| name | technical-debt-visualizer |
| description | Generates a heat-map and metrics report of a repository based on code complexity, lack of tests, and 'TODO/FIXME' density. Use when you need to identify high-risk areas for refactoring or when planning technical debt reduction sprints. |
Technical Debt Visualizer
Purpose and Intent
The technical-debt-visualizer provides a data-driven view of software quality. It helps engineering leaders and developers prioritize refactoring work by identifying files that are both complex and frequently changed—the "high-interest" technical debt.
When to Use
- Sprint Planning: Run this before a dedicated refactoring sprint to identify the best "ROI" targets.
- Architectural Reviews: Use to visualize the impact of legacy systems on the overall codebase health.
- Due Diligence: Quickly assess the health of a new or acquired repository.
When NOT to Use
- Performance Benchmarking: This tool measures code structure and maintainability, not runtime performance.
- Absolute Complexity Rating: Metrics like cyclomatic complexity are indicators, not absolute rules; some complex logic is unavoidable.
Input and Output Examples
Input
source_path: "./src"
output_format: "markdown"
Output
A markdown report highlighting "Hotspots"—files that have high complexity and low test coverage.
Error Conditions and Edge Cases
- No Git History: If run on a non-git directory, the "change frequency" metric will be unavailable.
- Unsupported Languages: Complexity analysis is language-dependent; unknown extensions will be reported with a lower confidence score.
Security and Data-Handling Considerations
- Local Scan: The analysis is performed entirely in memory on the local machine.
- No Execution: The tool uses static analysis; it never runs the code it is analyzing.
