Features

Technical Debt Analysis

Identifying and prioritizing code improvements

Stellarion helps you identify, categorize, and prioritize technical debt so you can make informed decisions about what to improve and when.

Types of Technical Debt

Complexity Debt

Functions or files that are too complex to maintain safely:

  • Critical (complexity > 30): Immediate refactoring recommended
  • High (complexity 20-30): Plan refactoring soon
  • Medium (complexity 15-20): Address when modifying

Duplication Debt

Code that's been copied instead of abstracted:

  • Exact duplicates across files
  • Similar patterns that could be consolidated
  • Copy-paste code with minor variations

Organization Debt

Structural issues that make the codebase harder to navigate:

  • Large files (> 500 lines): Should be split
  • Crowded directories (> 20 files): Need subdirectories
  • Deep nesting: Flatter structures are easier to understand

Interface Debt

Function signatures that are hard to use correctly:

  • Too many parameters (> 5)
  • Unclear parameter types
  • Missing documentation

Priority Scoring

Stellarion assigns priority based on:

FactorWeightDescription
SeverityHighHow bad is the issue?
FrequencyMediumHow often is this code changed?
ImpactMediumHow critical is this code path?
EffortLowHow hard is it to fix?

Priority Levels

  • Critical: Blocking issues, fix immediately
  • High: Significant impact, plan for next sprint
  • Medium: Should be addressed, schedule when convenient
  • Low: Nice to fix, opportunistic cleanup

Effort Estimation

Each issue includes an effort estimate:

LevelTypical Time
Low< 1 hour
Medium1-4 hours
Medium-High4-8 hours
High1-3 days

Example Usage

Ask Claude Code to find technical debt:

Find all refactoring opportunities in this project.
Prioritize by severity and effort.
What's the most critical technical debt in src/api/?
Show me code duplication in this project.
Which duplicates should I consolidate first?

Best Practices

Start Small

Don't try to fix everything at once. Pick high-priority, low-effort items first to build momentum.

Track Progress

Generate reports periodically to measure improvement:

Generate a technical debt report and save it.
Compare it to our previous report.

Set Thresholds

Establish team standards and catch new debt before it merges:

Check if any functions in this PR have complexity over 20.