Debt-Sentinel: Technical Debt Prevention

Overview

Debt-Sentinel is an architectural enforcer that prevents "vibe coding" slop by blocking anti-patterns before they enter the codebase. It uses PreToolUse hooks to intercept problematic code and maintains a debt ledger for accountability.

When to Use

Activate this skill when:

• •Writing or editing code files
• •Reviewing code for quality issues
• •Checking for security vulnerabilities
• •Validating architectural compliance
• •Before committing changes

Anti-Patterns Detected

Critical (Blocks Edit)

• •Hardcoded Secrets: API keys, passwords, tokens in source code
• •Inline SQL: SQL injection vulnerabilities via string concatenation
• •Direct DOM Manipulation: Bypassing React's virtual DOM

Warning (Logs Debt)

• •Inline Styles: Using style={} instead of CSS classes
• •Console Logging: Using console.log instead of structured logging
• •Magic Numbers: Unnamed numeric literals
• •Service Layer Bypass: Direct HTTP calls bypassing abstractions

Info (Tracked)

• •TODO Without Tickets: Unreferenced TODO comments
• •Poor Naming: Non-descriptive variable names

Usage

Automatic Mode

When integrated with Agent Zero hooks, Debt-Sentinel automatically scans every file edit:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Edit(*)|Write(*)",
        "command": "python3 /a0/usr/plugins/debt-sentinel/debt-sentinel.py --check"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Manual Mode

# Check a file
python3 /a0/usr/plugins/debt-sentinel/debt-sentinel.py --check <file>

# View session debt report
python3 /a0/usr/plugins/debt-sentinel/debt-sentinel.py --session-end

Understanding Debt Scores

Each violation has an "Interest Rate" (1-10):

• •Critical: 8-10 points
• •Warning: 4-7 points
• •Info: 1-3 points

Session Debt Score accumulates across all edits. High scores trigger cleanup prompts.

Configuration

Edit /a0/usr/plugins/debt-sentinel/ANTI_PATTERNS.md to customize:

### CUSTOM-001: Your Pattern Name
**Severity:** critical
**Interest Rate:** 9
**Regex:** your-regex-pattern
**Description:** What this pattern detects
**Fix Suggestion:** How to resolve

Debt Ledger

All violations are logged to /a0/usr/plugins/debt-sentinel/DEBT.md:

## Debt Entry - 2026-02-12 12:00:00
**Pattern:** CRITICAL-001
**Severity:** critical
**File:** src/api/auth.js
**Debt Score:** 10
**Description:** Hardcoded API key detected

Integration

Works seamlessly with:

• •Red Team Tribunal: Security-focused adversarial review
• •Spec-Lock: Documentation synchronization
• •Compound Engineering: Multi-stage workflow orchestration

Success Metrics

• •Block Rate: % of edits blocked due to critical violations
• •Debt Trend: Session debt scores over time
• •Resolution Time: Average time to fix violations
• •Override Rate: % of blocks that users override (should be <5%)

Troubleshooting

Permission Denied

chmod +x /a0/usr/plugins/debt-sentinel/debt-sentinel.py

Pattern Not Detecting

Check regex syntax in ANTI_PATTERNS.md:

import re
pattern = re.compile(r'your-regex', re.IGNORECASE)

Part of the Essential 2026 Plugin Suite