Qa tech debt

Tech Debt Management

Triggers

• "technical debt"
• "tech debt"
• "refactoring priority"
• "legacy code"
• "code quality"

Identification

Code Smells to Detect

# TODOs and FIXMEs
grep -r "TODO\|FIXME\|HACK\|XXX" --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" src/

# Large files
find src -name "*.ts" -o -name "*.tsx" | xargs wc -l | sort -n | tail -20

# Complexity (nesting)
grep -r "if.*if.*if" --include="*.ts" src/

# any in TypeScript
grep -r ": any" --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" src/

Metrics

Metric	Threshold	Command
LOC/file	< 500	wc -l
Functions/file	< 15	grep
Nesting depth	< 4	analysis
Test coverage	> 70%	npm test -- --coverage

Categorization

Impact

Level	Description	Examples
Critical	Blocks development	Circular coupling
High	Significantly slows down	Massive duplication
Medium	Hinders maintenance	Confusing naming
Low	Cosmetic	Inconsistent style

Effort

Level	Time	Examples
Trivial	< 1h	Rename variable
Low	< 1 day	Extract function
Medium	1-5 days	Restructure module
High	> 1 week	Rewrite component

Prioritization

Impact/Effort Matrix

Impact
  ^
  |  Quick Wins  |  Strategic
  |     (P1)     |    (P2)
  +--------------+-------------
  |   Fill-in    |   Avoid
  |     (P3)     |    (P4)
  +-------------------------> Effort

Remediation Plan

Template

## Item: [Name]

**Priority**: P[1-4]
**Impact**: [Critical/High/Medium/Low]
**Effort**: [Trivial/Low/Medium/High]

### Description
[Description of the problem]

### Files concerned
- path/to/file.ts:L42

### Proposed solution
[Refactoring approach]

### Success criteria
- [ ] Tests pass
- [ ] No regression
- [ ] Improved metrics

Test coverage analysis

Test debt is a first-class category of technical debt. Measure and close the gaps.

# Current coverage (statements / branches / functions / lines)
npm test -- --coverage          # Jest / Vitest

Metric	Threshold	Notes
Statements	> 80%
Branches	> 75%	Hardest and highest-value gap
Functions	> 80%

• Categorise gaps by criticality (business code and edge cases first), not by raw %.
• Prioritise critical business code; 100% coverage != 100% quality — never sacrifice test quality to hit a number.
• Add missing tests for branches, boundary conditions and error paths; wire a coverage gate into CI (/ops:ops-ci). Generate the tests via /dev:dev-tdd or /dev:dev-tdd.

Continuous improvement (Kaizen)

For incremental, durable improvement of code and process, run the PDCA cycle instead of a big-bang rewrite.

• PLAN: identify the problem and root cause (5 Whys), set a SMART objective.
• DO: implement one change at a time, atomic commits.
• CHECK: measure before/after, compare to the objective.
• ACT: standardise on success, adjust on failure; plan the next iteration.
• Eliminate the 7 Muda (overproduction, waiting, transport, over-processing, inventory, motion, defects). Always measure before and after; one change at a time, no revolutions.

Workflow

1. Identify - Scan the codebase (smells, coverage gaps, Muda)
2. Categorize - Impact and effort
3. Prioritize - Decision matrix
4. Plan - Integrate into the backlog
5. Execute - Incremental refactoring (one change at a time, PDCA)
6. Validate - Tests, coverage and metrics (before/after)