Code quality

Code Quality Automation

Automated detection of code quality issues in Elixir projects. These checks run automatically via hooks when files are written, and can be run on-demand for full project analysis.

RULES — Follow these with no exceptions

1. Duplicated functions must be extracted — when 2+ modules share >70% identical function implementations, create a shared module
2. Functions must stay below ABC complexity 30 — break complex functions into smaller helpers with single responsibilities
3. Unused private functions must be removed — dead code increases maintenance burden and confusion
4. Duplicated templates must become components — when 2+ HEEx files share >40% identical markup, extract to a function component
5. Run full analysis before major refactors — use run_analysis.sh to establish a baseline before and after
6. Address duplication before complexity — extracting shared code often reduces complexity as a side effect
7. Prefer composition over inheritance — extract shared functions into modules imported/used where needed, not into base modules

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What Gets Detected

Code Duplication

Detects when the same function appears in multiple modules with >70% body similarity.

How it works: AST-based analysis parses function bodies and compares them using trigram similarity. Functions with the same name, arity, and similar bodies are flagged.

Example output:

  Duplication Detected
   Function `format_time/1` (85% similar)
     lib/app_web/live/cycle_time.ex:45
     lib/app_web/live/lead_time.ex:52
   Suggestion: Extract to a shared module

How to fix:

# Create: lib/app_web/live/helpers.ex
defmodule AppWeb.Live.Helpers do
  def format_time(%Decimal{} = seconds) do
    seconds |> Decimal.to_float() |> format_time()
  end

  def format_time(seconds) when is_number(seconds) do
    # shared formatting logic
  end
end

# In each LiveView:
import AppWeb.Live.Helpers, only: [format_time: 1]

ABC Complexity

Measures function complexity using the ABC metric (Assignments, Branches, Conditions).

• A (Assignments): = operators
• B (Branches): case, cond, if, unless, with, -> clauses
• C (Conditions): &&, ||, and, or, ==, !=, >, <, >=, <=, when guards

ABC = sqrt(A² + B² + C²) — threshold is 30.

Example output:

  High Complexity Detected
   Function `calculate_trend_line/1` — ABC complexity 41 (threshold: 30)
     lib/app_web/live/helpers.ex:45
   Suggestion: Break into smaller functions with single responsibilities

How to fix:

# Before: one large function (complexity 41)
def calculate_trend_line(data) do
  # 50 lines of assignments, branches, conditions
end

# After: composed smaller functions (complexity <20 each)
def calculate_trend_line(data) do
  sums = calculate_regression_sums(data)
  slope = calculate_slope(sums)
  intercept = calculate_intercept(sums, slope)
  build_trend_points(data, slope, intercept)
end

Unused Private Functions

Detects defp functions that are defined but never called within the module.

Example output:

  Unused Private Functions
   `old_format_date` defined at line 123 but never called
   Suggestion: Remove if no longer needed

Common after refactoring — when you extract code to a shared module, the original private functions may become dead code.

Template Duplication

Detects when HEEx templates in the same directory share >40% identical markup.

Example output:

Template Duplication Detected
   86 identical lines (72%) between:
     cycle_time.html.heex
     lead_time.html.heex
   Suggestion: Extract shared markup to a function component

How to fix:

# Create a function component for the shared markup
defmodule AppWeb.Live.Components do
  use Phoenix.Component

  def metric_filters(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <div class="filters">
      <!-- shared filter markup -->
    </div>
    """
  end
end

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Running Analysis

Automatic (via hooks)

Code quality checks run automatically when files are written or edited:

• .ex/.exs files trigger duplication, complexity, and unused function checks
• .heex files trigger template duplication checks

On-Demand (full project)

Run a complete analysis from a checkout of this repo:

bash scripts/run_analysis.sh

Or target specific checks:

# Single file analysis
elixir scripts/code_quality.exs all lib/app_web/live/my_live.ex

# Specific check
elixir scripts/code_quality.exs complexity lib/app_web/live/my_live.ex
elixir scripts/code_quality.exs duplication lib/app_web/live/my_live.ex
elixir scripts/code_quality.exs unused lib/app_web/live/my_live.ex

# Scan entire lib/ directory
elixir scripts/code_quality.exs scan lib/

When installed as a plugin, the scripts live inside the plugin install directory rather than at a fixed path in the project — run the commands above from a checkout of this repo instead.

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Testing

For testing guidance, see testing-essentials. When writing tests for refactored shared modules, ensure:

• Original test coverage is maintained
• New shared module has its own test file
• All callers still pass their tests after extraction