Tech Debt
- 5k installs
- 23.1k repo stars
- Updated July 28, 2026
- anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
tech-debt is an agent skill for Identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt. Trigger with "tech debt", "technical debt audit", "what should we r
About
The tech-debt skill identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt. Trigger with "tech debt", "technical debt audit", "what should we refactor", "code health", or when the user asks about code quality, refactoring priorities, or maintenance backlog.. Tech Debt Management Systematically identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt. Categories Type Examples Risk ------ ---------- ------ Code debt Duplicated logic, poor abstractions, magic numbers Bugs, slow development Architecture debt Monolith that should be split, wrong data store Scaling limits Test debt Low coverage, flaky tests, missing integration tests Regressions ship Dependency debt Outdated libraries, unmaintained dependencies Security vulns Documentation debt Missing runbooks, outdated READMEs, tribal knowledge Onboarding pain Infrastructure debt Manual deploys, no monitoring, no IaC Incidents, slow recovery Prioritization Framework Score each item on: - Impact : How much does it slow the team down? (1-5) - Risk : What happens if we don't fix it? (1-5) - Effort : How hard is the fix? (1-5, inverted - lower effort = higher priority) Priority = (Impact + Risk) x (6 - Effort) Output
- Identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt. Trigger with "tech debt", "technical debt audit", "what should we r
- **Impact**: How much does it slow the team down? (1-5)
- **Risk**: What happens if we don't fix it? (1-5)
- **Effort**: How hard is the fix? (1-5, inverted - lower effort = higher priority)
- **Architecture debt**
Tech Debt by the numbers
- 5,035 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- +232 installs in the week ending Jul 28, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
- Ranked #119 of 2,209 Security skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Security screen: MEDIUM risk (skills.sh audit)
- Data as of Jul 28, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
tech-debt capabilities & compatibility
- Capabilities
- identify, categorize, and prioritize technical d · **impact**: how much does it slow the team down? · **risk**: what happens if we don't fix it? (1 5)
What tech-debt says it does
Identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt. Trigger with "tech debt", "technical debt audit", "what should we refactor", "code health", or when the user asks about code qu
npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins --skill tech-debtAdd your badge
Show developers this skill is listed on Skillselion. Paste this into your README.
| Installs | 5k |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 23.1k |
| Security audit | 3 / 3 scanners passed |
| Last updated | July 28, 2026 |
| Repository | anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins ↗ |
How do I run tech-debt tasks with correct setup and documented commands?
Identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt. Trigger with "tech debt", "technical debt audit", "what should we refactor", "code health", or when the user asks about code quality, refactoring p
Who is it for?
Developers automating tech debt via agent-guided SKILL.md workflows.
Skip if: Skip when unrelated tooling already covers the task without this skill's documented flow.
When should I use this skill?
Identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt. Trigger with "tech debt", "technical debt audit", "what should we refactor", "code health", or when the user asks about code quality, refactoring p
What you get
Repeatable tech-debt workflows with grounded commands and expected outputs.
- Prioritized technical debt inventory
- Risk-scored refactoring schedule
By the numbers
- Covers 3 technical debt categories: code, architecture, and test debt
Files
Tech Debt Management
Systematically identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt.
Categories
| Type | Examples | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Code debt | Duplicated logic, poor abstractions, magic numbers | Bugs, slow development |
| Architecture debt | Monolith that should be split, wrong data store | Scaling limits |
| Test debt | Low coverage, flaky tests, missing integration tests | Regressions ship |
| Dependency debt | Outdated libraries, unmaintained dependencies | Security vulns |
| Documentation debt | Missing runbooks, outdated READMEs, tribal knowledge | Onboarding pain |
| Infrastructure debt | Manual deploys, no monitoring, no IaC | Incidents, slow recovery |
Prioritization Framework
Score each item on:
- Impact: How much does it slow the team down? (1-5)
- Risk: What happens if we don't fix it? (1-5)
- Effort: How hard is the fix? (1-5, inverted — lower effort = higher priority)
Priority = (Impact + Risk) x (6 - Effort)
Output
Produce a prioritized list with estimated effort, business justification for each item, and a phased remediation plan that can be done alongside feature work.
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Choose tech-debt over ponytail-audit when the goal is prioritized scheduling of ongoing maintenance categories rather than a ranked deletion list of over-engineering bloat.
FAQ
Who is tech-debt for?
Developers using agents to execute tech debt workflows from SKILL.md.
When should I use tech-debt?
Identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt. Trigger with "tech debt", "technical debt audit", "what should we refactor", "code health", or when the user asks about code qu
Is tech-debt safe to install?
Review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing in production.