tech-debt

Purpose

Inventory technical debt, assess impact/effort, and prioritize what to address.

Usage

• /tech-debt - Full tech debt review
• /tech-debt [component] - Focus on specific system/component

Steps

1. Search for tech debt mentions:

   • 04-Projects/
   • Meeting notes with keywords: "tech debt", "refactor", "technical debt", "needs cleanup"
   • Code review discussions

2. Extract for each item:

   • Description
   • Component/system affected
   • Impact (velocity, stability, security)
   • Estimated effort
   • Age (when first noted)

3. Categorize by impact:

   • Critical: Blocking work or security risk
   • High: Slowing velocity significantly
   • Medium: Creating friction
   • Low: Nice to have

4. Generate prioritization matrix:

   • High impact + low effort = Do now
   • High impact + high effort = Plan for
   • Low impact + low effort = Quick wins
   • Low impact + high effort = Defer

Output Format

# 🔧 Technical Debt Inventory

**Items identified:** [Count]
**Critical items:** [Count]

## Do Now (High Impact + Low Effort)
- [Item] - Impact: [Why] - Effort: [Estimate]

## Plan For (High Impact + High Effort)
- [Item] - Impact: [Why] - Effort: [Estimate]

## Aging Debt (>6 months)
- [Item] - First noted: [Date]

## Recommendations
1. [Top priority]
2. [Second priority]