prompts library

Refactoring

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Full Lesson Reference

For improving existing code without changing what it does.

Simplification

General cleanup

This file has gotten messy. Clean it up without changing functionality.

Remove complexity

terminal
[Feature] feels over-engineered.
Simplify it — we don't need [unnecessary capability].

Consolidate

We have similar code in [places]. Can we consolidate this?

Organization

Split file

This file is getting long. Split it into logical pieces.

Move code

Move [code/feature] to its own file. It doesn't belong in [current location].

Rename

Rename [thing] to [new name]. It's confusing as-is.

Group related

terminal
Group related [functions/components] together.
The current organization is confusing.

Improving Quality

Make readable

Make this code more readable. I want to understand it when I come back later.

Add comments

Add comments explaining [the non-obvious parts] of this code.

Remove dead code

Remove any code that's not being used.

Preparing for Growth

Before adding feature

terminal
I want to add [feature] soon. Should we restructure anything first to make that
easier?

Extensibility

terminal
We might need to [future capability] later.
Is our current structure going to make that hard?

Performance

Make faster

[Feature] feels slow. Can we make it faster?

Identify bottlenecks

Where are the performance bottlenecks in [feature]?

Fixing Bad Patterns

Something feels wrong

terminal
Something about how [feature] is built feels wrong, but I can't articulate it.
Is there a better way to structure this?

Tech debt

What's the most important thing to clean up in this codebase?

Safe Refactoring

Check before changing

terminal
I want to refactor [thing]. Before we do:
- What could break?
- How do we verify it still works after?

Small steps

Let's refactor [thing] in small steps so we can verify each change works.

Exercises

  1. Run the "Check before changing" prompt on a file you want to refactor, then actually verify each item it lists before changing anything — note whether the "what could break" list matched reality.
  2. Use the "Tech debt" prompt to ask Claude what's most worth cleaning up, pick one item, and tackle it with the "Small steps" prompt.
  3. Before your next feature, run the "Before adding feature" prompt and decide whether the suggested restructure is worth doing first — record why you did or didn't.