Flow hygiene

FLOW Hygiene

Audit the health of the project's instruction corpus. Reads CLAUDE.md, .claude/rules/*.md, and auto-memory files, then checks for six types of drift: stale references, orphaned content, unenforced claims, misplaced content, duplicated constraints, and contradictions. Read-only — reports findings but does not fix anything.

Complements /flow:flow-doc-sync, which compares code behavior against documentation. This skill compares instruction surfaces against each other and against the codebase structure they reference.

Usage

/flow:flow-hygiene

Announce

At the very start, output the following banner in your response (not via Bash) inside a fenced code block:

```text
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
  FLOW v2.7.0 — flow:flow-hygiene — STARTING
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
```

Finding Taxonomy

Eight finding types, each with a severity tag:

Tag	Severity	Meaning
[STALE]	High	A file path, function name, test name, or command referenced in an instruction surface no longer exists in the codebase
[ORPHANED]	Medium	A rule file or CLAUDE.md section describes a feature, hook, or pattern that no longer exists — the content itself is orphaned, not just a single reference
[UNENFORCED]	Medium	An instruction claims enforcement ("CI enforces via X", "hook blocks Y") but the named enforcer does not exist or does not check the claimed condition
[MISPLACED]	Low	Content is stored in the wrong persistence layer per the routing decision tree — e.g., an imperative constraint in CLAUDE.md instead of a rule, or a project fact in memory instead of CLAUDE.md
[DUPLICATE]	Low	The same constraint or fact appears in multiple surfaces with identical or near-identical wording — creates update burden when the constraint changes
[CONTRADICTION]	High	Two surfaces prescribe opposite behavior for the same situation — one says "always do X", another says "never do X"
[CLAUDE_MD_MANDATE]	High	A project-local rule file mandates that descriptive content be documented in CLAUDE.md — the mandate is itself the misclassification per .claude/rules/persistence-routing.md "Cross-Surface Application". Fix routes the mandated prose to a feature-specific .claude/rules/<feature>.md file plus a one-line CLAUDE.md index entry.
[SIZE_BUDGET]	Medium	CLAUDE.md exceeds the configurable size budget (claude_md_budget in .flow.json, defaults 12000 chars / 400 lines). Descriptive prose should land in feature-specific rule files, not in CLAUDE.md itself, so the budget overrun signals that recent additions failed the obey-vs-describe gate.

Steps

Step 1 — Discover surfaces

Instruction surfaces are scattered across multiple files and formats. Before any analysis can happen, the skill needs a complete inventory of what exists and what each surface claims.

Identify and read all instruction surfaces in the project.

Use the Glob tool to find:

• CLAUDE.md in the current working directory
• .claude/rules/*.md in the current working directory

Read each discovered file using the Read tool. For each file, note:

• File path
• All file paths, function names, test names, and commands mentioned in backticks
• All enforcement claims ("CI enforces", "hook blocks", "test validates")
• All behavioral constraints (imperatives: "never", "always", "must", "do not")
• All architectural facts (descriptions of how things work)

For auto-memory: read the memory index (MEMORY.md) from conversation context if it is loaded. If individual memory files are referenced in the index, read them using the Read tool. Memory files live at ~/.claude/projects/*/memory/ and are user-scoped — they may not exist for every project.

CLAUDE.md size budget check. A CLAUDE.md that grows unchecked signals that descriptive content is being added where only behavioral content belongs, per .claude/rules/persistence-routing.md "Cross- Surface Application". Read .flow.json from the project root using the Read tool. If the file exists and contains a claude_md_budget object, parse its chars and lines fields. If the file is missing or the field is absent, use the defaults: 12000 chars and 400 lines. Fail safe to the defaults whenever the input is unreliable: if .flow.json is present but is not valid JSON, or claude_md_budget is present but is not an object, or chars/lines is present but is not a positive integer, use the defaults rather than prompting or erroring.

Measure CLAUDE.md by reading the file with the Read tool — character count is the byte length of the content, line count is the count of newlines plus one for the final line. Emit a [SIZE_BUDGET] finding when either count exceeds its budget. The finding's body cites the measured value, the budget, the override path (.flow.json field claude_md_budget), and the recommended fix (route descriptive prose to feature-specific .claude/rules/<feature>.md files plus one-line CLAUDE.md index entries).

Step 2 — Structural verification

Instruction surfaces routinely drift from the codebase they describe as files are renamed, functions deleted, and commands refactored. A mechanical reference check is the only way to detect this without reading every file manually.

Verify that references in instruction surfaces point to things that exist. This is a mechanical pass — each check is a Grep or Glob call.

File path references. For each file path mentioned in backticks in any surface, use the Glob tool to verify the file exists in the current working directory. Tag missing files as [STALE].

Function and test name references. For each function name or test name mentioned in backticks, use the Grep tool to verify it exists as a definition in the codebase. Tag missing definitions as [STALE].

Command references. For each bin/flow subcommand mentioned (e.g., bin/flow check-phase, bin/flow tombstone-audit), use the Grep tool to verify the subcommand is registered in the dispatcher or source. Tag missing commands as [STALE].

Enforcement claims. For each claim that names a specific enforcer:

• "CI enforces via test_name" — Grep for the test function definition
• "hook blocks" or "hook validates" — Grep for the hook name in hooks/hooks.json
• "tests/file.rs enforces" — verify the test file exists

If the named enforcer does not exist, tag as [UNENFORCED]. If the enforcer exists but does not check the claimed condition (requires reading the test or hook body), tag as [UNENFORCED] with a note explaining the gap.

Orphan detection. After all reference checks, identify rule files or CLAUDE.md sections where the majority of references are stale. If a rule file's primary subject (the feature, hook, or pattern it describes) no longer exists, tag the entire file as [ORPHANED].

Step 3 — Classification audit

Content placed in the wrong persistence layer creates maintenance burden — a constraint in CLAUDE.md instead of a rule file must be updated in two places when it changes, and a memory entry that duplicates a rule silently diverges over time.

Apply the persistence routing decision tree to each content block.

The decision tree (from .claude/rules/persistence-routing.md):

1. Is it specific to this user? → Memory
2. Is it a behavioral constraint? (imperative guardrail) → Rule
3. Is it project knowledge? → CLAUDE.md
4. Can you derive it by reading code? → Do not store anywhere

CLAUDE.md audit. Read each section of CLAUDE.md. For each content block, apply the imperative test: "Can you phrase this as an imperative ('do X', 'never Y', 'when X do Y')?" If yes, it belongs in a rule file, not CLAUDE.md. Tag as [MISPLACED] with a recommendation to move it to .claude/rules/<topic>.md.

Exclude sections that are genuinely project knowledge even if they contain imperative-sounding language (e.g., "Phase gates prevent skipping ahead" is a description, not an instruction).

Memory audit. For each memory file, check whether its content duplicates an existing rule or CLAUDE.md section. If the same constraint appears in both memory and a rule file, the memory entry is redundant. Tag as [MISPLACED] with a recommendation to remove the memory entry (rules are the authoritative source).

Also check whether memory files contain architecture facts, code patterns, or file paths — these should be derivable from the code and do not belong in memory. Tag as [MISPLACED].

CLAUDE.md mandate scan. Project-local rules that mandate CLAUDE.md prose for descriptive content invert the persistence routing — the mandate is itself the misclassification per .claude/rules/persistence-routing.md "Cross-Surface Application". Use the Grep tool against .claude/rules/*.md (and any project- local rule subdirectories) for the four canonical paraphrased substrings the upstream rule catalogs. These four entries are pattern shapes, not literal grep strings — match them by judgment against the prose a rule file actually uses. In the first entry, X and Y are placeholders standing in for a project-specific noun (the descriptive surface) and a project- specific documentation requirement; a real rule file will use concrete nouns in those slots. Read each candidate rule file and decide whether its prose expresses one of these shapes:

• treats X added without Y documented in CLAUDE.md — the enforcement-claim shape where a project-local rule asserts CI fails when a descriptive surface is added without a CLAUDE.md paragraph
• must be documented in CLAUDE.md — the direct-mandate shape
• documentation home is CLAUDE.md — the routing-destination shape for descriptive content
• CLAUDE.md as the canonical destination — the authoritative-source shape

For each match, emit a [CLAUDE_MD_MANDATE] finding citing the rule file path, the matched line, and the recommended fix: "Rewrite this rule to route descriptive content to a feature- specific .claude/rules/<feature>.md plus a one-line CLAUDE.md index entry per .claude/rules/persistence-routing.md Cross- Surface Application."

Exclude matches inside quoted-example fences (Markdown code blocks) or in paragraphs whose surrounding prose explicitly names the pattern as an anti-pattern — those occurrences are documentation of the pattern, not enforcement of it.

Step 4 — Cross-reference audit

When the same constraint lives in multiple surfaces, a change to one copy leaves the others stale. When two surfaces prescribe opposite behavior, the model follows whichever it reads last — producing unpredictable results.

Compare all surfaces pairwise for duplicates and contradictions.

Duplicate detection. For each behavioral constraint found in Step 1, search all other surfaces for the same constraint expressed in similar words. Exact duplicates and near-duplicates (same meaning, different wording) both count. Tag as [DUPLICATE] with the two source locations.

Focus on constraints that would need to be updated in multiple places if the rule changed — identical constraints in CLAUDE.md and a rule file, or the same rule stated in two different rule files.

Contradiction detection. For each pair of constraints, check whether they prescribe opposite behavior. Common patterns:

• "Always do X" in one surface vs "Never do X" in another
• "Use A for this" vs "Use B for this" where A and B are mutually exclusive
• Conflicting scope — one surface says a rule applies to all phases, another limits it to specific phases

Tag as [CONTRADICTION] with both source locations and the specific conflict.

Step 5 — Report

The audit is only useful if its findings are actionable. Grouping by source file lets the user address all issues in one file at a time, and severity tags help prioritize what to fix first.

Produce the findings report inline in the response.

Summary line. Start with a one-line summary:

Hygiene: N findings (X stale, Y orphaned, Z unenforced, W misplaced, V duplicate, U contradiction, M claude-md-mandate, B size-budget)

If no findings, output:

Hygiene: Clean — no instruction corpus drift detected.

Findings by source file. Group findings by the source file where the problematic content lives. For each file with findings, show the file path as a heading, then each finding:

## <source_file_path>

**[STALE]** <description>
- References: <what it references>
- Status: <not found / renamed to X / removed>

**[UNENFORCED]** <description>
- Claims: <what it claims is enforced>
- Enforcer: <named test/hook>
- Status: <enforcer not found / enforcer does not check this>

**[MISPLACED]** <description>
- Content: <summary of the content>
- Current location: <where it is>
- Recommended location: <where it should be>

**[DUPLICATE]** <description>
- Location 1: <file:line>
- Location 2: <file:line>

**[CONTRADICTION]** <description>
- Surface 1: <file> says <X>
- Surface 2: <file> says <Y>

Orphaned files. List [ORPHANED] findings separately at the end under an "## Orphaned" heading.

After the report, output the following banner in your response (not via Bash) inside a fenced code block:

```text
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
  ✓ FLOW v2.7.0 — flow:flow-hygiene — COMPLETE
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
```

Hard Rules

• Read-only — never fix, edit, or commit anything
• No state file mutations — this is a stateless utility skill
• No AskUserQuestion — produce the report and finish
• No sub-agents — all comparison is inline
• Never use Bash to print banners — output them as text in your response
• Never use Bash for file reads — use Glob, Read, and Grep tools
• Focus on structural accuracy and classification correctness, not style