Techdebt Agent Skill

>- Review a code diff / branch / PR for technical debt — code duplication, unnecessary complexity / over-engineering, and redundant or dead code. Use whenever the user wants a tech-debt, cleanup, or refactor review, asks to check a branch or PR for duplication / complexity / dead code before opening a PR, or behavior-preserving fixes; it never changes behavior.

565 tokens

context cost

the whole folder, loaded on every use

files

instructions only

copies elsewhere

how many repositories repackaged it

727

stars on the repo

on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository

npx skills add https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-java --skill techdebt

The instruction itself

5 sections, as written by the author

Techdebt Cleanup Skill

Analyze changes on the current branch to identify and fix technical debt, code duplication, and unnecessary complexity.

Instructions

Step 1: Get Branch Changes

Find the merge-base (where this branch diverged from master) and compare against it:

# Find upstream (DataDog org repo)
UPSTREAM=$(git remote -v | grep -E 'DataDog/[^/]+(.git)?\s' | head -1 | awk '{print $1}')
if [ -z "$UPSTREAM" ]; then
  echo "No DataDog upstream found, using origin"
  UPSTREAM="origin"
fi

# Find the merge-base (commit where this branch diverged from master)
MERGE_BASE=$(git merge-base HEAD ${UPSTREAM}/master)
echo "Comparing changes introduced on this branch since diverging from master using base commit: $MERGE_BASE"

git diff $MERGE_BASE --stat
git diff $MERGE_BASE --name-status

If no changes exist, inform the user and stop.

If changes exist, read the diff and the full content of modified source files (not test files) to understand context.

Step 2: Analyze for Issues

Look for:

Code Duplication

Similar code blocks that should be extracted into shared functions
Copy-pasted logic with minor variations

Unnecessary Complexity

Over-engineered solutions (abstractions used only once)
Excessive indirection or layers
Backward compatibility shims that aren't needed

Redundant Code

Dead code paths
Overly defensive checks for impossible scenarios

Step 3: Report and Fix

Present a concise summary of issues found with file:line references.

Then ask the user if they want you to fix the issues. When fixing:

Make one logical change at a time
Do NOT change behavior, only refactor
Skip trivial or stylistic issues

Other skills for the same job

different authors, same section of the catalogue

Receiving Code Review

by ZhanlinCui

×7

Use when receiving code review feedback, before implementing suggestions, especially if feedback seems unclear or technically questionable - requires technical rigor and verification, not performative agreement or blind implementation

2k tokens

Requesting Code Review

by ZhanlinCui

×6

Use when completing tasks, implementing major features, or before merging to verify work meets requirements

Execute git commit with conventional commit message analysis, intelligent staging, and message generation. Use when user asks to commit changes, create a git commit, or mentions "/commit". Supports: (1) Auto-detecting type and scope from changes, (2) Generating conventional commit messages from diff, (3) Interactive commit with optional type/scope/description overrides, (4) Intelligent file staging for logical grouping

Comprehensive GitHub code review with AI-powered swarm coordination

Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. Use when writing, reviewing, or refactoring code to avoid overcomplication, make surgical changes, surface assumptions, and define verifiable success criteria.

Use this skill to review code. It supports both local changes (staged or working tree) and remote Pull Requests (by ID or URL). It focuses on correctness, maintainability, and adherence to project standards.

Refactor bloated AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, or similar agent instruction files to follow progressive disclosure principles. Splits monolithic files into organized, linked documentation.

Create high-quality git commits: review/stage intended changes, split into logical commits, and write clear commit messages (including Conventional Commits). Use when the user asks to commit, craft a commit message, stage changes, or split work into multiple commits.

2k tokens

How to use it

Copy the folder

Take datadog/techdebt from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

Check the name does not clash

The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.