tech-debt-audit
Thorough, file-cited technical debt audit across 9 dimensions using AST-grep (tree-sitter), grep, LSP, and language-native tooling. Produces TECH_DEBT_AUDIT.md with severity, effort estimates, and prioritized fixes
Install / Use
npx skills add code-yeongyu/oh-my-openagent --skill tech-debt-auditInstalls into whichever agent you are using.
SKILL.md
Installable skill definition
Quality Score
Category
Development & EngineeringSupported Platforms
Our assessment of tech-debt-audit
tech-debt-audit scores 90/100 on our quality scale, 202nd of 1,630 Development & Engineering skills we index (top 13%).
Its SKILL.md is 9.3 KB long, well organised into 36 sections with 2 code examples: a thorough specification that gives an agent plenty to work with.
With 69,362 GitHub stars, it is one of the more widely adopted skills in the catalogue.
Maintenance, license and trust
- The repository was last updated today, so tech-debt-audit is actively maintained.
- No license is declared. By default that means all rights are reserved: you can read it, but reusing or redistributing it is not clearly permitted. Ask the author before building on it commercially.
- Its trust signals score 88/100, with 1 caution from licensing, adoption, age or documentation. These come from repository metadata, not a code audit — read the skill file before letting an agent act on it.
tech-debt-audit compared with similar skills
All 4 of these similar skills score higher than tech-debt-audit; compare them before choosing.
| Skill | Score | Stars | Updated | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tech-debt-audit (this skill)by code-yeongyu | 90 | 69.4k | today | SKILL.md |
| ai-job-searchby MadsLorentzen | 100 | 43.9k | 3d ago | CLAUDE.md |
| claude-howtoby luongnv89 | 100 | 41.7k | 5d ago | CLAUDE.md |
| algorithmic-artby anthropics | 100 | 177.9k | 2d ago | SKILL.md |
| pptxby anthropics | 100 | 177.9k | 2d ago | SKILL.md |
Frequently asked questions
- How do I install tech-debt-audit?
- Run
npx skills add code-yeongyu/oh-my-openagent --skill tech-debt-audit. The install tabs above show the steps for each supported agent. - Which AI agents does tech-debt-audit work with?
- It is written for Zed, as a SKILL.md file. Other agents that read the same format can often use it too.
- Is tech-debt-audit safe to use?
- It declares no license and scores 88/100 on trust signals. Skills are instructions an agent will follow, so read the file before installing it and do not approve commands you do not understand.
- Is tech-debt-audit still maintained?
- The repository was last updated today, so tech-debt-audit is actively maintained.
Skill content
View source on GitHubname: tech-debt-audit description: "Thorough, file-cited technical debt audit across 9 dimensions using AST-grep (tree-sitter), grep, LSP, and language-native tooling. Produces TECH_DEBT_AUDIT.md with severity, effort estimates, and prioritized fixes. Use when asked for codebase health check, tech debt audit, architecture review, code quality assessment, or cleanup planning. Triggers: 'tech debt', 'technical debt', 'debt audit', 'code health', 'technical debt audit', 'codebase health check', 'find tech debt', 'debt analysis', 'audit code quality'."
Tech Debt Audit Protocol
Model-agnostic technical debt audit for oh-my-openagent (OMO). Uses OMO's built-in tools (grep, glob, bash with sg, read, lsp_diagnostics, task). Produces a grounded, citable TECH_DEBT_AUDIT.md artifact.
Output
Write results to TECH_DEBT_AUDIT.md in the repo root with:
- Executive Summary — 3-5 sentences: overall health, worst dimension, quick wins count
- Mental Model — the repo's architecture in 1 paragraph (what it does, stack, module boundaries)
- Findings Table — columns: ID, Category, File:Line, Severity (Critical/High/Medium/Low), Effort (Hours), Description, Recommendation
- Top 5 Priorities — ranked by impact/effort ratio
- Quick Wins Checklist — items under 30 minutes each
- "Looks Bad But Is Fine" — patterns that look like debt but are intentional
- Open Questions — things the maintainer should clarify
Phase 0: Orient
Standard (always run)
glob("**/*.ts")/glob("**/*.py")/ etc — map the language stackglob("**/package.json")+read()— dependencies and build toolingbash("git log --oneline -200")— churn: find highest-change filesglob("**/*")+ basic math — find largest files (>300 LOC are candidates)- Cross-reference high-churn + large = debt hot zones
- Write the mental model paragraph in your own working context
Phase 1: Audit Across 9 Dimensions
Use OMO tools for each dimension. Run parallel tool calls within each dimension. Every finding MUST cite file:line:col.
1. Architectural Decay
Standard (always run)
bash("sg -p \"import { $$$ } from '$SRC'\" -l ts .")— map module graph, look for circular patternsbash("sg -p \"class $NAME { $$$ }\" -l ts .")— check for god classesgrep("TODO|FIXME|HACK|XXX|WORKAROUND|TEMP")— tagged debt markersgrep("async|await")on sync-looking files — misplaced async boundariesbash("wc -l <file>")on each large file found in Phase 0
What to flag
- Files > 500 LOC (god files)
- Functions > 80 LOC or > 4 nesting levels
- Classes with > 15 methods or > 400 LOC
- Import cycles (A → B → A)
- Dead exports: function/class defined but never imported elsewhere (confirm with
lsp_find_references) - Commented-out code blocks (>3 consecutive consecutive lines)
2. Consistency Rot
Standard (always run)
bash("sg -p \"import $CLIENT from '$PKG'\" -l ts .")— multiple HTTP clientsgrep("console.log|console.error|console.warn")— direct console use vs loggerbash("sg -p \"try { $$$ } catch ($$$) { $$$ }\" -l ts .")— error handling patternsgrep("as any|@ts-ignore|@ts-expect-error|as unknown")— type escapesgrep("eslint-disable|prettier-ignore")— lint suppressions
What to flag
- 3+ ways of doing the same thing (HTTP, logging, validation, config)
- Mixed naming conventions (camelCase + snake_case + PascalCase)
- Multiple date/time handling libraries
- Mixed error response shapes across modules
3. Type & Contract Debt
Standard (always run)
bash("sg -p \"$VALUE as any\" -l ts .")— runtime type escapesgrep("@ts-expect-error")— suppressed errorsgrep("@ts-ignore")— suppressed errors (legacy)bash("sg -p \"$NAME: any\" -l ts .")— typed as anylsp_diagnostics(filePath="<src-dir>")— current type errors
What to flag
anytypes on public APIs and exported interfaces- Untyped function parameters
- Missing schema validation at API/IO boundaries
- LSP type errors grouped by file
4. Test Debt
Standard (always run)
glob("**/*.test.ts")— find all test filesbash("bun test 2>&1 | grep -E '(fail|skip|todo)'")— current test health- Cross-reference Phase 0 high-churn files with test existence
What to flag
- Critical-path files with zero tests
- Skipped tests (
test.skip,describe.skip) - Tests asserting implementation details vs behavior
- Slow tests (>1s each)
5. Dependency & Config Debt
Standard (always run)
bash("npm audit --omit=dev 2>&1 | head -40")— known CVEs (if node_modules present)read("package.json")— check dependency count and stale depsgrep(".env|process.env|Bun.env")— env var usagegrep("API_KEY|SECRET|PASSWORD|TOKEN")in non-config files — hardcoded config
What to flag
- Outdated major-version deps
- Dependencies that do the same thing (duplicate libraries)
- Referenced env vars not documented in README
- Hardcoded environment-specific values
6. Performance & Resource Hygiene
Standard (always run)
bash("sg -p \"for ($$$ of $$$) { $$$ await $$$ }\" -l ts .")— async-in-loopgrep("await.*map|await.*filter|await.*forEach")— sequential async iterationgrep("Promise\\.all|Promise\\.allSettled")— existing parallel patterns (good signal)grep("addEventListener|on\\(|subscribe")withoutremoveEventListener|off\\(|unsubscribenearby — listener hygiene
What to flag
awaitinsidefor/ofloops (sequential when parallel possible)- N+1 query patterns
- Missing cleanup on event listeners, intervals, handles
- Unnecessary serialization/deserialization
7. Error Handling & Observability
Standard (always run)
bash("sg -p \"catch ($$$) { $$$ }\" -l ts .")— catch blocksgrep("catch.*{}|catch.*{\\s*}")— empty catch blocksgrep("console.error|logger\\.error|log\\.error")— actual error loggingbash("sg -p \"throw new $ERR($$$)\" -l ts .")— error types used
What to flag
- Empty catch blocks (worst offense)
- Generic
catch (e) { console.error(e) }without recovery - Inconsistent error shapes across modules
- Missing structured logging on critical paths
- Errors swallowed in promise chains (
.catch(() => {}))
8. Security Hygiene
Standard (always run)
grep("api[Kk]ey|api_secret|password|secret|token|credential")in source files (not config or env)grep("SELECT .* FROM|INSERT INTO|UPDATE.*SET|DELETE FROM")— SQL constructiongrep("innerHTML|dangerouslySetInnerHTML")— XSS vectorsgrep("eval\\(|Function\\(|setTimeout\\(.*string|setInterval\\(.*string")— code injection
What to flag
- Hardcoded secrets in source
- String-concatenated SQL
innerHTML/dangerouslySetInnerHTMLusageeval()or string-basedsetTimeout/setInterval- Permissive CORS or auth middleware
9. Documentation Drift
Standard (always run)
read("README.md")— check if claims match realitygrep("@param|@returns|@throws")— docstring coveragegrep("FIXME|TODO|HACK|XXX|WORKAROUND")— fixme density- Compare README API examples with actual signatures
What to flag
- README claiming features that don't exist
- Public functions without any doc comment
- Comments that contradict the code
- Stale architecture decision records (ADRs) if present
Phase 2: Deeper Dives (Parallel Sub-Agents)
For large codebases (>50k LOC), delegate heavy dimensions to parallel sub-agents. Each sub-agent runs the standard tool passes for its dimensions:
task(category="unspecified-low", run_in_background=true, load_skills=[], prompt="[CONTEXT] Tech debt audit. [GOAL] Audit dimensions 1 (Architecture) and 2 (Consistency). [REQUEST] Run ast_grep and grep searches for dimensions 1-2 from the tech-debt-audit skill. Report every finding with file:line:col. Tag severity: Critical/High/Medium/Low.")
task(category="unspecified-low", run_in_background=true, load_skills=[], prompt="[CONTEXT] Tech debt audit. [GOAL] Audit dimensions 3 (Type debt) and 7 (Error handling). [REQUEST] Run searches for dimensions 3 and 7 from the tech-debt-audit skill. Report every finding with file:line:col. Tag severity.")
Spawn 2-3 sub-agents for the heaviest dimensions, collect results in parallel, then synthesize.
Phase 3: Synthesize & Deliver
- Collect all findings from direct tool calls and sub-agent results
- Deduplicate — same issue mentioned by multiple dimensions
- Classify severity:
- Critical — Causes incorrect behavior, data loss, or security vulnerability
- High — Will cause problems in production; blocks maintenance
- Medium — Reduces maintainability; violates conventions
- Low — Cosmetic; should fix when in the area
- Estimate effort in hours per finding (conservative)
- Write
TECH_DEBT_AUDIT.mdwith all required sections - Report summary to the user
Severity Rubric
Critical = actively causing bugs or security holes
High = will cause problems under normal operation; blocks changes
Medium = reduces maintainability; inconsistent; violates team conventions
Low = cosmetic; would be nice to fix when nearby
Quick Checks Before Finishing
- [ ] Every concrete finding has
file:line:colcitation - [ ] No generic claims without evidence
- [ ] "Looks Bad But Is Fine" section explains at least 2-3 patterns
- [ ] Top 5 priorities ranked by impact/effort
- [ ] Quick wins are things that can be fixed in <30 minutes each
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Trust signals
From repository metadata: license, adoption, age and documentation. Not a code audit — see the Safety scan above for what the skill file itself contains.
