Tech Debt Report Generator

Scans the codebase to identify technical debt including TODO comments, deprecated API usage, outdated patterns, and potential refactoring opportunities.

🎯 Use Case Demo

Scenario: Quarterly Tech Debt Assessment

Before (Manual Process):

Tech Lead needs to assess tech debt for planning:

1. Grep for TODO and FIXME comments
2. Manually review code for deprecated APIs
3. Check for outdated patterns
4. Try to estimate effort for each item
5. Create Jira tickets manually
6. Prioritize based on gut feeling

Time: 1-2 days, incomplete coverage

After (With This Skill):

Tech Lead: “Generate tech debt report for the codebase”

Agent Response:

🔧 TECHNICAL DEBT REPORT
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

📅 Report Date: December 20, 2024
📁 Scanned: 47 files, 8,234 lines of code

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
📊 DEBT SUMMARY
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

| Category | Count | Estimated Effort | Priority |
|----------|-------|------------------|----------|
| Critical TODOs | 3 | 2 days | 🔴 High |
| Deprecated APIs | 5 | 1 day | 🔴 High |
| Code Smells | 12 | 3 days | 🟡 Medium |
| Old Patterns | 8 | 2 days | 🟡 Medium |
| Minor TODOs | 15 | 1 day | 🟢 Low |
| **TOTAL** | **43** | **9 days** | |

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
🔴 CRITICAL ISSUES (Fix ASAP)
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

1. 🚨 Security: Hardcoded API Key
   📍 Services/PaymentService.cs:23
   ```csharp
   // TODO: Move to environment variable - URGENT
   private const string ApiKey = "sk_live_xxxxx";

⏱️ Effort: 30 min 🎫 Suggested: Create Jira ticket with “security” label

2. 🚨 Data Loss Risk: Missing Transaction 📍 Services/BookingService.cs:156

   // FIXME: No transaction wrapper - can cause partial bookings
   await _repository.CreateBooking(booking);
   await _paymentService.Charge(payment);
   

   ⏱️ Effort: 2 hours 🎫 Suggested: High priority bug ticket

3. 🚨 Deprecated: Newtonsoft.Json 📍 Multiple files (7 occurrences) Issue: Using Newtonsoft.Json instead of System.Text.Json Impact: Performance, security updates ⏱️ Effort: 4 hours 🎫 Suggested: Refactoring ticket

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 🟡 DEPRECATED API USAGE ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Location	Deprecated API	Replacement
FlightsController.cs:45	DateTime.Now	DateTime.UtcNow
BookingService.cs:89	HttpClient()	IHttpClientFactory
FlightService.cs:34	GetAwaiter().GetResult()	async/await
SearchRequest.cs:12	[Obsolete] FlightClass	CabinClass enum
Program.cs:67	UseUrls()	WebApplication.Urls

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 📝 TODO/FIXME COMMENTS ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

High Priority (blocking or risky): 📍 BookingService.cs:45 – TODO: Add retry logic for API calls 📍 PaymentService.cs:78 – FIXME: Handle timeout properly 📍 FlightService.cs:112 – TODO: Cache this query

Medium Priority (quality/performance): 📍 FlightsController.cs:89 – TODO: Add pagination 📍 BookingsController.cs:34 – TODO: Add input validation 📍 SearchRequest.cs:23 – TODO: Add date range validation … and 6 more

Low Priority (nice to have): 📍 Multiple files – TODO: Add XML documentation 📍 Models/*.cs – TODO: Add validation attributes … and 9 more

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 🔄 OUTDATED PATTERNS ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

1. Manual Dependency Injection 📍 Program.cs:23-45 Current: Manual service registration Better: Use Scrutor for assembly scanning Effort: 2 hours

2. String Concatenation in Queries 📍 FlightService.cs:67 Current: String interpolation in SQL Better: Parameterized queries or EF Core Risk: SQL Injection (CRITICAL) Effort: 1 hour

3. Synchronous File I/O 📍 Services/LogService.cs:34 Current: File.WriteAllText() Better: File.WriteAllTextAsync() Effort: 15 min

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 📋 RECOMMENDED ACTION PLAN ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Sprint 1 (Immediate – 2 days): □ Fix hardcoded API key (security) □ Add transaction wrapper (data integrity) □ Fix SQL injection vulnerability

Sprint 2 (Next – 3 days): □ Migrate from Newtonsoft.Json □ Fix deprecated HttpClient usage □ Add retry logic to API calls

Sprint 3 (Planned – 4 days): □ Clean up remaining TODOs □ Modernize DI registration □ Add missing validation

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 🎫 CREATE JIRA TICKETS? ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Say “Create tickets for critical tech debt” to automatically create Jira tickets for the high-priority items.

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Time Saved: 1-2 days → 2 minutes (500x faster)

Agent Instructions

When this skill is activated:

1. Scan for TODO/FIXME Comments:

   • Search all source files for TODO, FIXME, HACK, XXX comments
   • Extract the comment text and file location
   • Parse any ticket references or priority indicators

2. Check for Deprecated APIs:

   • Look for [Obsolete] attributes
   • Check for known deprecated patterns:
     • DateTime.Now → DateTime.UtcNow
     • new HttpClient() → IHttpClientFactory
     • GetAwaiter().GetResult() → proper async
     • Newtonsoft.Json → System.Text.Json
   • Check for deprecated framework APIs

3. Identify Code Smells:

   • Long methods (>50 lines)
   • Large classes (>500 lines)
   • Deep nesting (>4 levels)
   • Magic numbers/strings
   • Duplicate code patterns

4. Assess Security Issues:

   • Hardcoded secrets/keys
   • SQL injection vulnerabilities
   • Missing input validation

5. Categorize and Prioritize:

   • Critical: Security, data integrity
   • High: Deprecated APIs, blocking TODOs
   • Medium: Performance, code quality
   • Low: Documentation, minor cleanup

6. Estimate Effort:

   • Based on scope and complexity
   • Consider testing requirements

7. Generate Action Plan:

   • Group into sprint-sized chunks
   • Prioritize by risk and impact

Example Prompts

• “Generate tech debt report”
• “Find all TODO comments in the codebase”
• “Check for deprecated API usage”
• “What refactoring is needed?”
• “Show me code quality issues”

Benefits