yanacuti1121 Safety-first dead code removal. Every removal is protected by an automatic backup branch. Multi-agent analysis reduces false positives. No code is deleted without cross-validation.
1. Backup Before Everything
Before any modification, create a timestamped backup branch from the current HEAD. This is non-negotiable. The branch name format is backup/dead-code-removal/{timestamp}.
2. Parallel Scout + Validator Pattern
Multiple scout agents analyze different aspects of dead code in parallel. A validator agent then cross-checks all findings against the full codebase before anything is flagged for removal. Only code confirmed dead by both scouts AND validator gets removed.
3. Conservative by Default
When in doubt, keep the code. False negatives (missing some dead code) are acceptable. False positives (removing live code) are not. Dynamic imports, reflection, test utilities, and public API surface are always treated as potentially live.
4. Never Remove Without Reporting First
The scan workflow produces a report. The user reviews the report. Only then does the remove workflow execute against confirmed items.
- Scan - Analyze codebase for dead code (read-only, produces report)
- Remove - Remove confirmed dead code (requires prior scan report)
- Validate - Verify removal didn't break anything (post-removal checks)
Wait for response before proceeding.
Default flow: Scan → Review report → Remove → Validate
After reading the workflow, follow it exactly.
Detection: detection-patterns.md - What to scan for and how to identify dead code Agents: agent-coordination.md - How multi-agent parallel analysis works