AI Slop Cleaner

AI Slop Cleaner Skill

Reduce AI-generated slop with a regression-tests-first, smell-by-smell cleanup workflow that preserves behavior and raises signal quality.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• A code path works but feels bloated, noisy, repetitive, or over-abstracted
• A user asks to “cleanup”, “refactor”, or “deslop” AI-generated output
• Follow-up implementation left duplicate code, dead code, weak boundaries, missing tests, or unnecessary wrapper layers
• You need a disciplined cleanup workflow without broad rewrites

GPT-5.4 Guidance Alignment

• Keep outputs concise and evidence-dense unless risk or the user requests more detail.
• Treat newer user instructions as local workflow updates without discarding earlier non-conflicting constraints.
• Keep using inspection, tests, diagnostics, and verification until the cleanup is grounded.
• Proceed automatically through clear, reversible cleanup steps; ask only when a choice materially changes scope or behavior.

Scoped File Lists and Ralph Workflow

• This skill can accept a file list scope instead of a whole feature area.
• When the caller provides a changed-files list (for example, Ralph session-owned edits), keep the cleanup strictly bounded to those files.
• In the Ralph workflow, the mandatory deslop pass should run this skill on Ralph's changed files only, in standard mode unless the caller explicitly requests otherwise.

Procedure

1. Lock behavior with regression tests first

   • Identify the behavior that must not change
   • Add or run targeted regression tests before editing cleanup candidates
   • If behavior is currently untested, create the narrowest test coverage needed first

2. Create a cleanup plan before code

   • List the specific smells to remove
   • Bound the pass to the requested files/scope
   • If a file list scope is provided, keep the pass restricted to that changed-files list
   • Order fixes from safest/highest-signal to riskiest
   • Do not start coding until the cleanup plan is explicit

3. Categorize issues before editing

   • Duplication — repeated logic, copy-paste branches, redundant helpers
   • Dead code — unused code, unreachable branches, stale flags, debug leftovers
   • Needless abstraction — pass-through wrappers, speculative indirection, single-use helper layers
   • Boundary violations — hidden coupling, leaky responsibilities, wrong-layer imports or side effects
   • Missing tests — behavior not locked, weak regression coverage, gaps around edge cases

4. Execute passes one smell at a time

   • Pass 1: Dead code deletion
   • Pass 2: Duplicate removal
   • Pass 3: Naming/error handling cleanup
   • Pass 4: Test reinforcement
   • Re-run targeted verification after each pass
   • Avoid bundling unrelated refactors into the same edit set

5. Run quality gates

   • Regression tests stay green
   • Lint passes
   • Typecheck passes
   • Relevant unit/integration tests pass
   • Static/security scan passes when available
   • Diff stays minimal and scoped
   • No new abstractions or dependencies unless explicitly required

6. Finish with an evidence-dense report

   • Changed files
   • Simplifications made
   • Tests/diagnostics/build checks run
   • Remaining risks
   • Residual follow-ups or consciously deferred cleanup

Output Format

AI SLOP CLEANUP REPORT
======================

Scope: [files or feature area]
Behavior Lock: [targeted regression tests added/run]
Cleanup Plan: [bounded smells and order]

Passes Completed:
1. Pass 1: Dead code deletion - [concise fix]
2. Pass 2: Duplicate removal - [concise fix]
3. Pass 3: Naming/error handling cleanup - [concise fix]
4. Pass 4: Test reinforcement - [concise fix]

Quality Gates:
- Regression tests: PASS/FAIL
- Lint: PASS/FAIL
- Typecheck: PASS/FAIL
- Tests: PASS/FAIL
- Static/security scan: PASS/FAIL or N/A

Changed Files:
- [path] - [simplification]

Remaining Risks:
- [none or short deferred item]

Scenario Examples

Good: The user says continue after tests already lock behavior and the next smell pass is clear. Continue with the next bounded cleanup pass.

Good: The user narrows the scope to a specific file after planning. Keep the regression-tests-first workflow, but apply the new scope locally.

Bad: Start rewriting architecture before protecting behavior with tests.

Bad: Collapse multiple smell categories into one large refactor with no intermediate verification.