Simplify

Review changed code for reuse, quality, and efficiency, then fix any issues found.

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS — format: [file path | glob pattern | blank]

• If a file path or glob is provided, scope the review to those files.
• If no argument is provided, review all uncommitted changes via git diff.

Parse Arguments

Extract:

• scope: a file path, glob pattern, or empty (defaults to uncommitted changes)

Phase 1: Identify Changes

1. If scope is empty, run git diff --name-only to list changed files. If there are no uncommitted changes, check git diff --name-only HEAD~1 for the last commit.
2. If scope is a path or pattern, resolve matching files.
3. For each file, run git diff (or git diff HEAD~1 if already committed) to get the actual changes.
4. Present the scope to the user: file count, total lines changed, and a one-line summary per file.

Phase 2: Analyze

For each changed file, look for:

• Unnecessary complexity — can this be simpler without losing clarity?
• Duplicated code — shared logic that should be extracted
• Dead code — unused imports, unreachable branches, commented-out code
• Over-engineering — abstractions that aren't needed yet
• Missing error handling — at system boundaries only (user input, external APIs)

Phase 3: Apply Fixes

Apply fixes directly — don't just report issues. For each fix:

1. Make the change
2. Verify the file still parses / compiles
3. If tests exist, run them after all changes to confirm nothing broke

Rules

• Scope discipline: only refine recently modified code unless the user explicitly asks for broader review.
• Preserve functionality: never change what the code does, only how it does it.
• Prefer deletion over addition: the best code is code that doesn't exist.
• Clarity over brevity: explicit code is often better than compact code. Avoid:
• Overly clever solutions that are hard to understand
• Combining too many concerns into single functions
• Removing helpful abstractions that improve code organization
• Dense one-liners or nested ternaries that sacrifice readability
• Changes that make the code harder to debug or extend
• No cosmetic drift: don't reformat code you didn't change for functional reasons.
• Run tests: always verify after changes.

Pipeline Position

• Runs after implementation, before code review and commit.
• In /focus, this is the simplify phase between execute and review.
• Can be used standalone on any codebase at any time.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: sjarmak
• Source: sjarmak/agent-workflows
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.