working-effectively-with-legacy-code
From the author
Apply Michael Feathers-inspired legacy-code rules when changing hard-to-test code safely with characterization tests, seams, sprout methods, or wrap methods.
Install
npx skills add ciembor/agent-rules-books --skill working-effectively-with-legacy-code -a claude-code
Installs to .claude/skills/working-effectively-with-legacy-code/ · Each command fetches the skill straight from GitHub with the open skills CLI.
Download .zip
Byte-identical to the scanned commit, with the repository’s licence and a SOURCE.txt.
Want your agent to suggest skills while you type? See how to use skills from your IDE.
Safety checks on SKILL.md
No warnings.
Why 88
Security100
Provenance82
Maintenance85
Licence100
Adoption56
aiqbench computes the trust score from public signals. It is not a security audit, so read a skill before you install it.
Similar skills
Closest to this one by what they do and when they are used.
- working-with-legacy-codewondelai/skillsSafely change and test untested codebases using Feathers' "Working Effectively with Legacy Code". Use when the user mentions "legacy code", "no tests", "untested codebase", "how do I test this", "seams", "characterization tests", "golden master", "sprout method", "afraid to change this code", "monster method", "dependency breaking", or "inherited a messy codebase". Also trigger when changing code without tests safely, getting a class under test when constructors, statics, or singletons block it, adding features to tangled modules, or planning incremental test coverage for an old codebase. Covers the legacy-code change algorithm, seams, characterization tests, sprout/wrap, and dependency-breaking techniques. For refactoring code that already has tests, see refactoring-patterns. For day-to-day code quality, see clean-code.Engineering★ 2.5K
- refactoringciembor/agent-rules-booksApply Martin Fowler-inspired refactoring rules when improving existing code structure while preserving observable behavior.Engineering★ 3.1K
- clean-codesickn33/agentic-awesome-skillsThis skill embodies the principles of "Clean Code" by Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob). Use it to transform "code that works" into "code that is clean."Engineering★ 48.3K
- refactoring-patternswondelai/skillsApply named refactoring transformations to improve code structure without changing behavior. Use when the user mentions "refactor this", "code smells", "extract method", "replace conditional", "technical debt", "move method", "inline variable", "decompose conditional", or "clean up this messy code". Also trigger when cleaning up legacy code, preparing code for new features by restructuring, or identifying which transformation fits a specific code smell. Covers smell-driven refactoring, safe transformation sequences, and testing guards. For code-quality foundations, see clean-code. For managing complexity, see software-design-philosophy.Engineering★ 2.5K
- refactoring-guruciembor/agent-rules-booksApply Refactoring.Guru-inspired rules when diagnosing code smells, choosing refactoring techniques, and stopping cleanup before uncontrolled redesign.Engineering★ 3.1K
- pragmatic-programmerwondelai/skillsApply meta-principles of software craftsmanship: DRY, orthogonality, tracer bullets, and design by contract. Use when the user mentions "best practices", "pragmatic approach", "broken windows", "tracer bullet", "software craftsmanship", "avoid technical debt", "code ownership", or "how do I become a better developer". Also trigger when evaluating build-vs-buy decisions, designing estimation approaches, or choosing between reversible and irreversible architectural decisions. Covers estimation, domain languages, and reversibility. For code-level quality, see clean-code. For refactoring techniques, see refactoring-patterns.Design★ 2.5K
Ratings & reviews
—
no reviews
Tried this skill? Rate it to help others. Sign in
Discussion
Join the discussion. Sign in