Remove AI Code Slop

Check the diff against main and remove AI-generated slop introduced in the branch.

Trigger

Use after completing changes, before committing, or when code feels over-engineered.

Commands

git fetch origin main
git diff origin/main...HEAD --stat
git diff origin/main...HEAD

Workflow

1. Run diff commands to see all changes on the branch.
2. Identify slop patterns from the focus areas below.
3. Apply minimal, focused edits to remove slop.
4. Re-run git diff origin/main...HEAD to verify only slop was removed.
5. Run tests or type-check to confirm behaviour unchanged: npm test -- --changed --passWithNoTests 2>&1 | tail -10
6. Summarise what was cleaned.

Focus Areas

• Extra comments that state the obvious or are inconsistent with local style
• Defensive try/catch blocks that are abnormal for trusted internal code paths
• Casts to any used only to bypass type issues
• Over-engineered abstractions for one-time operations (premature helpers, factories)
• Deeply nested code that should be simplified with early returns
• Backwards-compatibility hacks (renamed _vars, re-exports, // removed comments)
• Features, refactoring, or "improvements" beyond what was requested
• Added docstrings, type annotations, or comments on code that wasn't changed
• Error handling for scenarios that can't happen in trusted internal paths

Guardrails

• Keep behavior unchanged unless fixing a clear bug.
• Prefer minimal, focused edits over broad rewrites.
• Three similar lines of code is better than a premature abstraction.
• If you remove something, verify it's truly unused first.
• Keep the final summary concise (1-3 sentences).

Skill-file mode

When the target is a SKILL.md (not a code diff), lint it against the same slop instinct applied to prose. Run this before promoting a skill. Flag:

• Stale lines - guidance written for an old version of the skill that no

longer matches what it does. Cut it.

• Bloat - the skill runs past one screen with detail that belongs in a

linked reference. Push it down: in-skill step, then in-skill reference, then an external file behind a pointer.

• Dead sentences - a line that changes nothing if deleted. Delete it.
• Duplication - the same instruction stated in two places, so edits drift.

Keep one source of truth.

• Premature stop - the method ends before the work does (asks the question

but never records the answer, cleans but never verifies).

• Weak anchor - no single concept the skill turns on. A skill the reader

can name in one word triggers and executes in fewer tokens.

• Missing invocation intent - no declared human-run vs auto-triggered mode.

See [rules/skill-conventions.mdc](../../rules/skill-conventions.mdc).

• Wrong write op - a state-changing skill that does not say whether it

adds, updates, or appends, or that duplicates its output on a second run.

Skill-file mode output: the flagged issues by line, the edits applied, the cleanup summary, and whether the skill is ready to promote.

Output (code mode)

• List of slop patterns found with file locations
• Edits applied
• One-line summary of what was cleaned