ashlr
Skills

/ashlr-cost-refactor

Token-efficient refactoring discipline for Claude Code. Diff-first before editing, structural edits for renames, find-all-refs then one multi_edit per file, no re-reads between edits, one genome proposal at the end. Reduces refactor session cost 40–65%.

/ashlr-cost-refactor is an opt-in discipline skill for refactoring tasks. It applies a structured sequence that minimises token spend without sacrificing correctness.

Quick start

/ashlr-cost-refactor on       # enable
/ashlr-cost-refactor off      # disable
/ashlr-cost-refactor status   # show whether the skill is active

Natural-language triggers also work: "use cost-efficient refactoring", "lean refactor mode".

The refactor sequence

When ashlr-cost-refactor is active, this is the enforced sequence:

1. ashlr__diff_semantic()           — see what's already changed, avoid redundant edits
2. ashlr__grep("OldName|oldFn")     — find all references in one composed query
3. ashlr__edit_structural(...)      — rename symbols (finds all refs in one pass)
   OR ashlr__multi_edit([...])      — batch all edits per file in one round-trip
4. ashlr__bash("bun run typecheck") — verify via typecheck, not by re-reading files
5. ashlr__genome_propose(summary)   — one proposal summarising the entire change

Rules

RuleRationale
Diff firstashlr__diff / ashlr__diff_semantic shows what's already changed — prevents editing files already in the right state
Structural edits for renamesashlr__edit_structural finds all references in one pass, including imports and re-exports
Find all refs, then one ashlr__multi_edit per fileAvoids N round-trips for N sequential edits to the same file
No re-reads between editsashlr__edit and ashlr__multi_edit return diffs that confirm each change — sufficient to continue
Verify with ashlr__bash, not ReadTypecheck output is authoritative and far cheaper than re-reading edited files
One genome proposal at the endPrevents noise from mid-refactor partial proposals

When to enable

Enable ashlr-cost-refactor at the start of any refactor that touches 3+ files or renames a symbol with multiple reference sites. For single-file edits it adds no value over ashlr-lean-tools.

Persistence

The active state persists across sessions in ~/.ashlr/cost-refactor.json:

{ "enabled": true }
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