tech-debt-analyzer

What this skill does

# Technical Debt Analyzer

Systematically identify, analyze, and document technical debt.

## When to Use

**Use for:**

- Analyzing code quality issues
- Creating technical debt registers
- Assessing code maintainability
- Identifying dependency problems
- Documenting security vulnerabilities
- Planning refactoring efforts

**Don't use when:**

- Writing new code → use `generic-feature-developer`
- Code review → use `generic-code-reviewer`
- Writing tests → use `test-specialist`

## Quick Analysis Commands

```bash
# Find large files (>500 lines)
find src -name "*.ts" -exec wc -l {} + | awk '$1 > 500' | sort -rn

# Find TODO/FIXME markers
grep -rn "TODO\|FIXME\|HACK\|XXX" src/

# Check for console.log in production code
grep -rn "console.log" src/ --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx"

# Find TypeScript 'any' usage
grep -rn ": any" src/ --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx"

# Check outdated dependencies
npm outdated

# Security vulnerabilities
npm audit

# Unused exports (requires ts-unused-exports)
npx ts-unused-exports tsconfig.json
```

## Debt Categories

| Category      | Examples                                               |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Code Quality  | Large files, complex functions, TODO/FIXME markers     |
| Architectural | Tight coupling, missing abstractions, circular deps    |
| Test          | Missing coverage, fragile tests, slow execution        |
| Documentation | Missing README, outdated docs, no ADRs                 |
| Dependency    | Outdated packages, security vulnerabilities            |
| Performance   | N+1 queries, memory leaks, large bundles               |
| Security      | Missing validation, exposed secrets, XSS/SQL injection |

## Analysis Workflow

### 1. Automated Detection

**Code Smells to Check:**

- Large files (>500 lines)
- Complex functions (cyclomatic complexity >10)
- Debt markers (TODO, FIXME, HACK, XXX)
- Console statements in production code
- `any` types in TypeScript
- Long parameter lists (>5 params)
- Deep nesting (>4 levels)

**Dependency Issues:**

- Deprecated packages
- Duplicate functionality
- Loose version constraints
- Known vulnerabilities

### 2. Severity Assessment

| Severity | Criteria                              | Action          |
| -------- | ------------------------------------- | --------------- |
| Critical | Security vulns, data loss risk        | Immediate fix   |
| High     | Performance problems, blocking issues | Current sprint  |
| Medium   | Code quality, missing docs            | This quarter    |
| Low      | Minor smells, optimizations           | When convenient |

### 3. Priority Matrix

| Impact / Effort | Low       | Medium    | High      |
| --------------- | --------- | --------- | --------- |
| High Impact     | Do First  | Do Second | Plan & Do |
| Medium Impact   | Do Second | Plan & Do | Consider  |
| Low Impact      | Quick Win | Consider  | Avoid     |

## Debt Register Format

```markdown
## DEBT-001: Description

**Category:** Code Quality | **Severity:** High
**Location:** src/services/UserService.ts

**Description:** Brief description of the issue

**Impact:**

- Business: How it affects delivery
- Technical: Why it's problematic
- Risk: What could go wrong

**Proposed Solution:** What to do about it
**Effort:** Days/hours estimate
**Target:** Sprint/quarter
```

## Prevention Strategies

### Automated Guards

```json
{
  "rules": {
    "complexity": ["error", 10],
    "max-lines-per-function": ["error", 50],
    "max-params": ["error", 5],
    "max-depth": ["error", 4]
  }
}
```

### Maintenance Schedule

| Frequency | Tasks                              |
| --------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Weekly    | Review TODO/FIXME, update register |
| Monthly   | Dependency updates, debt review    |
| Quarterly | Full analysis, architecture review |

## Self-Critique Checklist

After completing debt analysis:

- [ ] All automated checks run
- [ ] Manual review of critical paths done
- [ ] Severity assessments justified
- [ ] Proposed solutions are actionable
- [ ] Priority matrix applied consistently
- [ ] Register entries are complete

## See Also

- [Code Review Standards](../_shared/CODE_REVIEW_STANDARDS.md) - Quality checks
- Project `CLAUDE.md` - Workflow rules