Architecture simplification

Skill yeaight7/agent-powerups/plugins/codebase-maintenance/skills/architecture-simplification

Use when a codebase carries over-engineered abstractions, unnecessary layers, or redundant logic that should be collapsed without changing behavior.From its SKILL.md

Install

npx -y skills add yeaight7/agent-powerups --skill architecture-simplification

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

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SKILL.md

2.5 KB, 490 tokens by cl100k_base, as published. Nobody here has run it

Purpose

Over time, codebases accumulate "just in case" abstractions. This skill guides the safe removal of unnecessary complexity: remove the noise around the core logic without changing the core logic itself.

When to Use

An interface has only one implementation and no second one is planned
A wrapper, factory, or layer only passes arguments straight through
Two code paths do the same thing and should be consolidated

Inputs

The suspect abstraction(s) and their call sites
A green test suite covering the affected area

Workflow

Identify the abstraction cost. Does this interface have only one implementation? Does this wrapper class just pass arguments straight through? Measure before cutting:
```
grep -rn "implements IUserRepository" src/    # count implementations
grep -rn "IUserRepository" src/ | wc -l       # count references
```
Run the tests first. The affected area must be green before any removal — this is the behavioral baseline.
Inline the logic. Move the logic from the unnecessary abstraction directly into the caller.
Delete the dead code. Remove the interface, wrapper, or factory that is no longer needed.
Test verification. Re-run the same tests; the observable behavior of the system must not have changed.

Example: if a UserRepository implements IUserRepository but there is only ever one database, inline UserRepository and delete IUserRepository.

Output

The simplified code with the abstraction removed
Before/after test evidence showing unchanged behavior

Verification

Tests covering the area were green before the change (baseline)
Same tests green after the change — observable behavior preserved
No references to the removed abstraction remain (searched, not assumed)
Diff contains only removal/inlining — no core-logic rewrites

Failure Modes

Rewrite disguised as simplification — do not rewrite the entire subsystem; simplification removes the noise around the core logic, not the logic itself.
Cutting without a baseline — without a green pre-change test run, "tests pass after" proves nothing.
Speculative retention — keeping the interface "in case we need it later" recreates the original problem.

What ships with it

Read from the repository

Just SKILL.md. No reference files, no scripts.

Gives 0 of the 12 instructions most architecture codebase skills give in 490 tokens

Counted across 811 of the 1,134 authors here whose files we hold, read 2026-08-07

Ask the user which candidate to explorein 45 of 811, across 15 files
Apply the deletion test to suspected shallow modulesin 43 of 811, across 15 files
Read any relevant architecture decision records firstin 31 of 811, across 8 files
Use exact glossary terms in every suggestionin 30 of 811, across 10 files
Accept dependencies instead of creating themin 24 of 811, across 5 files
Include before and after visualisations for each candidatein 24 of 811, across 5 files
Read the domain glossary before exploringin 24 of 811, across 6 files
Return results instead of producing side effectsin 23 of 811, across 4 files
Explore the codebase for shallow modules and frictionin 23 of 811, across 3 files
Introduce seams only where things varyin 22 of 811, across 3 files
Reduce the number of methodsin 21 of 811, across 2 files
Design deep modules with small interfacesin 21 of 811, across 3 files

Said here and by no other author read

Identify the abstraction cost
Count implementations and references
Run the tests before removal
Inline the logic into the caller
Search for remaining references to the abstraction
Keep the diff strictly to removal and inlining

Grouped from the skills themselves: near-identical wordings counted once, and counted by distinct author, so one author publishing three of these counts once. Length counted with cl100k_base; the agent that loads this file may tokenize it differently.