Systematic Code Refactoring
luongnv89/claude-howto
Guides refactoring in phases based on Martin Fowler's method: research, test coverage check, planning and small tested steps, with your approval at each phase.
Tech debt assessment that identifies, classifies, and prioritizes maintainability problems — helping teams build a refactoring roadmap — drawing on twelve classic engineering books.
Install Brooks Debt
$ npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill brooks-debt -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills brooks-debt --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/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/brooks-debt .claude/skills/brooks-debt && 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 "brooks-debt" agent skill from https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/tree/main/skills/brooks-debt into .claude/skills/brooks-debt/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brooks-debt", 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/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/tree/main/skills/brooks-debtType 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 sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill brooks-debt -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills brooks-debt --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/brooks-debt .agents/skills/brooks-debt && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "brooks-debt" agent skill from https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/tree/main/skills/brooks-debt into .agents/skills/brooks-debt/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brooks-debt", 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 sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill brooks-debt -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills brooks-debt --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/brooks-debt .cursor/skills/brooks-debt && 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 "brooks-debt" agent skill from https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/tree/main/skills/brooks-debt into .cursor/skills/brooks-debt/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brooks-debt", 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/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.git --path skills/brooks-debt--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 sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill brooks-debt -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills brooks-debt --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/brooks-debt .gemini/skills/brooks-debt && 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 "brooks-debt" agent skill from https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/tree/main/skills/brooks-debt into .gemini/skills/brooks-debt/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brooks-debt", 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 sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills brooks-debtInstalls 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 sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill brooks-debt -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/brooks-debt .github/skills/brooks-debt && 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 "brooks-debt" agent skill from https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/tree/main/skills/brooks-debt into .github/skills/brooks-debt/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brooks-debt", 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 sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill brooks-debt -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills brooks-debt --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/brooks-debt .opencode/skills/brooks-debt && 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 "brooks-debt" agent skill from https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/tree/main/skills/brooks-debt into .opencode/skills/brooks-debt/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brooks-debt", 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
brooks-debt- GitHub stars
- 47k
- Used in
- 1 other repo
- Token cost
- ~542 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 238 words
- Files
- 2
- Skills in repo
- 1,497
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
Tech debt assessment that identifies, classifies, and prioritizes maintainability problems — helping teams build a refactoring roadmap — drawing on twelve classic engineering books.
- Works in 4 steps: Read ../_shared/common.md for the Iron… → Read ../_shared/source-coverage.md for… → Read ../_shared/decay-risks.md for… → …
- Tasks that involve Technical debt
- SKILL.md covers When to Use, Setup, Process and Limitations
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Brooks Debt is an agent skill from sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills. Tech debt assessment that identifies, classifies, and prioritizes maintainability problems — helping teams build a refactoring roadmap — drawing on twelve classic engineering books.
Its SKILL.md is about 540 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 1 other file (for example `debt-guide.md`).
It sits in Development, covering Technical debt and Refactoring. The repository describes itself as: AAS Core is the local, agent-first control plane for complete catalog discovery, agent-owned selection, stack validation, and planning, backed by 2,400+ agentic skills. Includes… The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- Tasks that involve Technical debt
- Tasks that involve Refactoring
Example prompts
- “/brooks-debt”
Workflow steps
4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- Read ../_shared/common.md for the Iron Law, Project Config, Report Template, and Health Score rules
- Read ../_shared/source-coverage.md for book-level coverage, exceptions, and tradeoffs
- Read ../_shared/decay-risks.md for symptom definitions and source attributions
- Read debt-guide.md in this directory for the debt classification framework
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit b84d35a. 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
Brooks Debt loads about 542 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 48 tokens; SKILL.md has 238 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 sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills at commit b84d35a, republished under its MIT licence (© sickn33). 238 words, ~542 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/brooks-debt/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.- name
- brooks-debt
- description
- Tech debt assessment that identifies, classifies, and prioritizes maintainability problems — helping teams build a refactoring roadmap — drawing on twelve classic engineering books.
- risk
- safe
- source
- https://github.com/hyhmrright/brooks-lint/tree/main/skills/brooks-debt
- source_repo
- hyhmrright/brooks-lint
- source_type
- community
- date_added
- 2026-07-01
- license
- MIT
- license_source
- https://github.com/hyhmrright/brooks-lint/blob/main/LICENSE
Brooks-Lint — Tech Debt Assessment
When to Use
Use this skill when you need tech debt assessment that identifies, classifies, and prioritizes maintainability problems — helping teams build a refactoring roadmap — drawing on twelve classic engineering books. Triggers when: user asks about tech debt, refactoring priorities, what to clean up first, or asks "why...
Setup
- Read
../_shared/common.mdfor the Iron Law, Project Config, Report Template, and Health Score rules - Read
../_shared/source-coverage.mdfor book-level coverage, exceptions, and tradeoffs - Read
../_shared/decay-risks.mdfor symptom definitions and source attributions - Read
debt-guide.mdin this directory for the debt classification framework
Process
If the user has not described the codebase or pointed to specific areas: apply Auto
Scope Detection from ../_shared/common.md to determine the assessment scope before proceeding.
- Scan for all six decay risks (Step 1 of the guide); list every finding before scoring
- Apply the Pain × Spread priority formula and classify debt intent (Steps 2–3 of the guide)
- Group findings by decay risk (Step 4 of the guide)
- Output using the Report Template from common.md, plus the Debt Summary Table
Mode line in report: Tech Debt Assessment
Limitations
- Use this skill only when the task clearly matches its upstream source and local project context.
- Verify commands, generated code, dependencies, credentials, and external service behavior before applying changes.
- Do not treat examples as a substitute for environment-specific tests, security review, or user approval for destructive or costly actions.
© sickn33, 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 1 other file in skills/brooks-debt of sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.
- SKILL.md
- debt-guide.md
Open the folder on GitHubat commit b84d35a
Used in 1 other repository
We found 5 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.
Compare with similar skills
Brooks Debt 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooks Debt this skillsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills | 47k | 1 repos | ~542 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Systematic Code Refactoringluongnv89/claude-howto | 42k | — | ~3k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Code Simplification for ego-litecitrolabs/ego-lite | 17k | — | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Code Refactoring Workflowluongnv89/claude-howto | 42k | — | ~3.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| FIXME Resolvertailcallhq/forgecode | 7.6k | — | ~1.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| DesloppifyGit-on-my-level/codex-autorunner | 875 | — | ~3.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
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citrolabs/ego-lite
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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.
FIXME Resolver
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Finds every FIXME comment in a codebase, groups related ones across files into one task, implements the work they describe and removes the comments once it is done.
Desloppify
Git-on-my-level/codex-autorunner
Codebase health scanner and technical debt tracker. An agent skill from Git-on-my-level/codex-autorunner.
Tech Debt Analyzer
ailabs-393/ai-labs-claude-skills
This skill should be used when analyzing technical debt in a codebase, documenting code quality issues, creating technical debt registers, or assessing code maintainability.
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Related
Categories
Questions about Brooks Debt
What does Brooks Debt do?
Tech debt assessment that identifies, classifies, and prioritizes maintainability problems — helping teams build a refactoring roadmap — drawing on twelve classic engineering books. Brooks Debt is an agent skill from sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills. Tech debt assessment that identifies, classifies, and prioritizes maintainability problems — helping teams build a refactoring roadmap — drawing on twelve classic engineering books.
When should I use Brooks Debt?
Brooks Debt fits situations like: tasks that involve Technical debt; tasks that involve Refactoring.
How do I install Brooks Debt in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill brooks-debt -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/brooks-debt in sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills) into .claude/skills/brooks-debt in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Brooks Debt in Codex?
Run `npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill brooks-debt -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/brooks-debt in sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills) into .agents/skills/brooks-debt in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Brooks Debt 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 sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill brooks-debt -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/brooks-debt, .gemini/skills/brooks-debt, .github/skills/brooks-debt and .opencode/skills/brooks-debt in your project.
What does Brooks Debt need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Brooks Debt is instructions for the agent only.
Does Brooks Debt 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 Brooks Debt 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 Brooks Debt use?
Brooks Debt is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Brooks Debt use?
About 542 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.2k 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 Brooks Debt?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Brooks Debt: Systematic Code Refactoring (luongnv89/claude-howto, 42k stars), Code Simplification for ego-lite (citrolabs/ego-lite, 17k stars), Code Refactoring Workflow (luongnv89/claude-howto, 42k stars) and FIXME Resolver (tailcallhq/forgecode, 7.6k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Brooks Debt?
sickn33 (a GitHub user) maintains it in sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, which has 47,405 GitHub stars. The repository holds 1,497 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.
Source: sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.