Technical Debt Baselines and Remediation Plans

Your debt backlog keeps growing, but another list of TODOs will not tell you what to fix next or whether last sprint actually helped. This skill turns repository evidence into a prioritized remediation register, then compares subsequent scans without confusing newly discovered debt with newly introduced debt.

What it does

• Scans for consequential duplication, deprecated interfaces, risky test gaps, dependency constraints, and maintenance bottlenecks.
• Ranks findings using demonstrated impact, dependency reach, and recent change frequency, with uncertainty shown explicitly.
• Gives each underlying issue a stable identity so moved files and repeated symptoms do not inflate the backlog.
• Compares baselines using matched scope, history windows, and scoring rules; flags incompatible comparisons.
• Converts priorities into bounded work packages with prerequisites, effort ranges, regression checks, and closure criteria.
• Distinguishes verified fixes, accepted debt, deferred work, and findings that could not be rechecked.

What you get

A scoped debt register and a practical fix-first plan, backed by code locations and observable consequences. For repeat assessments, you also get a baseline comparison that separates new discoveries, verified resolutions, changed exposure, and coverage gaps.

Best for

Engineering leads and maintainers who need to choose cleanup work, justify modernization slices, or track whether debt remediation is producing verified results across releases.