mcpbeat

Tdd Refactor Guard

rshankras/tdd-refactor-guard

Pre-refactor safety checklist. Verifies test coverage exists before AI modifies existing code. Use before asking AI to refactor anything.

2k tokens
context cost
the whole folder, loaded on every use
1
files
instructions only
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
585
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/rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills --skill tdd-refactor-guard

The instruction itself

20 sections, as written by the author

TDD Refactor Guard

A safety gate that runs before any AI-assisted refactoring. Ensures tests exist to catch regressions. If coverage is insufficient, generates characterization tests first.

When This Skill Activates

Use this skill when the user:

  • Says "refactor this" or "clean this up"
  • Wants AI to "restructure" or "reorganize" code
  • Asks to "extract", "inline", "rename", or "simplify" existing code
  • Plans to migrate between patterns (e.g., MVC → MVVM, CoreData → SwiftData)
  • Wants AI to "improve" or "modernize" existing code

Why This Guard Exists

Without guard:               With guard:
"Claude, refactor this"      "Claude, refactor this"
  → AI rewrites code           → Guard checks for tests
  → Something breaks           → Tests missing → generate them
  → You don't know what        → Tests pass → proceed with refactor
  → Debugging nightmare         → Tests fail → exact regression found

Process

Step 1: Identify Scope

What code is being refactored?

Ask user: "Which files/classes are you planning to refactor?"

Or detect from context:

Glob: [files mentioned in conversation]
Read: each file to understand scope

Determine:

  • [ ] Files involved
  • [ ] Public API surface (methods, properties)
  • [ ] Dependencies (what calls this code, what it calls)
  • [ ] Side effects (network, disk, notifications, UI updates)

Step 2: Check Existing Test Coverage

Grep: "class.*Tests.*XCTestCase|@Suite.*Tests|struct.*Tests" in test targets
Grep: "@Test|func test" that reference the classes being refactored
Coverage Assessment

| Level | Criteria | Action |

|-------|----------|--------|

| Good (> 80%) | Most public methods have tests for happy + error paths | Proceed with refactoring |

| Partial (40-80%) | Some methods tested, missing edge cases | Add characterization tests for uncovered methods |

| Minimal (< 40%) | Few or no tests | Generate full characterization test suite first |

| None (0%) | No test file exists | STOP — create characterization tests before any refactoring |

Step 3: Evaluate Test Quality

Even if tests exist, check quality:

// ❌ Low-quality test — doesn't actually verify behavior
@Test("test items")
func testItems() {
    let vm = ViewModel()
    vm.loadItems()
    #expect(true)  // Always passes, tests nothing
}

// ❌ Tests implementation, not behavior
@Test("calls repository")
func testCallsRepo() {
    let vm = ViewModel()
    vm.loadItems()
    #expect(mockRepo.fetchCallCount == 1)  // Brittle
}

// ✅ Tests observable behavior
@Test("loads items into published array")
func testLoadsItems() async {
    let vm = ViewModel(repo: MockRepo(items: [.sample]))
    await vm.loadItems()
    #expect(vm.items.count == 1)
    #expect(vm.items.first?.title == "Sample")
}

Quality checklist:

  • [ ] Tests verify outputs/state, not implementation details
  • [ ] Both happy path and error paths covered
  • [ ] Edge cases (empty, nil, boundary) tested
  • [ ] Async behavior properly awaited
  • [ ] No #expect(true) or always-passing assertions

Step 4: Generate Missing Tests

If coverage is insufficient, use characterization-test-generator/:

Before refactoring [ClassName], generate characterization tests:
1. Read the source file
2. Identify all public methods
3. Generate tests that capture CURRENT behavior
4. Run and verify all pass

Step 5: Green Light / Red Light

Green Light — Proceed
## Refactor Guard: ✅ PROCEED

**Files**: ItemManager.swift, ItemRepository.swift
**Test coverage**: Good (12 tests covering 8/9 public methods)
**Test quality**: Adequate — tests verify behavior, not implementation

Safe to refactor. Run tests after each change:
`xcodebuild test -scheme YourApp`
Yellow Light — Needs Work
## Refactor Guard: ⚠️ NEEDS TESTS

**Files**: ItemManager.swift, ItemRepository.swift
**Test coverage**: Partial (5 tests covering 4/9 public methods)
**Missing coverage**:
- `ItemManager.sort()` — no test
- `ItemManager.filter(by:)` — no test
- `ItemRepository.sync()` — no test
- Error paths for `save()` and `delete()` — not tested

**Action**: Generate characterization tests for uncovered methods before refactoring.
Use `characterization-test-generator` skill.
Red Light — Stop
## Refactor Guard: 🔴 STOP

**Files**: ItemManager.swift, ItemRepository.swift
**Test coverage**: None (0 tests found)

**Action**: Do NOT refactor until characterization tests exist.
Refactoring without tests is like surgery without monitoring —
you won't know if you killed the patient.

Run `characterization-test-generator` on:
1. ItemManager (7 public methods)
2. ItemRepository (5 public methods)

Then re-run this guard.

Step 6: Post-Refactor Verification

After refactoring is complete:

# Run all tests
xcodebuild test -scheme YourApp

# Check specifically for regressions
xcodebuild test -scheme YourApp \
  -only-testing "YourAppTests/ItemManagerCharacterizationTests"
  • [ ] All pre-existing tests still pass
  • [ ] Characterization tests still pass
  • [ ] No new warnings or errors
  • [ ] Public API surface unchanged (unless intentionally changed)

Refactoring Safeguards

Safe Refactorings (Low Risk)

These typically don't change behavior:

  • Rename variable/method/type
  • Extract method/function
  • Inline temporary variable
  • Move method to another type (keeping same behavior)
  • Extract protocol from class

Risky Refactorings (Need Good Coverage)

These can change behavior:

  • Change method signature
  • Reorder operations
  • Replace algorithm
  • Merge/split classes
  • Change data structure
  • Introduce async/await to sync code
  • Migration between frameworks (CoreData → SwiftData)

Migration Refactorings (Need Comprehensive Coverage)

Full contract tests recommended:

  • Architecture change (MVC → MVVM)
  • Framework migration (UIKit → SwiftUI)
  • Storage migration (UserDefaults → SwiftData)
  • Concurrency model change (GCD → async/await)

Output Format

## Refactor Guard Report

**Scope**: [Files/classes to be refactored]
**Verdict**: ✅ PROCEED / ⚠️ NEEDS TESTS / 🔴 STOP

### Coverage Summary
| Class | Public Methods | Tests | Coverage | Verdict |
|-------|---------------|-------|----------|---------|
| ItemManager | 9 | 12 | 89% | ✅ |
| ItemRepository | 5 | 2 | 40% | ⚠️ |

### Missing Coverage
- [ ] `ItemRepository.sync()` — needs characterization test
- [ ] Error path for `ItemRepository.delete()` — untested

### Recommendations
1. [Action item]
2. [Action item]

References

  • testing/characterization-test-generator/ — generates tests this guard may require
  • testing/tdd-feature/ — for building new code during refactor
  • Martin Fowler, *Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code*

How to use it

Copy the folder

Take rshankras/tdd-refactor-guard 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.