Makefile Review Workflow

Audit Makefiles for best practices, deduplication, and portability.

Quick Start

/makefile-review

When To Use

Makefile changes or additions
Build system optimization
Portability improvements
CI/CD pipeline updates
Developer experience improvements

When NOT To Use

Creating new Makefiles - use abstract:make-dogfood
Architecture review - use architecture-review

Required TodoWrite Items

makefile-review:context-mapped
makefile-review:dependency-graph
makefile-review:dedup-candidates
makefile-review:tooling-alignment
makefile-review:evidence-logged
makefile-review:findings-verified

Workflow

Step 1: Map Context (`makefile-review:context-mapped`)

Confirm baseline:

pwd && git status -sb && git diff --stat

Verification: Run git status to confirm working tree state.

Find Make-related files:

rg -n "^include" -g'Makefile*'
rg --files -g '*.mk'

Document changed targets, project goals, and tooling requirements.

Step 2: Dependency Graph (`makefile-review:dependency-graph`)

@include modules/dependency-graph.md

Step 3: Deduplication Audit (`makefile-review:dedup-candidates`)

@include modules/deduplication-patterns.md

Step 4: Portability Check (`makefile-review:tooling-alignment`)

@include modules/portability-checks.md

Step 5: Evidence Log (`makefile-review:evidence-logged`)

Use imbue:proof-of-work to record command outputs with file:line references.

Summarize findings:

Severity (critical, major, minor)
Expected impact
Suggested refactors
Owners and dates for follow-ups

Progressive Loading

Load additional context as needed:

Best Practices & Examples: @include modules/best-practices.md

Plugin Dogfood Checks: @include modules/plugin-dogfood-checks.md - Makefile completeness analysis, target generation, and dogfooding validation.

Output Format

## Summary
Makefile review findings

## Context
- Files reviewed: [list]
- Targets changed: [list]

## Dependency Analysis
[graph and issues]

## Duplication Candidates
### [D1] Repeated command
- Locations: [list]
- Anchor: `verbatim source text at file:line`
- Recommendation: [pattern rule]

## Portability Issues
[cross-platform concerns]

## Missing Targets
- [ ] help
- [ ] format
- [ ] lint

## Recommendation
Approve / Approve with actions / Block

Verify Findings Are Grounded (`makefile-review:findings-verified`)

Every finding must cite a real location and a verbatim anchor. Write findings to .review/findings.json and confirm each citation resolves:

python plugins/imbue/scripts/citation_verifier.py \
  --findings .review/findings.json --repo-root .

Drop or label UNVERIFIED any finding the verifier fails (exit 1); only verified findings enter the report. See Skill(imbue:review-core) Step 5 and Skill(imbue:structured-output) for the schema.

Exit Criteria

Context mapped
Dependencies analyzed
Deduplication reviewed
Portability checked
Evidence logged
Every reported finding carries a Location + verbatim Anchor confirmed by citation_verifier.py (exit 0), or unverified findings were dropped or labeled UNVERIFIED

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

No Makefile found Ensure Makefile or *.mk files exist in the project root or specify paths explicitly.

Include directives not resolved Run rg -n "^include" -g'Makefile*' to trace include chains manually.

makefile-review

Table of Contents

Testing