Refactor With Confidence

Refactor with Confidence Workflow

Purpose

Perform safe, systematic code refactoring with test protection and full tracking. Combines Sherpa's refactor workflow guidance, Julie's safe refactoring tools, and Goldfish's before/after state preservation.

When to Activate

• "refactor this code", "cleanup", "improve code quality"
• "reorganize", "simplify", "optimize"
• "extract", "rename", "restructure"

Trinity for Safe Refactoring

Sherpa: Guides refactor phases (Tests → Refactor → Verify) Julie: Safe renames, reference checking, impact analysis Goldfish: Pre/post state checkpoints, decision tracking

Orchestration

Pre-Refactor: Baseline State

1. Goldfish: checkpoint({ description: "Pre-refactor baseline: [current state]" })
2. Sherpa: approach({ workflow: "refactor" })
3. Julie: get_symbols → Capture current structure

Phase 1: Tests First (Sherpa)

guide() → "Ensure test coverage exists"

Check existing tests:
- Run test suite
- Verify coverage for code being refactored
- Add missing tests if needed

checkpoint({ description: "Verified test coverage for [component]" })
guide({ done: "test coverage verified" })

Phase 2: Refactor Code (Julie + Sherpa)

guide() → "Refactor while staying green"

Julie safe refactoring:
- fast_refs → Check all references before rename
- rename_symbol → Workspace-wide safe rename
- fuzzy_replace → Targeted improvements
- Tests stay green throughout!

checkpoint({ description: "Refactored: [specific changes made]" })
guide({ done: "refactoring complete, tests still green" })

Phase 3: Verify (Sherpa + Goldfish)

guide() → "Verify no regressions"

Verification:
- Run full test suite → All green
- get_symbols → Verify structure
- fast_refs → Check updated references

checkpoint({ description: "Refactor verified: all tests pass, [N] files updated" })
guide({ done: "verified refactor, all tests pass" })

Example: Extract Helper Class

User: "This UserService is too big, extract validation logic"

PRE-REFACTOR:
→ checkpoint({ description: "Pre-refactor: UserService 487 lines with inline validation" })
→ approach({ workflow: "refactor" })

PHASE 1: TESTS
→ guide()
→ Run tests → 23 tests pass ✅
→ checkpoint({ description: "Verified UserService has 23 passing tests" })

PHASE 2: REFACTOR
→ guide()
→ Julie: Create UserValidator class
→ Julie: fuzzy_replace to extract validation methods
→ Julie: rename_symbol to update references
→ Tests → 23 tests still pass ✅
→ checkpoint({ description: "Extracted UserValidator class, UserService now 312 lines" })

PHASE 3: VERIFY
→ guide()
→ fast_refs({ symbol: "UserService" }) → All references updated
→ get_symbols → Structure cleaner
→ Full test suite → 23 tests pass ✅
→ checkpoint({ description: "Refactor complete: UserService 312 lines, UserValidator 175 lines, all 23 tests pass" })

Result: Clean separation, all tests green, tracked in Goldfish!

Key Behaviors

✅ DO:

• Checkpoint before and after
• Ensure tests exist first
• Use Julie's safe tools
• Keep tests green throughout
• Verify all references updated

❌ DON'T:

• Refactor without tests
• Skip reference checking
• Break tests during refactoring
• Forget final verification

Safe refactoring: Test → Refactor → Verify. Sherpa guides, Julie protects, Goldfish preserves!