Paths: File paths (shared/, references/, ../ln-*) are relative to skills repo root. If not found at CWD, locate this SKILL.md directory and go up one level for repo root.

Code Quality Checker

Analyzes Done implementation tasks with quantitative Code Quality Score based on metrics, MCP Ref validation, and issue penalties.

Inputs

Resolution: Story Resolution Chain. Status filter: In Progress, To Review

Purpose & Scope

• Load Story and Done implementation tasks (exclude test tasks)
• Calculate Code Quality Score using metrics and issue penalties
• MCP Ref validation: Verify optimality, best practices, and performance via external sources
• Check for DRY/KISS/YAGNI violations, architecture boundary breaks, security issues
• Produce quantitative verdict with structured issue list; never edits Linear or kanban

Code Metrics

Code Quality Score

Formula: Code Quality Score = 100 - metric_penalties - issue_penalties

Issue penalties by severity:

Score interpretation:

Issue Prefixes

OPT- subcategories:

ARCH- subcategories:

PERF- subcategories:

MNT- subcategories:

When to Use

• All implementation tasks in Story status = Done
• Before tech debt cleanup and inline agent review

Workflow (concise)

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/input_resolution_pattern.md

1. Resolve storyId: Run Story Resolution Chain per guide (status filter: [In Progress, To Review]).

2. Load Story (full) and Done implementation tasks (full descriptions) via Linear; skip tasks with label "tests".

3. Collect changed files (changed_files[]): MANDATORY READ: shared/references/git_scope_detection.md

   • IF invoked by ln-510: use changed_files[] from coordinator context → proceed to Enrich step in guide
   • IF invoked standalone: run full algorithm from guide

4. Two-Layer Detection (MANDATORY): MANDATORY READ: shared/references/two_layer_detection.md All threshold-based findings require Layer 2 context analysis. Layer 1 finding without Layer 2 = NOT a valid finding. Before reporting any metric violation, ask: "Is this violation intentional or justified by design?" See Exception column in metrics below.

5. Calculate code metrics:

   • Cyclomatic Complexity per function (target ≤10; Exception: enum/switch dispatch, state machines, parser grammars → downgrade to LOW)
   • Function size (target ≤50 lines; Exception: orchestrator functions with sequential delegation)
   • File size (target ≤500 lines; Exception: config/schema/migration files, generated code)
   • Nesting depth (target ≤3)
   • Parameter count (target ≤4; Exception: builder/options patterns)

6. MCP Ref Validation (MANDATORY for code changes — SKIP if --skip-mcp-ref flag passed): MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/research_tool_fallback.md

   Fast-track mode: When invoked with --skip-mcp-ref, skip this entire step (no OPT-, BP-, PERF- checks). Proceed directly to step 6 (static analysis). This reduces cost from ~5000 to ~800 tokens while preserving metrics + static analysis coverage.

   Level 1 — OPTIMALITY (OPT-):

   • Extract goal from task (e.g., "user authentication", "caching", "API rate limiting")
   • Research alternatives: ref_search_documentation("{goal} approaches comparison {tech_stack} 2026")
   • Compare chosen approach vs alternatives for project context
   • Flag suboptimal choices as OPT- issues

   Level 2 — BEST PRACTICES (BP-):

   • Research: ref_search_documentation("{chosen_approach} best practices {tech_stack} 2026")
   • For libraries: query-docs(library_id, "best practices implementation patterns")
   • Flag deviations from recommended patterns as BP- issues

   Level 3 — PERFORMANCE (PERF-):

   • PERF-ALG: Analyze algorithm complexity (detect O(n²)+, research optimal via MCP Ref)
   • PERF-CFG: Check library configs (connection pooling, batch sizes, timeouts) via query-docs
   • PERF-PTN: Research pattern pitfalls: ref_search_documentation("{pattern} performance bottlenecks")
   • PERF-DB: Check for N+1, missing indexes via query-docs(orm_library_id, "query optimization")

   Triggers for MCP Ref validation:

   • New dependency added (package.json/requirements.txt changed)
   • New pattern/library used
   • API/database changes
   • Loops/recursion in critical paths
   • ORM queries added

7. Analyze code for static issues (assign prefixes): MANDATORY READ: shared/references/clean_code_checklist.md, shared/references/destructive_operation_safety.md

   • SEC-: hardcoded creds, unvalidated input, SQL injection, race conditions
   • SEC-DESTR-: unguarded destructive operations — use code-level guards table from destructive_operation_safety.md (loaded above). Check all 5 guard categories (DB, FS, MIG, ENV, FORCE).
   • MNT-: DRY violations (MNT-DRY-: duplicate logic), dead code (MNT-DC-: per checklist), complex conditionals, poor naming
   • MNT-DRY- cross-story hotspot scan: Grep for common pattern signatures (error handlers: catch.*Error|handleError, validators: validate|isValid, config access: getSettings|getConfig) across ALL src/ files (count mode). If any pattern appears in 5+ files, sample 3 files (Read 50 lines each) and check structural similarity. If >80% similar → MNT-DRY-CROSS (medium, -10 points): Pattern X duplicated in N files — extract to shared module.
   • MNT-DC- cross-story unused export scan: For each file modified by Story, count export declarations. Then Grep across ALL src/ for import references to those exports. Exports with 0 import references → MNT-DC-CROSS (medium, -10 points): {export} in {file} exported but never imported — remove or mark internal.
   • OPT-OSS- cross-reference ln-645 (static, fast-track safe): IF docs/project/.audit/ln-640/*/645-open-source-replacer*.md exists (glob across dates, take latest), check if any HIGH-confidence replacement matches files changed in current Story. IF match found → create OPT-OSS-{N} issue with module path, goal, recommended package, confidence, stars, license from ln-645 report. Severity: high if >200 LOC, medium otherwise. This check reads local files only — no MCP calls — runs even with --skip-mcp-ref.
   • ARCH-: layer violations, circular dependencies, guide non-compliance
   • ARCH-LB-: layer boundary violations (HTTP/DB/FS calls outside infrastructure layer)
   • ARCH-TX-: transaction boundary violations (commit() across multiple layers)
   • ARCH-DTO-: missing DTOs (4+ repeated params), entity leakage (ORM entities returned from API)
   • ARCH-DI-: direct instantiation in business logic (no DI container or mixed patterns)
   • ARCH-CEH-: centralized error handling absent or bypassed
   • ARCH-SES-: session ownership conflicts (DI + local session in same module)
   • ARCH-AI-SEB: side-effect breadth (3+ categories in one leaf function; orchestrator functions exempt — see Conflict Resolution in table above)
   • ARCH-AI-AH: architectural honesty (read-named function with hidden writes)
   • ARCH-AI-FO: flat orchestration (leaf service importing 3+ services; orchestrator imports exempt)
   • ARCH-EVENT-: event channel mismatch — Grep for NOTIFY|pg_notify|\.publish\(|\.emit\( (publishers) and LISTEN|\.subscribe\(|\.on\( (subscribers) in changed_files[]. Cross-reference channel name strings. <!-- Defense-in-depth: also checked by ln-652 Rule 6 -->
   • MNT-GOD-: god classes (>15 methods or >500 lines per class)
   • MNT-SIG-: method signature quality (boolean flags, unclear returns)
   • MNT-ERR-: error contract inconsistency (mixed raise/return patterns in same service)

8. Calculate Code Quality Score:

   • Start with 100
   • Subtract metric penalties (see Code Metrics table)
   • Subtract issue penalties (see Issue penalties table)

9. Output verdict with score and structured issues. MANDATORY READ: Load references/output_schema.md Format output per schema. Add Linear comment with findings.

Critical Rules

• Read guides mentioned in Story/Tasks before judging compliance.
• MCP Ref validation: For ANY architectural change, MUST verify via ref_search_documentation before judging.
• Context7 for libraries: When reviewing library usage, query-docs to verify correct patterns.
• Language preservation in comments (EN/RU).
• Do not create tasks or change statuses; caller decides next actions.

Definition of Done

• Story and Done implementation tasks loaded (test tasks excluded)
• Code metrics calculated (Cyclomatic Complexity, function/file sizes)
• MCP Ref validation completed (OPT-, BP-, PERF- categories)
• ARCH- subcategories checked (LB, TX, DTO, DI, CEH, SES, EVENT); MNT- subcategories checked (DC, DRY, GOD, SIG, ERR)
• Issues identified with prefixes and severity, sources from MCP Ref/Context7
• Code Quality Score calculated
• Output formatted per references/output_schema.md
• Linear comment posted with findings

Reference Files

• Git scope detection: shared/references/git_scope_detection.md
• Code metrics: references/code_metrics.md (thresholds and penalties)
• Guides: docs/guides/
• Templates for context: shared/templates/task_template_implementation.md
• Clean code checklist: shared/references/clean_code_checklist.md
• Research tool fallback: shared/references/research_tool_fallback.md

Version: 5.1.0 Last Updated: 2026-03-15