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Agent skill

AI Debt Detector

by wshobson in wshobson/agents

Use after generating code, after accepting AI suggestions, or when reviewing AI-written modules.

MITAuto-check passed

Install AI Debt Detector

skills CLI
$ npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill ai-debt-detector -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install wshobson/agents ai-debt-detector --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/wshobson/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/skill-forge-essentials/skills/ai-debt-detector .claude/skills/ai-debt-detector && 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
ai-debt-detector
GitHub stars
40k
Token cost
~850 tokens
SKILL.md length
403 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
142
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Use after generating code, after accepting AI suggestions, or when reviewing AI-written modules.

  • Works in 5 steps: FAILURE MODES - What happens when this… → ORPHANS - What gets created but never… → EDGE CASES - What inputs break this? → …
  • Code works but feels brittle
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, When to Use, Process and Red Flags (stop and fix…, plus 2 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

AI Debt Detector is an agent skill from wshobson/agents. Use after generating code, after accepting AI suggestions, or when reviewing AI-written modules. Also use when code works but feels brittle, when error handling seems thin, when orphaned resources or missing cleanup are suspected, or when the agent claims done but hidden debt may exist. Catches the specific failure patterns AI agents produce that humans would not.

Its SKILL.md is about 850 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

The repository describes itself as: Multi-harness agentic plugin marketplace for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot, Google Antigravity, and Pi. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Code works but feels brittle
  • Error handling seems thin
  • Orphaned resources
  • Missing cleanup are suspected

Example prompts

  • “/ai-debt-detector”

Workflow steps

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

  1. FAILURE MODES - What happens when this fails?
  2. ORPHANS - What gets created but never cleaned up?
  3. EDGE CASES - What inputs break this?
  4. HALLUCINATED DEPS - Do all imports actually exist?
  5. ARCHITECTURAL DRIFT - Does this match the project's patterns?

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 46891e7. 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

AI Debt Detector loads about 850 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 96 tokens; SKILL.md has 403 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~96
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~850

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 wshobson/agents at commit 46891e7, republished under its MIT licence (© wshobson). 403 words, ~850 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/ai-debt-detector/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
ai-debt-detector
description
Use after generating code, after accepting AI suggestions, or when reviewing AI-written modules. Also use when code works but feels brittle, when error handling seems thin, when orphaned resources or missing cleanup are suspected, or when the agent claims done but hidden debt may exist. Catches the specific failure patterns AI agents produce that humans would not.

AI Debt Detector

Overview

AI agents generate code that passes the happy path but hides debt: missing error handling, orphaned resources, ignored failure modes, hallucinated packages, silent architectural drift. This skill forces a targeted audit for the exact patterns AI agents get wrong.

When to Use

  • After any AI code generation session (20+ lines produced)
  • Before merging AI-generated PRs
  • When code works but something feels off
  • After vibe-coding sprints where debt accumulates fastest
  • When the agent claims done without showing verification

Process

After code generation, scan for these AI-specific debt patterns:

  1. FAILURE MODES - What happens when this fails?

    • Network timeout? Disk full? Permission denied? Null input?
    • Is there a try/catch? Does it catch SPECIFIC errors or swallow everything?
    • Are resources cleaned up on failure? (streams closed, connections returned, temp files deleted)

  2. ORPHANS - What gets created but never cleaned up?

    • Temp files, event listeners, intervals, subscriptions, connections
    • Are there corresponding cleanup/dispose/close calls for every open/create?
    • In React: does every addEventListener have a removeEventListener in cleanup?

  3. EDGE CASES - What inputs break this?

    • Empty array/string? null/undefined? Multi-MB input? Unicode? Concurrent calls?
    • Does the code assume the happy path? (AI almost always does)

  4. HALLUCINATED DEPS - Do all imports actually exist?

    • Is every package in package.json/requirements.txt?
    • Are API methods real? (AI invents plausible-sounding methods that don't exist)
    • Does this library's latest version still export this function?

  5. ARCHITECTURAL DRIFT - Does this match the project's patterns?

    • Same error handling style as existing code?
    • Uses the project's established utilities (not reinventing)?
    • Follows the file structure convention?
Show full SKILL.md (150 more words)Show less

Red Flags (stop and fix immediately)

  • catch (e) {} or catch (e) { console.log(e) } - swallowed error
  • No finally block when resources were opened
  • // TODO: handle error - AI's way of punting
  • Import from a path that doesn't exist in the project
  • Timeout set but no abort/cleanup on timeout
  • Database connection opened but never released back to pool

Common Mistakes

  • Trusting that compilation means correctness (compilation checks syntax, not logic)
  • Reviewing only the diff without checking what the AI did NOT generate (missing error paths)
  • Assuming the AI used the right library version (it often uses deprecated APIs)
  • Skipping the orphan check because garbage collection handles it (it doesn't for connections, listeners, timers)

Why This Exists

AI agents systematically optimize for "looks correct" and "passes the happy path." They miss failure modes, orphan resources, and hallucinate dependencies at rates significantly higher than manual code. This skill forces an audit for those specific blind spots.

© wshobson, 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 plugins/skill-forge-essentials/skills/ai-debt-detector of wshobson/agents.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 46891e7

Compare with similar skills

AI Debt Detector 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.

AI Debt Detector compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
AI Debt Detector this skillwshobson/agents40k—~850Automated safety check: PassMIT
Generatealirezarezvani/claude-skills28k1 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Fal Generatenexu-io/open-design100k—~306Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Ponytail Debt LedgerDietrichGebert/ponytail160k—~453Automated safety check: PassMIT
Video Generationbytedance/deer-flow84k3 repos~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Image Generationonyx-dot-app/onyx32k1 repos~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Questions about AI Debt Detector

What does AI Debt Detector do?

Use after generating code, after accepting AI suggestions, or when reviewing AI-written modules. AI Debt Detector is an agent skill from wshobson/agents. Use after generating code, after accepting AI suggestions, or when reviewing AI-written modules.

When should I use AI Debt Detector?

AI Debt Detector fits situations like: code works but feels brittle; error handling seems thin; orphaned resources; missing cleanup are suspected.

How do I install AI Debt Detector in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill ai-debt-detector -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/skill-forge-essentials/skills/ai-debt-detector in wshobson/agents) into .claude/skills/ai-debt-detector in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install AI Debt Detector in Codex?

Run `npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill ai-debt-detector -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/skill-forge-essentials/skills/ai-debt-detector in wshobson/agents) into .agents/skills/ai-debt-detector in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use AI Debt Detector 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 wshobson/agents --skill ai-debt-detector -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/ai-debt-detector, .gemini/skills/ai-debt-detector, .github/skills/ai-debt-detector and .opencode/skills/ai-debt-detector in your project.

What does AI Debt Detector need to run?

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

Does AI Debt Detector 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 AI Debt Detector 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 AI Debt Detector use?

AI Debt Detector 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 AI Debt Detector use?

About 850 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 AI Debt Detector?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with AI Debt Detector: Generate (alirezarezvani/claude-skills, 28k stars), Fal Generate (nexu-io/open-design, 100k stars), Ponytail Debt Ledger (DietrichGebert/ponytail, 160k stars) and Video Generation (bytedance/deer-flow, 84k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains AI Debt Detector?

wshobson (a GitHub user) maintains it in wshobson/agents, which has 40,314 GitHub stars. The repository holds 142 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.

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