Code Smell Detector Skill

Automated detection of code smells, anti-patterns, and design issues that indicate deeper problems in the codebase. This skill identifies refactoring opportunities and prioritizes them by impact.

Purpose

Enable systematic detection of code smells for:

• Refactoring prioritization
• Technical debt identification
• Code quality improvement
• Migration preparation
• Design pattern violations

Capabilities

1. Long Method Detection

• Identify methods exceeding line thresholds
• Analyze parameter counts
• Detect high cyclomatic complexity
• Suggest extraction candidates

2. Large Class Identification

• Detect classes with too many responsibilities
• Identify god classes
• Analyze class cohesion
• Suggest decomposition strategies

3. Feature Envy Analysis

• Find methods using other classes' data excessively
• Identify misplaced functionality
• Suggest method relocation
• Map cross-class dependencies

4. Primitive Obsession Detection

• Identify overuse of primitives
• Find missing value objects
• Detect stringly-typed code
• Suggest domain type extraction

5. Parallel Inheritance Hierarchy

• Detect mirrored class hierarchies
• Identify inheritance coupling
• Suggest hierarchy consolidation
• Map inheritance relationships

6. Shotgun Surgery Detection

• Identify changes requiring multiple file edits
• Detect scattered functionality
• Map change propagation patterns
• Suggest consolidation points

7. God Class Identification

• Detect classes doing too much
• Analyze responsibility distribution
• Calculate lack of cohesion metrics
• Suggest single responsibility refactoring

Tool Integrations

| Tool | Purpose | Integration Method | |------|---------|-------------------| | SonarQube | Code smell detection | MCP Server / API | | PMD | Java smell detection | CLI | | IntelliJ IDEA | IDE-based analysis | CLI / Export | | Designite | Design smell detection | CLI | | ast-grep | Pattern-based detection | MCP Server / CLI | | ESLint | JavaScript smell rules | CLI |

Output Schema

json
{
  "analysisId": "string",
  "timestamp": "ISO8601",
  "target": {
    "path": "string",
    "filesAnalyzed": "number"
  },
  "smells": [
    {
      "type": "string",
      "severity": "high|medium|low",
      "file": "string",
      "line": "number",
      "element": "string",
      "description": "string",
      "metrics": {},
      "refactoringSuggestion": "string",
      "estimatedEffort": "string"
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "totalSmells": "number",
    "byType": {},
    "bySeverity": {},
    "hotspots": []
  }
}

Integration with Migration Processes

• code-refactoring: Primary smell identification
• technical-debt-remediation: Debt quantification
• legacy-codebase-assessment: Quality assessment

Related Skills

• static-code-analyzer: Broader quality analysis
• refactoring-assistant: Smell remediation
• dead-code-eliminator: Unused code removal

Related Agents

• code-transformation-executor: Executes refactorings
• technical-debt-auditor: Prioritizes debt remediation