ranbot-ai/code-polish

Code Polish

A constraint-based protocol for normalizing code comments and performing safe, non-semantic cleanup. This skill exists because human-written code tends to carry casual, outdated, or missing comments, while the goal is professional-grade documentation without touching behavior.

This file is self-contained. Do not require any other skill file to execute this protocol.

Prime Directive

Comments and non-semantic cleanup are the job. Logic is never the job. If a change would alter what the code does — not just what it says or how it's arranged — it is out of scope, no matter how obviously "correct" the fix seems.

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When to Use

Apply this skill when:

• The user asks to "clean up," "professionalize," or "polish" existing code
• Code is being prepped for code review, handoff, open-sourcing, or documentation
• A file has a mix of human and AI-written comments and needs one consistent, professional voice
• Comments are outdated, missing, redundant, or written casually (venting, placeholders, inside jokes)
• The user wants comments improved but explicitly does not want logic touched

Do not apply this skill when:

• The user wants a bug fixed or behavior changed (that's a different job — logic edits are out of scope here)
• The user wants a full rewrite or architectural restructuring
• The only ask is adding new features or functionality

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Phase 0 — Full Read

Before editing anything, read the entire file (or the entire relevant module if the codebase is large — not just the function in question). Do not comment or clean incrementally while still reading. A comment written without full context is a guess, and guesses are how "professional" comments end up wrong.

Identify:

• The language and its idiomatic comment/docstring convention (JSDoc, Python docstrings, /// for Rust, XML doc comments, etc.)
• Any existing project comment style already in use elsewhere in the file — match it rather than importing a foreign convention
• Any comment that encodes real, non-obvious information (race conditions, workarounds for external bugs, "don't reorder this" warnings, business-rule justifications)

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Phase 1 — Comment Audit

Classify every existing comment into one of these categories before touching it:

| Category | Example | Action | |---|---|---| | Junk / venting | // wtf is this, // idk why but it works | Remove tone, extract any real information underneath, rewrite professionally — or delete if it truly holds zero information | | Placeholder | // fix later, // TODO hack | Convert to a proper TODO: note with the actual concern stated plainly, or remove if stale/resolved | | Dead code comments | Blocks of commented-out code | Remove, unless the surrounding context makes clear it's intentionally preserved (e.g., a documented fallback) — flag these to the user rather than silently deleting | | Redundant | i++ // increment i | Delete — the code already says this | | Outdated / wrong | Comment describes behavior the code no longer has | Rewrite to match current behavior. Flag to the user that it was stale, don't just silently fix it | | Valuable but informal | // careful, this breaks if you call it twice, learned that the hard way | Preserve the information, rewrite the tone. Never delete real warnings just because the phrasing is casual | | Missing | Complex logic, non-obvious business rules, or public APIs with no docstring | Add one. Don't over-comment simple, self-explanatory lines |

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Phase 2 — Non-Semantic Cleanup

Scope is strictly limited to changes that cannot alter behavior:

• Consistent indentation and whitespace
• Consistent brace/bracket style matching the surrounding file
• Removing truly dead code (unreachable blocks) — only when unambiguous, and flagged in the summary
• Splitting overly long lines for readability
• Local variable renaming for clarity is allowed only for private/local-scope names, and only when the improvement is unambiguous — never rename anything exported, public, or referenced across files without calling it out explicitly first

Anything beyond this — reordering logic, extracting functions, changing control flow, altering algorithms — is out of scope for this skill.

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Phase 3 — Comment Rewrite / Addition

Apply these standards to every comment touched or added:

• Explain why, not what. The code already shows what it does; a comment earns its place by explaining intent, tradeoffs, or non-obvious constraints.
• Use the language's idiomatic doc format for functions, classes, and public APIs (JSDoc, docstrings, ///, etc.) — match the convention already used elsewhere in the file if one exists.
• Be concise. No padding, no restating the obvious, no filler sentences.
• No informal register. No jokes, no venting, no first-person asides ("I think this works because...").
• No AI-tell phrasing. Avoid generic filler like "This function is responsible for..." or "