Code Refactoring Workflow
luongnv89/claude-howto
Guides systematic, test-backed refactoring in the style of Martin Fowler, moving through research, planning and small incremental changes with your approval at each phase.
Check ETL step files for outdated coding patterns and offer to fix them.
Install Check Outdated Practices
$ npx skills add owid/etl --skill check-outdated-practices -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install owid/etl check-outdated-practices --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/owid/etl.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices .claude/skills/check-outdated-practices && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install.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/
Install the "check-outdated-practices" agent skill from https://github.com/owid/etl/tree/master/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices into .claude/skills/check-outdated-practices/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "check-outdated-practices", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/owid/etl/tree/master/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practicesType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add owid/etl --skill check-outdated-practices -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install owid/etl check-outdated-practices --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/owid/etl.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices .agents/skills/check-outdated-practices && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "check-outdated-practices" agent skill from https://github.com/owid/etl/tree/master/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices into .agents/skills/check-outdated-practices/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "check-outdated-practices", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add owid/etl --skill check-outdated-practices -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install owid/etl check-outdated-practices --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/owid/etl.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices .cursor/skills/check-outdated-practices && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "check-outdated-practices" agent skill from https://github.com/owid/etl/tree/master/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices into .cursor/skills/check-outdated-practices/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "check-outdated-practices", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/owid/etl.git --path .claude/skills/check-outdated-practices--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add owid/etl --skill check-outdated-practices -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install owid/etl check-outdated-practices --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/owid/etl.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices .gemini/skills/check-outdated-practices && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "check-outdated-practices" agent skill from https://github.com/owid/etl/tree/master/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices into .gemini/skills/check-outdated-practices/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "check-outdated-practices", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install owid/etl check-outdated-practicesInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add owid/etl --skill check-outdated-practices -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/owid/etl.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices .github/skills/check-outdated-practices && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "check-outdated-practices" agent skill from https://github.com/owid/etl/tree/master/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices into .github/skills/check-outdated-practices/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "check-outdated-practices", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add owid/etl --skill check-outdated-practices -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install owid/etl check-outdated-practices --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/owid/etl.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices .opencode/skills/check-outdated-practices && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "check-outdated-practices" agent skill from https://github.com/owid/etl/tree/master/.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices into .opencode/skills/check-outdated-practices/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "check-outdated-practices", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
check-outdated-practices- GitHub stars
- 158
- Token cost
- ~841 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 371 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 35
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
Check ETL step files for outdated coding patterns and offer to fix them.
- Works in 6 steps: Read… → Identify the files to scan based on the… → Grep for each pattern in the scoped files → …
- User mentions outdated practices
- SKILL.md covers Source of truth, Scope, Fix guidance and Workflow
- Calls make
What it does
Check Outdated Practices is an agent skill from owid/etl. Check ETL step files for outdated coding patterns and offer to fix them. Use when user mentions outdated practices, legacy code patterns, modernizing steps, or wants to check code quality of ETL steps.
Its SKILL.md is about 840 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 Data pipelines and ETL, Legacy modernization and Code quality. The repository describes itself as: A compute graph for loading and transforming OWID's data. The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- User mentions outdated practices
- Legacy code patterns
- Modernizing steps
- Wants to check code quality of ETL steps
Example prompts
- “/check-outdated-practices”
Workflow steps
6 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- Read vscode_extensions/detect-outdated-practices/src/extension.ts to get the current pattern list
- Identify the files to scan based on the user's scope, respecting each pattern's scope field
- Grep for each pattern in the scoped files
- Report findings as a summary table
- Ask the user: "Found N outdated patterns. Fix them?"
- If yes, apply the modern replacements described in each pattern's message field and show a summary of changes
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bf5dc8e. 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
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
make
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
Check Outdated Practices loads about 841 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 57 tokens; SKILL.md has 371 words of instructions outside code blocks.
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 owid/etl at commit bf5dc8e, republished under its MIT licence (© owid). 371 words, ~841 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- check-outdated-practices
- description
- Check ETL step files for outdated coding patterns and offer to fix them. Use when user mentions outdated practices, legacy code patterns, modernizing steps, or wants to check code quality of ETL steps.
- metadata.internal
- true
- metadata.owner
- paarriagadap
Check Outdated Practices
Scan ETL step files for outdated coding patterns and offer to fix them.
Source of truth
The canonical list of outdated patterns, their scopes, severities, and messages is defined in the VSCode extension at vscode_extensions/detect-outdated-practices/src/extension.ts. Always read this file first to get the current patterns. Do not assume you know the patterns — the extension is the single source of truth and may be updated independently.
Each pattern in the extension has:
pattern: regex to detect the outdated practicemessage: describes what's wrong and what the modern replacement isseverity: warning levelscope: which file paths the pattern applies to (e.g.,snapshots/**,etl/steps/data/**)
Scope
By default, check the files involved in the current task (e.g., the steps being updated). If the user provides explicit paths or asks for a broader scan, use those instead.
Accept any of:
- A step path:
etl/steps/data/garden/wb/2026-03-25/poverty_projections.py - A namespace/version/short_name:
wb/2026-03-25/poverty_projections - A glob:
etl/steps/data/garden/wb/2026-03-25/*.py all— scan all non-archived steps (slow)
Fix guidance
When applying fixes, keep these notes in mind:
paths.regions.harmonize_names(tb):country_col,countries_file, andexcluded_countries_fileare all inferred by default — it assumes the column is"country", uses the step's.countries.json, and (when the file exists) the step's.excluded_countries.json. So a call that passes only those three defaults collapses topaths.regions.harmonize_names(tb); only pass an argument when you're overriding the default. The fallbacks come from theRegionsinstancePathFinderbuilds (self.countries_file/self.excluded_countries_fileinetl/helpers.py, defaulted insideharmonize_names) —excluded_countries_fileis wired only when the.excluded_countries.jsonis present, so dropping it is behavior-preserving exactly when the file exists. Preserve any non-default kwargs (warn_on_unused_countries,make_missing_countries_nan, etc.).- Linting: After fixing patterns, always run
make check(or let the code-quality-fixer agent handle it). In particular, don't leave extra blank lines between imports — follow the project's import style (no blank lines within import groups, one blank line between standard library and third-party groups).
Show full SKILL.md (79 more words)Show less
Workflow
- Read
vscode_extensions/detect-outdated-practices/src/extension.tsto get the current pattern list - Identify the files to scan based on the user's scope, respecting each pattern's
scopefield - Grep for each pattern in the scoped files
- Report findings as a summary table:
| File | Issue | Line | |------|-------|------| | snapshots/wb/.../file.py | <message from extension> | 29 | - Ask the user: "Found N outdated patterns. Fix them?"
- If yes, apply the modern replacements described in each pattern's
messagefield and show a summary of changes
© owid, 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 .claude/skills/check-outdated-practices of owid/etl.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit bf5dc8e
Compare with similar skills
Check Outdated Practices 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.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Check Outdated Practices this skillowid/etl | 158 | — | ~841 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Code Refactoring Workflowluongnv89/claude-howto | 42k | — | ~3.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Experiment Iterative CoderEvoScientist/EvoSkills | 475 | 3 repos | ~2.5k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| Modern JavaScript Patternswshobson/agents | 40k | 12 repos | ~548 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Fowler-Style Refactoringlhfer/claude-howto-zh-cn | 2.3k | — | ~156 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Refactoring Skill (Vietnamese)luongnv89/claude-howto | 42k | — | ~3.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
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Related
Categories
Questions about Check Outdated Practices
What does Check Outdated Practices do?
Check ETL step files for outdated coding patterns and offer to fix them. Check Outdated Practices is an agent skill from owid/etl. Check ETL step files for outdated coding patterns and offer to fix them.
When should I use Check Outdated Practices?
Check Outdated Practices fits situations like: user mentions outdated practices; legacy code patterns; modernizing steps; wants to check code quality of ETL steps.
How do I install Check Outdated Practices in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add owid/etl --skill check-outdated-practices -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices in owid/etl) into .claude/skills/check-outdated-practices in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Check Outdated Practices in Codex?
Run `npx skills add owid/etl --skill check-outdated-practices -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/check-outdated-practices in owid/etl) into .agents/skills/check-outdated-practices in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Check Outdated Practices 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 owid/etl --skill check-outdated-practices -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/check-outdated-practices, .gemini/skills/check-outdated-practices, .github/skills/check-outdated-practices and .opencode/skills/check-outdated-practices in your project.
What does Check Outdated Practices need to run?
Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Check Outdated Practices needs the command-line tools its instructions call (make).
Does Check Outdated Practices 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 Check Outdated Practices 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 Check Outdated Practices use?
Check Outdated Practices 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 Check Outdated Practices use?
About 841 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.4k 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 Check Outdated Practices?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Check Outdated Practices: Code Refactoring Workflow (luongnv89/claude-howto, 42k stars), Experiment Iterative Coder (EvoScientist/EvoSkills, 475 stars), Modern JavaScript Patterns (wshobson/agents, 40k stars) and Fowler-Style Refactoring (lhfer/claude-howto-zh-cn, 2.3k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Check Outdated Practices?
owid (a GitHub organization) maintains it in owid/etl, which has 158 GitHub stars. The repository holds 35 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.
Source: owid/etl on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.