Tech debt register

Skill frobinson47/solo-dev-suite/skills/tech-debt-register

Logs, categorizes, and prioritizes tech debt as it's incurred. Not a shame exercise -- a managed backlog with pay-down window recommendations and priority scoring.From its SKILL.md

Install

npx -y skills add frobinson47/solo-dev-suite --skill tech-debt-register

Assembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.

One thing to look at

4 stars4 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.

SKILL.md

4.4 KB, as published. Nobody here has run it

tech-debt-register

When to use

You've taken a shortcut and want to log it before you forget.
You want to see what debt exists and decide what to pay down next.
Pre-launch review: which debt items need resolution before shipping?
Periodic debt review to update urgency windows and priorities.

When NOT to use

For auto-detecting code smells (this is human-logged, not a scanner).
For tracking bugs (use an issue tracker).
For feature requests (use mvp-scope-guardian).

Prerequisites

Project must be onboarded in solo-dev-suite (profile exists).
No explicit init -- sidecar is created on first log.

Methodology

Impact scoring

Impact: low / medium / high / critical
Effort: S / M / L / XL
Urgency window: now / pre-launch / post-launch-30d / post-launch-90d / when-it-bites / never

Priority score

priority = (impact_rank * urgency_rank) / effort_rank

Where impact: low=1, medium=2, high=4, critical=8; urgency: never=0, when-it-bites=1, post-launch-90d=2, post-launch-30d=3, pre-launch=4, now=5; effort: S=1, M=2, L=3, XL=4.

Higher score = pay down first. list --recommend sorts by this.

Status lifecycle

open -- logged and unresolved
paid-down -- resolved with notes
accepted -- won't-fix with required rationale

Reopening moves any status back to open.

Operations

log

Log a new debt item. Sidecar is auto-created on first log.

echo '{"title":"No tests on builder","description":"Shipped without coverage","categories":["testing"],"impact":"high","effort":"L","urgency_window":"post-launch-30d"}' \
  | python scripts/debt_tool.py log <slug> --from-stdin

Required: title, description. Defaults: impact=medium, effort=M, urgency=when-it-bites, categories=["code"].

list

List items with optional filters and recommendation sorting.

python scripts/debt_tool.py list <slug>
python scripts/debt_tool.py list <slug> --recommend
python scripts/debt_tool.py list <slug> --status paid-down
python scripts/debt_tool.py list <slug> --category testing

show

Show full details of a single item.

python scripts/debt_tool.py show <slug> --id TD01

resolve

Mark as paid-down with resolution notes.

python scripts/debt_tool.py resolve <slug> --id TD01 --resolution-notes "Added unit tests"

accept

Mark as won't-fix with required rationale.

python scripts/debt_tool.py accept <slug> --id TD01 --reason "Not worth the effort for this feature"

reopen

Move resolved/accepted back to open.

python scripts/debt_tool.py reopen <slug> --id TD01

render

Generate TECH_DEBT.md with summary, recommendations, open/resolved/accepted sections.

python scripts/debt_tool.py render <slug>

delete

Remove the sidecar. No generated files to clean up.

python scripts/debt_tool.py delete <slug> --yes

Files

File	Purpose
`scripts/debt_tool.py`	CLI with all subcommands
`templates/techdebt.schema.json`	Sidecar JSON Schema
`templates/TECH_DEBT.md.tmpl`	Rendered doc template

Testing

# 1. Log two items
echo '{"title":"No tests on workout builder","description":"Shipped without tests","categories":["testing"],"impact":"high","effort":"L","urgency_window":"post-launch-30d"}' \
  | python scripts/debt_tool.py log my-project --from-stdin

echo '{"title":"Stripe webhook not idempotent","description":"Duplicate deliveries cause duplicate charges","categories":["code","infra"],"impact":"critical","effort":"S","urgency_window":"pre-launch"}' \
  | python scripts/debt_tool.py log my-project --from-stdin

# 2. List + recommend (TD02 should rank first: critical/S/pre-launch)
python scripts/debt_tool.py list my-project --recommend

# 3. Resolve TD02
python scripts/debt_tool.py resolve my-project --id TD02 --resolution-notes "Added event_id tracking"

# 4. List open only (should show TD01 only)
python scripts/debt_tool.py list my-project --status open

# 5. Render
python scripts/debt_tool.py render my-project

# 6. Delete
python scripts/debt_tool.py delete my-project --yes