ln-511-code-quality-checker

Paths: File paths (references/, ../ln-*) are relative to this skill directory.

Code Quality Checker

Type: L3 Worker Category: 5XX Quality

Analyzes Done implementation tasks with quantitative Code Quality Score based on metrics, MCP Ref validation, and issue penalties.

Inputs

Input	Required	Source	Description
storyId	Yes	args, git branch, kanban, user	Story to process

Resolution: Story Resolution Chain. Status filter: In Progress, To Review

Tool policy: follow host AGENTS.md MCP preferences; load references/mcp_tool_preferences.md and references/mcp_integration_patterns.md only when host policy is absent or MCP behavior is unclear. - use hex-graph as the primary path for clone, architecture, and semantic quality evidence when the project is indexed. Fall back to Grep/Read only when graph is unavailable or unsupported.

Purpose & Scope

• Load Story and Done implementation tasks (exclude test tasks)
• Calculate Code Quality Score using metrics and issue penalties
• MCP Ref validation: Verify optimality, best practices, and performance via external sources
• Check for DRY/KISS/YAGNI violations, architecture boundary breaks, security issues
• Produce quantitative verdict with structured issue list; never edits Linear or kanban

Code Metrics

Metric	Threshold	Penalty
Cyclomatic Complexity	≤10 OK, 11-20 warning, >20 fail	-5 (warning), -10 (fail) per function
Function size	≤50 lines OK, >50 warning	-3 per function
File size	≤500 lines OK, >500 warning	-5 per file
Nesting depth	≤3 OK, >3 warning	-3 per instance
Parameter count	≤4 OK, >4 warning	-2 per function

Code Quality Score

Formula: Code Quality Score = 100 - metric_penalties - issue_penalties

Issue penalties by severity:

Severity	Penalty	Examples
high	-20	Security vulnerability, O(n²)+ algorithm, N+1 query
medium	-10	DRY violation, suboptimal approach, missing config
low	-3	Naming convention, minor code smell

Score interpretation:

Score	Status	Verdict
90-100	Excellent	PASS
70-89	Acceptable	CONCERNS
<70	Below threshold	ISSUES_FOUND

Issue Prefixes

Prefix	Category	Default Severity	MCP Ref
SEC-	Security (auth, validation, secrets)	high	—
SEC-DESTR-	Destructive ops (guards: DB, FS, MIG, ENV, FORCE)	high/medium	—
PERF-	Performance (algorithms, configs, bottlenecks)	medium/high	✓ Required
MNT-	Maintainability (DRY, SOLID, complexity, dead code)	medium	—
ARCH-	Architecture (layers, boundaries, patterns, contracts)	medium	—
BP-	Best Practices (implementation differs from recommended)	medium	✓ Required
OPT-	Optimality (better approach exists for this goal)	medium	✓ Required

OPT- subcategories:

Prefix	Category	Severity
OPT-OSS-	Open-source replacement available	medium (high if >200 LOC)

ARCH- subcategories:

Prefix	Category	Severity
ARCH-LB-	Layer Boundary: I/O outside infra, HTTP in domain	high
ARCH-TX-	Transaction Boundaries: commit() in 3+ layers, mixed UoW ownership	high (CRITICAL if auth/payment)
ARCH-DTO-	Missing DTO (4+ params without DTO), Entity Leakage (ORM entity in API response)	medium (high if auth/payment)
ARCH-DI-	Dependency Injection: dependencies not replaceable for testing (direct instantiation, no injection mechanism). Exception: small scripts/CLIs where params/closures suffice → skip	medium
ARCH-CEH-	Centralized Error Handling: errors silently swallowed, stack traces leak to prod, no consistent error logging. Exception: 50-line scripts → downgrade to LOW	medium (high if no handler at all)
ARCH-SES-	Session Ownership: DI session + local session in same module	medium
ARCH-AI-SEB	Side-Effect Breadth: 3+ side-effect categories in one leaf function. Conflict Resolution: orchestrator/coordinator functions (imports 3+ services AND delegates sequentially) are EXPECTED to have multiple categories — do NOT flag SEB	medium
ARCH-AI-AH	Architectural Honesty: read-named function with write side-effects	medium
ARCH-AI-FO	Flat Orchestration: leaf service imports 3+ other services. Orchestrator imports are expected — do NOT flag	medium
ARCH-EVENT-	Event Channel Consistency: publisher/subscriber name mismatch (MISMATCH), orphaned channel with no counterpart (ORPHAN)	high (mismatch), medium (orphan)

PERF- subcategories:

Prefix	Category	Severity
PERF-ALG-	Algorithm complexity (Big O)	high if O(n²)+
PERF-CFG-	Package/library configuration	medium
PERF-PTN-	Architectural pattern performance	high
PERF-DB-	Database queries, indexes	high

MNT- subcategories:

Prefix	Category	Severity
MNT-DC-	Dead code: replaced implementations, unused exports/re-exports, backward-compat wrappers, unsupported aliases	medium (high if public API)
MNT-DRY-	DRY violations: duplicate logic across files	medium
MNT-GOD-	God Classes: class with >15 methods or >500 lines (not just file size)	medium (high if >1000 lines)
MNT-SIG-	Method Signature Quality: boolean flag params, unclear return types, inconsistent naming, >5 optional params	low
MNT-ERR-	Error Contract inconsistency: mixed raise + return None in same service	medium

When to Use

• All implementation tasks in Story status = Done
• Before tech debt cleanup and inline agent review

Workflow (concise)

MANDATORY READ: Load references/input_resolution_pattern.md

1. Resolve storyId: Run Story Resolution Chain per guide (status filter: [In Progress, To Review]).

2. Load Story (full) and Done implementation tasks (full descriptions) via Linear; skip tasks with label "tests".

3. Collect changed files (changed_files[]): MANDATORY READ: Load references/git_scope_detection.md

   • IF invoked by ln-510: use changed_files[] from coordinator context → proceed to Enrich step in guide
   • IF invoked standalone: run full algorithm from guide

4. Two-Layer Detection (MANDATORY): MANDATORY READ: Load references/two_layer_detection.md All threshold-based findings require Layer 2 context analysis. Layer 1 finding without Layer 2 = NOT a valid finding. Before reporting any metric violation, ask: "Is this violation intentional or justified by design?" See Exception column in metrics below.

5. Calculate code metrics:

   • Cyclomatic Complexity per function (target ≤10; Exception: enum/switch dispatch, state machines, parser grammars → downgrade to LOW)
   • Function size (target ≤50 lines; Exception: orchestrator functions with sequential delegation)
   • File size (target ≤500 lines; Exception: config/schema/migration files, generated code)
   • Nesting depth (target ≤3)
   • Parameter count (target ≤4; Exception: builder/options patterns)

6. MCP Ref Validation (MANDATORY for code changes — SKIP if --skip-mcp-ref flag passed): MANDATORY READ: Load references/research_tool_fallback.md

   Fast-track mode: When invoked with --skip-mcp-ref, skip this entire step (no OPT-, BP-, PERF- checks). Proceed directly to step 6 (static analysis). This reduces cost from ~5000 to ~800 tokens while preserving metrics + static analysis coverage.

   Level 1 — OPTIMALITY (OPT-):

   • Extract goal from task (e.g., "user authentication", "caching", "API rate limiting")
   • Research alternatives: ref_search_documentation("{goal} approaches comparison {tech_stack} 2026")
   • Compare chosen approach vs alternatives for project context
   • Flag suboptimal choices as OPT- issues

   Level 2 — BEST PRACTICES (BP-):

   • Research: ref_search_documentation("{chosen_approach} best practices {tech_stack} 2026")
   • For libraries: query-docs(library_id, "best practices implementation patterns")
   • Flag deviations from recommended patterns as BP- issues

   Level 3 — PERFORMANCE (PERF-):

   • PERF-ALG: Analyze algorithm complexity (detect O(n²)+, research optimal via MCP Ref)
   • PERF-CFG: Check library configs (connection pooling, batch sizes, timeouts) via query-docs
   • PERF-PTN: Research pattern pitfalls: ref_search_documentation("{pattern} performance bottlenecks")
   • PERF-DB: Check for N+1, missing indexes via query-docs(orm_library_id, "query optimization")

   Triggers for MCP Ref validation:

   • New dependency added (package.json/requirements.txt changed)
   • New pattern/library used
   • API/database changes
   • Loops/recursion in critical paths
   • ORM queries added

7. Analyze code for static issues (assign prefixes): MANDATORY READ: Load references/clean_code_checklist.md, references/destructive_operation_safety.md

   • For large code files, use outline(file_path) before targeted reads.
   • SEC-: hardcoded creds, unvalidated input, SQL injection, race conditions
   • SEC-DESTR-: unguarded destructive operations — use code-level guards table from destructive_operation_safety.md (loaded above). Check all 5 guard categories (DB, FS, MIG, ENV, FORCE).
   • MNT-: DRY violations (MNT-DRY-: duplicate logic), dead code (MNT-DC-: per checklist), complex conditionals, poor naming
   • MNT-DRY- cross-story hotspot scan: Grep for common pattern signatures (error handlers: catch.*Error|handleError, validators: validate|isValid, config access: getSettings|getConfig) across ALL src/ files (count mode). If any pattern appears in 5+ files, sample 3 files (Read 50 lines each) and check structural similarity. If >80% similar → MNT-DRY-CROSS (medium, -10 points): Pattern X duplicated in N files — extract to shared module.
   • MNT-DRY- preferred (hex-graph): If hex-graph indexed, use audit_workspace(path=scan_path, verbosity="minimal", limit=5, clone_member_limit=3). Each clone group with 2+ members in different files = MNT-DRY-CROSS. Raise limits only when the bounded preview is insufficient. Use returned hotspot and clone context for priority. Fall back to Grep pattern scan above if hex-graph unavailable.
   • MNT-DC- cross-story unused export scan: For each file modified by Story, count export declarations. Then Grep across ALL src/ for import references to those exports. Exports with 0 import references → MNT-DC-CROSS (medium, -10 points): {export} in {file} exported but never imported — remove or mark internal.
   • OPT-OSS- cross-reference ln-645 (static, fast-track safe): IF docs/project/.audit/ln-640/*/645-open-source-replacer*.md exists (glob across dates, take latest), check if any HIGH-confidence replacement matches files changed in current Story. IF match found → create OPT-OSS-{N} issue with module path, goal, recommended package, confidence, stars, license from ln-645 report. Severity: high if >200 LOC, medium otherwise. This check reads local files only — no MCP calls — runs even with --skip-mcp-ref.
   • ARCH-: layer violations, circular dependencies, guide non-compliance
   • ARCH-LB-: layer boundary violations (HTTP/DB/FS calls outside infrastructure layer)
   • ARCH-TX-: transaction boundary violations (commit() across multiple layers)
   • ARCH-DTO-: missing DTOs (4+ repeated params), entity leakage (ORM entities returned from API)
   • ARCH-DI-: direct instantiation in business logic (no DI container or mixed patterns)
   • ARCH-CEH-: centralized error handling absent or bypassed
   • ARCH-SES-: session ownership conflicts (DI + local session in same module)
   • ARCH-AI-SEB: side-effect breadth (3+ categories in one leaf function; orchestrator functions exempt — see Conflict Resolution in table above)
   • ARCH-AI-AH: architectural honesty (read-named function with hidden writes)
   • ARCH-AI-FO: flat orchestration (leaf service importing 3+ services; orchestrator imports exempt)
   • ARCH-EVENT-: event channel mismatch — Grep for NOTIFY|pg_notify|\.publish\(|\.emit\( (publishers) and LISTEN|\.subscribe\(|\.on\( (subscribers) in changed_files[]. Cross-reference channel name strings. <!-- Defense-in-depth: also checked by ln-652 Rule 6 -->
   • MNT-GOD-: god classes (>15 methods or >500 lines per class)
   • MNT-SIG-: method signature quality (boolean flags, unclear returns)
   • MNT-ERR-: error contract inconsistency (mixed raise/return patterns in same service)

8. Calculate Code Quality Score:

   • Start with 100
   • Subtract metric penalties (see Code Metrics table)
   • Subtract issue penalties (see Issue penalties table)

9. Output verdict with score and structured issues. MANDATORY READ: Load references/output_schema.md Format output per schema. Add Linear comment with findings.

Critical Rules

• Read guides mentioned in Story/Tasks before judging compliance.
• MCP Ref validation: For ANY architectural change, MUST verify via ref_search_documentation before judging.
• Context7 for libraries: When reviewing library usage, query-docs to verify correct patterns.
• Language preservation in comments (EN/RU).
• Do not create tasks or change statuses; caller decides next actions.

Runtime Summary Artifact

MANDATORY READ: Load references/quality_summary_contract.md, references/quality_worker_runtime_contract.md

Runtime profile:

• family: quality-worker
• worker: ln-511
• summary kind: quality-worker
• payload fields used by coordinators: worker, status, verdict, score, issues, warnings

Invocation rules:

• standalone: omit runId and summaryArtifactPath
• managed: pass both runId and exact summaryArtifactPath
• always write the validated summary before terminal outcome

Definition of Done

• Story and Done implementation tasks loaded (test tasks excluded)
• Code metrics calculated (Cyclomatic Complexity, function/file sizes)
• MCP Ref validation completed (OPT-, BP-, PERF- categories)
• ARCH- subcategories checked (LB, TX, DTO, DI, CEH, SES, EVENT); MNT- subcategories checked (DC, DRY, GOD, SIG, ERR)
• Issues identified with prefixes and severity, sources from MCP Ref/Context7
• Code Quality Score calculated
• Output formatted per references/output_schema.md
• Tracker comment posted with findings

Reference Files

• Git scope detection: references/git_scope_detection.md
• Code metrics: references/code_metrics.md (thresholds and penalties)
• Guides: docs/guides/
• Templates for context: references/templates/task_template_implementation.md
• Clean code checklist: references/clean_code_checklist.md
• Research tool fallback: references/research_tool_fallback.md

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Version: 5.1.0 Last Updated: 2026-03-15