Agent skill · software engineering · aiskillstore
improve-codebase-architecture
Find deepening opportunities in a codebase, informed by the domain language in CONTEXT.md and the decisions in docs/adr/. Use when the user wants to improve architecture, find refactoring opportunities, consolidate tightly-coupled modules, or make a codebase more testable and AI-navigable.
Why this skill is useful
Adds a structured process for identifying architectural improvements and refactoring opportunities that enhance testability and AI-navigability, including specific terminology and principles not commonly found in public resources.
What it needs
About 3k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 405 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Improve Codebase Architecture Surface architectural friction and propose deepening opportunities — refactors that turn shallow modules into deep ones. The aim is testability and AI-navigability. Glossary Use these terms exactly in every suggestion. Consistent language is the point — don't drift into "component," "service," "API," or "boundary." Full definitions in LANGUAGE.md. Module — anything with an interface and an implementation (function, class, package, slice). Interface — everything a caller must know to use the module: types, invariants, error modes, ordering, config. Not just the type signature. Implementation — the code inside. Depth — leverage at the interface: a lot of behaviour behind a small interface. Deep = high leverage. Shallow = interface nearly as complex as the implementation. Seam — where an interface lives; a place behaviour can be altered without editing in place. (Use this, not "boundary.") Adapter — a concrete thing satisfying an interface at a seam. Leverage — what callers get from depth. Locality — what maintainers get from depth: change, bugs, knowledge concentrated in one place. Key principles (see LANGUAGE.md for the full list): Deletion test: imagine deleting the module. If complexity vanishes, it was a pass-through. If complexity reappears across N callers, it was earning its keep. The interface is the test surface. One adapter = hypothetical seam. Two adapters = real seam. This skill is informed by the project's domain model — CONTEXT.md and any docs/adr/. The domain language gives names to good seams; ADRs record decisions the skill should not re-litigate. See CONTEXT-FORMAT.md and ADR-FORMAT.md. Process 1. Explore Read existing documentation first: CONTEXT.md (or CONTEXT-MAP.md + each CONTEXT.md in a multi-context repo) Relevant ADRs in docs/adr/ (and any context-scoped docs/adr/ directories) If any of these files don't exist, proceed silently — don't flag their absence or suggest creating them upfront. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills aiskillstore/improve-codebase-architecture