refactoring
Refactoring
Improve the design of working code without changing what the system does.
Context
Refactoring keeps implementation quality from decaying between releases. It is not cleanup for its own sake. In Prodcraft, refactoring is justified when reviews, tech-debt evidence, or repeated implementation friction show that the current structure is increasing future cost or risk.
The constraint is strict: externally observable behavior must stay stable. If behavior changes, the work is feature development or defect fixing, not refactoring.
Inputs
- source-code -- The current implementation that needs structural improvement.
- test-suite -- The safety net that proves behavior has not changed.
- review-report -- Concrete findings from review that identify structural problems worth fixing.
- tech-debt-registry -- Evidence that the refactor addresses recurring cost rather than personal preference.
Process
More from yknothing/prodcraft
system-design
Use when reviewed requirements or specifications are ready and the team must decide high-level architecture, component boundaries, integration seams, or brownfield coexistence strategy before API design, technology selection, or task planning.
6ci-cd
Use when a reviewed implementation slice needs an automated build, test, and deployment pipeline, especially when brownfield rollback, release-boundary checks, contract/integration gates, and staged delivery must be explicit before shipping.
6intake
The mandatory gateway for all new engineering work. Triage and route new products, apps, features, migrations, tech-debt, or any 'not sure where to start' request to the correct lifecycle path. Use before starting design or implementation. Do not use for ongoing tasks, specific debugging, or PR reviews.
6feature-development
Use when a reviewed task slice has tests or acceptance targets and the team must turn it into a small, mergeable implementation increment without expanding scope, breaking contracts, or hiding release-boundary risk.
6monitoring-observability
Use when a live service or newly delivered release needs actionable telemetry, dashboards, and alerts that expose real user-impactful boundaries, especially when brownfield coexistence rules, unsupported-flow safety, rollback health, or queue/backfill behavior must be visible before incidents escalate.
6incident-response
Use when a live production issue needs coordinated containment, severity triage, stakeholder communication, and evidence capture, especially when a recent release, brownfield coexistence rules, rollback decisions, or unresolved contract boundaries must be handled before root-cause work.
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