/de-sloppify — 7-Step Cleanup Pipeline
What
Runs an ordered, verified cleanup pipeline over a .NET codebase. Order matters: formatting first (it touches every file — get the churn out of the way before anything else), dead code late (earlier steps reveal it). Random cleanup misses things and creates merge conflicts; the pipeline doesn't.
Three rules make it safe:
- Verify after each step —
dotnet build+dotnet testbetween steps. A cleanup that breaks something is worse than the mess it was fixing. - Commit per step — each step is its own commit, so a bad Step 4 reverts without losing Steps 1-3.
- Safe removals only — before deleting "dead" code, check for reflection, DI-convention, and serialization usage that Roslyn cannot see.
Per-step commands, safety checklists, and code examples live in
references/cleanup-steps.md — read it before executing.
When
- "Clean up", "tidy up", "de-sloppify", "housekeeping", "tech debt"
- After a large feature merge or dependency upgrade (new warnings accumulate)
- Pre-release hardening, or a scheduled quarterly cleanup sprint
- Before performance work (dead code out, classes sealed for devirtualization)
- Never mixed with feature work — cleanup commits stay pure
How
Step 0: Pick the Steps
Steps 1-7 (execute in order, details in references/cleanup-steps.md)
After every step: dotnet build + dotnet test, then commit. If a step breaks
the build or tests, fix or revert that step before continuing — never carry a
red state into the next step. Delegate structural steps (4, 6, 7) to the
refactor-cleaner agent.
Final Report
Example
Related
references/cleanup-steps.md— per-step commands, safety checks, examples/verify— run the full verification pipeline after cleanup/health-check— re-grade the project to quantify the improvement/code-review— cleanup handles style; review handles logic and design
