Chrysopoeia

Systematically extract maximum value from existing code — identify what's golden (high-value, well-designed), what's lead (resource-heavy, poorly optimized), and what's dross (dead weight). Then amplify the gold, transmute the lead, and remove the dross.

When to Use

• Optimizing a working but sluggish codebase for performance
• Refining an API surface that has accumulated cruft over iterations
• Reducing bundle size, memory footprint, or startup time
• Preparing code for open-source release (extracting the valuable core)
• When code works correctly but doesn't shine — it needs polish, not rewrite

Inputs

• Required: Codebase or module to optimize (file paths)
• Required: Value metric (performance, API clarity, bundle size, readability)
• Optional: Profiling data or benchmarks showing current performance
• Optional: Budget or target (e.g., "reduce bundle by 40%", "sub-100ms response")
• Optional: Constraints (can't change public API, must maintain backward compat)