Tech Debt Tracker Skill
Systematic tech debt management: scan for debt signals, classify by type, prioritize using cost-of-delay, and track trends over time.
Workflow
- Scan -- Identify debt signals across the codebase. See debt-signals.md.
- Classify -- Categorize each finding (code debt, design debt, test debt, dependency debt, documentation debt).
- Prioritize -- Rank findings using cost-of-delay frameworks. See prioritization.md.
- Report -- Generate a debt inventory with actionable recommendations.
- Track -- Compare against previous scans to measure debt trajectory (increasing, stable, decreasing).
Debt Classification
| Type |
Examples |
| Code |
Long functions, deep nesting, duplicated logic |
| Design |
Tight coupling, missing abstractions, god objects |
| Test |
Missing coverage, flaky tests, no edge cases |
| Dependency |
Outdated packages, deprecated APIs, pinned EOL |
| Documentation |
Stale comments, missing API docs, wrong examples |
Output Format
[DEBT] type=Code severity=HIGH file:line
Signal: Function exceeds 80 lines with cyclomatic complexity 14
Cost-of-delay: Blocks feature X, increases bug rate in module Y
Recommendation: Extract into 3 focused functions by responsibility
Priority: STRATEGIC (high value, high effort)
End with a summary: total debt items by type, priority distribution, top 5 recommendations, and trend direction if historical data exists.
What You Get
- A debt inventory listing every finding with type, severity, file location, and cost-of-delay assessment
- Priority rankings using a strategic/tactical matrix so you know which debt to pay down first
- A summary with totals by type, priority distribution, top 5 recommendations, and trend direction versus prior scans
Sub-files
| File |
Content |
| debt-signals.md |
What to scan for across languages |
| prioritization.md |
Cost-of-delay frameworks, priority matrix |
See also
refactoring-strategy -- once you know what debt to pay, this skill says how to pay it safely
1---2name: tech-debt-tracker3description: Automated tech debt scanning, classification, and cost-of-delay prioritization. TRIGGER when: user asks to find tech debt, audit code quality or code health, prioritize refactoring, track debt trends, identify cleanup candidates, or assess where to invest engineering effort; user runs /tech-debt or /debt-scan. DO NOT TRIGGER when: writing new features, doing code review (use code-review skill), debugging specific bugs.4---56# Tech Debt Tracker Skill78Systematic tech debt management: scan for debt signals, classify by type, prioritize using cost-of-delay, and track trends over time.910## Workflow11121. **Scan** -- Identify debt signals across the codebase. See [debt-signals.md](debt-signals.md).132. **Classify** -- Categorize each finding (code debt, design debt, test debt, dependency debt, documentation debt).143. **Prioritize** -- Rank findings using cost-of-delay frameworks. See [prioritization.md](prioritization.md).154. **Report** -- Generate a debt inventory with actionable recommendations.165. **Track** -- Compare against previous scans to measure debt trajectory (increasing, stable, decreasing).1718## Debt Classification1920| Type | Examples |21|--------------|---------------------------------------------------|22| Code | Long functions, deep nesting, duplicated logic |23| Design | Tight coupling, missing abstractions, god objects |24| Test | Missing coverage, flaky tests, no edge cases |25| Dependency | Outdated packages, deprecated APIs, pinned EOL |26| Documentation| Stale comments, missing API docs, wrong examples |2728## Output Format2930```31[DEBT] type=Code severity=HIGH file:line32Signal: Function exceeds 80 lines with cyclomatic complexity 1433Cost-of-delay: Blocks feature X, increases bug rate in module Y34Recommendation: Extract into 3 focused functions by responsibility35Priority: STRATEGIC (high value, high effort)36```3738End with a summary: total debt items by type, priority distribution, top 5 recommendations, and trend direction if historical data exists.3940## What You Get4142- A debt inventory listing every finding with type, severity, file location, and cost-of-delay assessment43- Priority rankings using a strategic/tactical matrix so you know which debt to pay down first44- A summary with totals by type, priority distribution, top 5 recommendations, and trend direction versus prior scans4546## Sub-files4748| File | Content |49|----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|50| [debt-signals.md](debt-signals.md) | What to scan for across languages |51| [prioritization.md](prioritization.md) | Cost-of-delay frameworks, priority matrix|5253## See also5455- `refactoring-strategy` -- once you know what debt to pay, this skill says how to pay it safely
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