Slop Audit

---
name: slop-audit
description: >
  Hunt for slop in a codebase and remove it: useless tests, unnecessary function
  wrappers, dead abstractions, copy-pasted helpers, comments that restate code.
  Use when the user says "slop audit", "find slop", "clean up slop", "what can we
  delete", "this codebase feels bloated", or runs /theo-mode slop.
---

# Slop Audit

Goal: leave the codebase smaller and no less correct. Deletions are the
deliverable. Refactors that add code are out of scope.

## What counts as slop

Look for these, in rough order of payoff:

1. **Tests that cannot fail.** Tests that assert a mock returns what the mock
   was told to return. Tests with no assertions. Snapshot tests nobody reads.
   Tests that duplicate another test with different names.
2. **Pass-through wrappers.** `function getUser(id) { return db.getUser(id) }`.
   One-call-site helpers whose name is longer than their body. Classes with one
   method and no state.
3. **Dead code.** Exports nothing imports. Feature flags that are always on.
   Branches for platforms or versions the project no longer supports.
4. **Defensive noise.** Null checks on values the type system already
   guarantees. try/catch that rethrows. Validation of inputs that come from
   your own code.
5. **Comment slop.** Comments that restate the line below. JSDoc on private
   functions that says `@param id the id`. TODOs older than the last release.
6. **Abstraction slop.** Interfaces with one implementation. Config objects
   with one caller. Generic utilities used exactly once.

## Process

1. **Scope.** Count source and test files. If over ~300 files, pick the three
   directories with the most churn (`git log --format= --name-only | sort |
   uniq -c | sort -rn | head`) and audit those first. Say which.
2. **Find candidates fast.** Use the tools the repo already has: `knip` or
   `ts-prune` for dead exports, coverage output for untested-but-tested-looking
   code, `grep -rn "return .*(" --include=*.ts` for wrappers. Do not read every
   file top to bottom.
3. **Verify each deletion is safe** before making it:
   - Wrapper: every call site can call the wrapped thing directly.
   - Test: the test either cannot fail or is covered by another test. Prove it
     by temporarily breaking the code under test and watching the test stay
     green.
   - Dead export: grep the whole repo including configs, scripts, and docs.
4. **Delete in batches** of related changes. Run the test suite after each
   batch, not after each file. Commit each batch with a message that says what
   was removed and why it was safe.
5. **Report** as a table: what was removed, lines deleted, how you proved it
   was safe. Total lines deleted at the bottom.

## Do not

- Do not "clean up" style, naming, or formatting. That is not slop, that is
  churn.
- Do not delete tests that exercise real behavior just because they are ugly.
- Do not replace a wrapper with a different wrapper.
- Do not touch generated files, vendored code, or migrations.