Test suite run exactly once, at the end — GREEN
  • If RED after batch: production code fixed (tests NOT modified to pass)
  • Technical debt reduced measurably

Next Wave

Handoff To: {invoking-agent-returns-to-workflow} Deliverables: Refactored codebase with quality improvements

Examples

Example 1: Module-level readability refactor
/nw-refactor src/auth/token_manager.py --level=2 --scope=module

Crafty applies RPP L1-L2: rename ambiguous variables|extract magic numbers into constants|remove dead code (L1), then simplify conditionals|extract long methods (L2).

Example 2: SOLID-level design refactor
/nw-refactor src/billing/ --level=6 --scope=module --mikado_planning=true

Crafty uses Mikado Method for multi-class refactoring, applies dependency inversion|interface segregation across billing module.

Example 3: RPP range sweep (L1-L3)
/nw-refactor src/des/domain/ --from=1 --to=3 --scope=module

Sweeps L1 readability|L2 complexity|L3 responsibility smells. Cascade governs planning order (analyze L1 before L2 before L3); edits applied as one batch; suite run once at the end.

Example 4: Targeted single-level refactor
/nw-refactor src/des/cli/verify.py --level=3 --scope=file

Targets L3 responsibility smells only (Large Class, Feature Envy, Shotgun Surgery). Assumes L1-L2 already clean.

Expected Outputs

src/*                              (refactored production code)
tests/*                            (refactored test code)
docs/refactoring/
  refactoring-log.md
  quality-metrics.md

© nWave-ai, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in nWave/skills/nw-refactor of nWave-ai/nWave.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit da401a8

Compare with similar skills

Nw Refactor next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Nw Refactor compared with similar skills
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Migrate Core Code to Submodulestinyhumansai/openhuman42k—~2.6kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-3.0
ast-grep Structural Searchcode-yeongyu/oh-my-openagent70k—~3.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Systematic Code Refactoringluongnv89/claude-howto42k—~3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about Nw Refactor

What does Nw Refactor do?

Applies the Refactoring Priority Premise (RPP) levels L1-L6 for systematic code refactoring. Nw Refactor is an agent skill from nWave-ai/nWave. Applies the Refactoring Priority Premise (RPP) levels L1-L6 for systematic code refactoring.

When should I use Nw Refactor?

Nw Refactor fits situations like: improving code quality through structured refactoring passes; tasks that involve Refactoring.

How do I install Nw Refactor in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add nWave-ai/nWave --skill nw-refactor -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (nWave/skills/nw-refactor in nWave-ai/nWave) into .claude/skills/nw-refactor in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Nw Refactor in Codex?

Run `npx skills add nWave-ai/nWave --skill nw-refactor -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (nWave/skills/nw-refactor in nWave-ai/nWave) into .agents/skills/nw-refactor in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Nw Refactor in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add nWave-ai/nWave --skill nw-refactor -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/nw-refactor, .gemini/skills/nw-refactor, .github/skills/nw-refactor and .opencode/skills/nw-refactor in your project.

What does Nw Refactor need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Nw Refactor is instructions for the agent only.

Does Nw Refactor access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Nw Refactor safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Nw Refactor use?

Nw Refactor is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Nw Refactor use?

About 1.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Nw Refactor?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Nw Refactor: Guidelines (akash-network/node, 1.1k stars), Component Refactoring (langflow-ai/langflow, 155k stars), Migrate Core Code to Submodules (tinyhumansai/openhuman, 42k stars) and ast-grep Structural Search (code-yeongyu/oh-my-openagent, 70k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Nw Refactor?

nWave-ai (a GitHub organization) maintains it in nWave-ai/nWave, which has 617 GitHub stars. The repository holds 14 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 16, 2026.

Source: nWave-ai/nWave on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.