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Agent skill

Refactoring Patterns

by proffesor-for-testing in proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe

Apply safe refactoring patterns to improve code structure without changing behavior.

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Refactoring Patterns

skills CLI
$ npx skills add proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe --skill refactoring-patterns -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe refactoring-patterns --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/proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/assets/skills/refactoring-patterns .claude/skills/refactoring-patterns && 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
refactoring-patterns
GitHub stars
494
Token cost
~1.3k tokens
SKILL.md length
274 words
Files
3 (incl. scripts)
Skills in repo
111
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Apply safe refactoring patterns to improve code structure without changing behavior.

  • Works in 5 steps: ENSURE tests pass (never refactor… → MAKE small change (one refactoring at a… → RUN tests (must stay green) → …
  • Cleaning up code
  • SKILL.md covers Quick Reference Card, Key Patterns, Refactoring Anti-Patterns and Agent Integration, plus 3 more sections
  • Calls npm and git

What it does

Refactoring Patterns is an agent skill from proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe. Apply safe refactoring patterns to improve code structure without changing behavior. Use when cleaning up code, reducing technical debt, or improving maintainability.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.3k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 4 other files, including scripts (for example `schemas/output.json` and `scripts/validate-config.json`).

It sits in Development, covering Refactoring. The repository describes itself as: Agentic QE Fleet is an open-source AI-powered QA/QE platform designed for use with Coding Agents (works best with Claude Code) featuring specialized agents and skills to support… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Cleaning up code
  • Reducing technical debt
  • Improving maintainability

Example prompts

  • “/refactoring-patterns”

Workflow steps

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

  1. ENSURE tests pass (never refactor without tests)
  2. MAKE small change (one refactoring at a time)
  3. RUN tests (must stay green)
  4. COMMIT (save progress)
  5. REPEAT

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 829d030. 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

    Ships 1 file in scripts/, which the agent can run.

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • npm
    • git

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

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use npm and git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    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

Refactoring Patterns loads about 1.3k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 47 tokens; SKILL.md has 274 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~47
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.3k

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); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe at commit 829d030, republished under its MIT licence (© proffesor-for-testing). 274 words, ~1,315 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/refactoring-patterns/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 2 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
refactoring-patterns
description
Apply safe refactoring patterns to improve code structure without changing behavior. Use when cleaning up code, reducing technical debt, or improving maintainability.
category
development-practices
priority
medium
tokenEstimate
1000
agents
qe-code-reviewer, qe-quality-analyzer, qe-test-refactorer
implementation_status
optimized
optimization_version
1
last_optimized
2025-12-03
quick_reference_card
true
tags
refactoring, code-quality, technical-debt, maintainability, clean-code
trust_tier
2

Refactoring Patterns

<default_to_action> When refactoring:

  1. ENSURE tests pass (never refactor without tests)
  2. MAKE small change (one refactoring at a time)
  3. RUN tests (must stay green)
  4. COMMIT (save progress)
  5. REPEAT

Safe Refactoring Cycle:

bash
npm test               # Green ✅
# Make ONE small change
npm test               # Still green ✅
git commit -m "refactor: extract calculateTotal"
# Repeat

Code Smells → Refactoring:

SmellRefactoring
Long method (>20 lines)Extract Method
Large classExtract Class
Long parameter list (>3)Introduce Parameter Object
Duplicated codeExtract Method/Class
Complex conditionalDecompose Conditional
Magic numbersNamed Constants
Nested loopsReplace Loop with Pipeline

NEVER REFACTOR:

  • Without tests (write tests first)
  • When deadline is tomorrow
  • Code you don't understand
  • Code that works and won't be touched </default_to_action>

Quick Reference Card

Common Refactorings
PatternBeforeAfter
Extract Method50-line function5 small functions
Extract ClassClass doing 5 things5 single-purpose classes
Parameter Objectfn(a,b,c,d,e,f)fn(options)
Replace Conditionalif (type === 'a') {...}Polymorphism
PipelineNested loops.filter().map().reduce()
The Rule of Three
  1. First time → Just do it
  2. Second time → Wince and duplicate
  3. Third time → Refactor

Key Patterns

Extract Method
javascript
// Before: Long method
function processOrder(order) {
  // 50 lines of validation, calculation, saving, emailing...
}

// After: Clear responsibilities
function processOrder(order) {
  validateOrder(order);
  const pricing = calculatePricing(order);
  const saved = saveOrder(order, pricing);
  sendConfirmationEmail(saved);
  return saved;
}
Replace Loop with Pipeline
javascript
// Before
let results = [];
for (let item of items) {
  if (item.inStock) {
    results.push(item.name.toUpperCase());
  }
}

// After
const results = items
  .filter(item => item.inStock)
  .map(item => item.name.toUpperCase());
Decompose Conditional
javascript
// Before
if (order.total > 1000 && customer.isPremium && allInStock(order)) {
  return 'FREE_SHIPPING';
}

// After
function isEligibleForFreeShipping(order, customer) {
  return isLargeOrder(order) &&
         isPremiumCustomer(customer) &&
         allInStock(order);
}

Refactoring Anti-Patterns

❌ Anti-PatternProblem✅ Better
Without testsNo safety netWrite tests first
Big bangRewrite everythingSmall incremental steps
For perfectionEndless tweakingGood enough, move on
Premature abstractionPattern not clear yetWait for Rule of Three
During feature workMixed changesSeparate commits

Agent Integration

typescript
// Detect code smells
const smells = await Task("Detect Code Smells", {
  source: 'src/services/',
  patterns: ['long-method', 'large-class', 'duplicate-code']
}, "qe-quality-analyzer");

// Safe refactoring with test verification
await Task("Verify Refactoring", {
  beforeCommit: 'abc123',
  afterCommit: 'def456',
  expectSameBehavior: true
}, "qe-test-executor");

Agent Coordination Hints

Memory Namespace
aqe/refactoring/
├── smells/*          - Detected code smells
├── suggestions/*     - Refactoring recommendations
├── verifications/*   - Behavior preservation checks
└── history/*         - Refactoring log
Fleet Coordination
typescript
const refactoringFleet = await FleetManager.coordinate({
  strategy: 'refactoring',
  agents: [
    'qe-quality-analyzer',   // Identify targets
    'qe-test-generator',     // Add safety tests
    'qe-test-executor',      // Verify behavior
    'qe-test-refactorer'     // TDD refactor phase
  ],
  topology: 'sequential'
});

Remember

Refactoring is NOT:

  • Adding features
  • Fixing bugs
  • Performance optimization
  • Rewriting from scratch

Refactoring IS:

  • Improving structure
  • Making code clearer
  • Reducing complexity
  • Removing duplication
  • Without changing behavior

Always have tests. Always take small steps. Always keep tests green.

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

Files

SKILL.md and 2 other files (scripts) in assets/skills/refactoring-patterns of proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe.

  • SKILL.md
  • schemas/output.json
  • scripts/validate-config.json

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 829d030

Compare with similar skills

Refactoring Patterns 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.

Refactoring Patterns compared with similar skills
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Refactoring Patterns this skillproffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe494—~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
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Component Refactoringlangflow-ai/langflow156k—~3.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Migrate Core Code to Submodulestinyhumansai/openhuman41k—~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 Refactoring Patterns

What does Refactoring Patterns do?

Apply safe refactoring patterns to improve code structure without changing behavior. Refactoring Patterns is an agent skill from proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe. Apply safe refactoring patterns to improve code structure without changing behavior.

When should I use Refactoring Patterns?

Refactoring Patterns fits situations like: cleaning up code; reducing technical debt; improving maintainability.

How do I install Refactoring Patterns in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe --skill refactoring-patterns -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (assets/skills/refactoring-patterns in proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe) into .claude/skills/refactoring-patterns in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Refactoring Patterns in Codex?

Run `npx skills add proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe --skill refactoring-patterns -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (assets/skills/refactoring-patterns in proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe) into .agents/skills/refactoring-patterns in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Refactoring Patterns 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 proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe --skill refactoring-patterns -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/refactoring-patterns, .gemini/skills/refactoring-patterns, .github/skills/refactoring-patterns and .opencode/skills/refactoring-patterns in your project.

What does Refactoring Patterns need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Refactoring Patterns needs the command-line tools its instructions call (npm and git).

Does Refactoring Patterns access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use npm and git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Refactoring Patterns 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. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Refactoring Patterns use?

Refactoring Patterns 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 Refactoring Patterns use?

About 1.3k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.3k 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 Refactoring Patterns?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Refactoring Patterns: Guidelines (akash-network/node, 1.1k stars), Component Refactoring (langflow-ai/langflow, 156k stars), Migrate Core Code to Submodules (tinyhumansai/openhuman, 41k 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 Refactoring Patterns?

proffesor-for-testing (a GitHub user) maintains it in proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe, which has 494 GitHub stars. The repository holds 111 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 4, 2026.

Source: proffesor-for-testing/agentic-qe on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.