# Simplify

> Review changed code for reuse, quality, and efficiency — fix issues before review. Use when the user says 'simplify', 'clean up', 'review the code', or wants to improve code quality before formal review.

- Skill: `alexanderop/simplify` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add alexanderop/simplify`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/alexanderop/simplify/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: alexanderop (https://skillmd.com/u/alexanderop)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/alexanderop/simplify

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# Simplify: Code Review and Cleanup

Review all changed files for reuse, quality, and efficiency. Fix any issues found.

## Subagents

This skill uses the `cexplore` subagent and launches three parallel review subagents for code analysis.

## Phase 1: Understand Context and Identify Changes

1. Read `docs/plans/.latest` to get the plan path, then read the plan document. This tells you what was implemented, which files were touched, and the intent behind the changes.
2. Run `git diff` (or `git diff HEAD` if there are staged changes) to see the actual code changes. Use the plan as a map — it tells you what each change is supposed to accomplish.
3. Read the changed files fully so you understand the surrounding code, not just the diff hunks.

## Phase 2: Launch Three Review Agents in Parallel

Use the `runSubAgent` tool to launch all three agents concurrently in a single message. Pass each agent the full diff so it has the complete context.

### Agent 1: Code Reuse Review

For each change:

1. **Search for existing utilities and helpers** that could replace newly written code. Use search to find similar patterns elsewhere in the codebase — common locations are utility directories, shared modules, and files adjacent to the changed ones.
2. **Flag any new function that duplicates existing functionality.** Suggest the existing function to use instead.
3. **Flag any inline logic that could use an existing utility** — hand-rolled string manipulation, manual path handling, custom environment checks, ad-hoc type guards, and similar patterns are common candidates.

### Agent 2: Code Quality Review

Review the same changes for hacky patterns:

1. **Redundant state**: state that duplicates existing state, cached values that could be derived, observers/effects that could be direct calls
2. **Parameter sprawl**: adding new parameters to a function instead of generalizing or restructuring existing ones
3. **Copy-paste with slight variation**: near-duplicate code blocks that should be unified with a shared abstraction
4. **Leaky abstractions**: exposing internal details that should be encapsulated, or breaking existing abstraction boundaries
5. **Stringly-typed code**: using raw strings where constants, enums (string unions), or branded types already exist in the codebase

### Agent 3: Efficiency Review

Review the same changes for efficiency:

1. **Unnecessary work**: redundant computations, repeated file reads, duplicate network/API calls, N+1 patterns
2. **Missed concurrency**: independent operations run sequentially when they could run in parallel
3. **Hot-path bloat**: new blocking work added to startup or per-request/per-render hot paths
4. **Unnecessary existence checks**: pre-checking file/resource existence before operating (TOCTOU anti-pattern) — operate directly and handle the error
5. **Memory**: unbounded data structures, missing cleanup, event listener leaks
6. **Overly broad operations**: reading entire files when only a portion is needed, loading all items when filtering for one

## Phase 3: Fix Issues

Wait for all three agents to complete. Aggregate their findings and fix each issue directly. If a finding is a false positive or not worth addressing, note it and move on — do not argue with the finding, just skip it.

After fixing, commit the cleanup as a single commit: `refactor: simplify and clean up implementation`

## Phase 4: Handover

When done, briefly summarize what was fixed (or confirm the code was already clean).

Use `#askQuestions` to ask what the user wants to do next:

| Option | When to show |
|--------|-------------|
| **Review Changes (Recommended)** — hand off to `creview` agent for formal code review | Always (default) |
| **Ship It** — load the `/git-commit-push-pr` skill to create a PR | When changes are minor/low-risk |
| **Document Learnings** — load the `/compound` skill | When non-trivial patterns were discovered |
| **Done** — end the workflow | Always |

**After the user picks a next skill**, announce the handover and load the chosen skill.