Declutter Workflow

YOU ARE AN ORCHESTRATOR, NOT AN IMPLEMENTER.

This skill coordinates the entire refactoring workflow through four phases. You delegate work to specialized agents - you never modify code directly.

The Iron Law

code

NO REFACTORING WITHOUT ASSESSMENT FIRST
NO CODE CHANGE WITHOUT TEST HARNESS FIRST
NO COMPLETION WITHOUT VERIFICATION FIRST

Workflow Overview

dot

digraph declutter_workflow {
    rankdir=TB;
    node [shape=box];

    start [label="User Request" shape=ellipse];
    assess [label="Phase 1: Assessment\n→ declutter-analyzer"];
    plan [label="Phase 2: Planning\n→ TodoWrite"];
    harness [label="Phase 3: Test Harness\n→ declutter-executor"];
    refactor [label="Phase 4: Refactoring\n→ declutter-executor"];
    verify [label="Phase 5: Verification\n→ declutter-reviewer"];
    done [label="Complete" shape=ellipse];

    start -> assess;
    assess -> plan [label="ASSESSMENT_COMPLETE"];
    plan -> harness [label="PLAN_APPROVED"];
    harness -> refactor [label="HARNESS_COMPLETE"];
    refactor -> verify [label="REFACTORING_COMPLETE"];
    verify -> done [label="VERIFICATION_COMPLETE"];
    verify -> refactor [label="Issues Found" style=dashed];
}

Delegation Table

Action	YOU Do	DELEGATE TO
Read files for context	✓
Track progress (TodoWrite)	✓
Present options to user	✓
Code smell detection	✗ NEVER	`declutter-smell-detector` (Haiku)
Code analysis	✗ NEVER	`declutter-analyzer` (Sonnet) or `declutter-analyzer-high` (Opus)
Code changes	✗ NEVER	`declutter-executor` (Sonnet) or `declutter-executor-high` (Opus)
Final review	✗ NEVER	`declutter-reviewer` (Opus)

Phase 1: Assessment

Goal: Understand current state and identify refactoring opportunities.

•Invoke declutter:assessment skill
•Delegate to declutter-analyzer agent
•
Collect findings:
- •Code smells detected
- •Complexity hotspots
- •Test coverage gaps
- •Refactoring opportunities

Signal: ASSESSMENT_COMPLETE

Output: Assessment report with prioritized issues

Phase 2: Planning

Goal: Create actionable refactoring plan.

•Invoke declutter:planning skill
•Use TodoWrite to create task list
•Get user approval before proceeding

Signal: PLAN_APPROVED

Output: Approved task list in TodoWrite

Phase 3: Test Harness

Goal: Ensure behavior preservation through tests.

•Invoke declutter:test-harness skill
•
Delegate to declutter-executor:
- •Create characterization tests for affected code
- •Ensure tests pass before any changes
•Verify test coverage

Signal: HARNESS_COMPLETE

Output: Passing test suite covering affected code

Phase 4: Refactoring

Goal: Apply safe, incremental changes.

•Invoke declutter:safe-refactoring skill
•
For each task in plan:
- •Delegate to declutter-executor
- •Make ONE atomic change
- •Run tests immediately
- •Commit if tests pass
- •Rollback if tests fail

Signal: REFACTORING_COMPLETE

Output: Refactored code with all tests passing

Phase 5: Verification

Goal: Confirm behavior preservation and quality improvement.

•Invoke declutter:verification skill
•
Delegate to declutter-reviewer:
- •Verify all tests still pass
- •Check no new smells introduced
- •Confirm behavior preserved
- •Validate improvements achieved

Signal: VERIFICATION_COMPLETE

Output: Verification report with final assessment

Red Flags - STOP

If you catch yourself thinking any of these, STOP immediately:

Thought	Reality
"I can make this quick change myself"	NO. Delegate to executor.
"Skip assessment, the issue is obvious"	Assessment reveals hidden issues. Do it.
"Tests aren't necessary for this refactoring"	The Iron Law: NO CHANGE WITHOUT TEST FIRST
"I'll verify it myself"	Reviewer agent provides objective verification.
"Let me batch multiple changes"	ONE atomic change at a time. Always.

Checklist

Use TodoWrite to track these items:

markdown

- [ ] Phase 1: Assessment complete
  - [ ] Smell detection run
  - [ ] Complexity analysis done
  - [ ] Report generated
- [ ] Phase 2: Planning complete
  - [ ] Tasks identified
  - [ ] Priority assigned
  - [ ] User approved plan
- [ ] Phase 3: Test harness complete
  - [ ] Characterization tests written
  - [ ] All tests passing
  - [ ] Coverage verified
- [ ] Phase 4: Refactoring complete
  - [ ] All tasks executed
  - [ ] Each change tested
  - [ ] All tests passing
- [ ] Phase 5: Verification complete
  - [ ] Behavior preserved
  - [ ] No new smells
  - [ ] Quality improved

Rollback Protocol

If any phase fails:

•STOP all changes immediately
•Run git status to assess damage
•If uncommitted changes: git checkout -- .
•If bad commits: git revert to last known good state
•Report failure with diagnosis
•Return to previous phase

Example Invocation

markdown

User: "This legacy module is a mess, can you clean it up?"