rubycritic

name	rubycritic
description	Integrate RubyCritic to analyze Ruby code quality and maintain high standards throughout development. Use when working on Ruby projects to check code smells, complexity, and duplication. Triggers include creating/editing Ruby files, refactoring code, reviewing code quality, or when user requests code analysis or quality checks.

Maintain high code quality standards in Ruby projects by integrating RubyCritic analysis into the development workflow. Automatically detect code smells, complexity issues, and duplication, providing actionable guidance for improvements.

<quick_start> Run quality check on Ruby files:

scripts/check_quality.sh [path/to/ruby/files]

If no path is provided, analyzes the current directory. The script automatically installs RubyCritic if missing.

Immediate feedback:

• Overall score (0-100)
• File ratings (A-F)
• Specific code smells detected </quick_start>

**Proactive analysis**: Run RubyCritic automatically after significant code changes:

• After creating new Ruby files or classes
• After implementing complex methods (>10 lines)
• After refactoring existing code
• Before marking tasks as complete
• Before committing code

Integration pattern:

1. Make code changes
2. Run scripts/check_quality.sh [changed_files]
3. Review output for issues
4. Address critical smells (if any)
5. Re-run to verify improvements
6. Proceed with next task

When to skip: Simple variable renames, comment changes, or minor formatting adjustments don't require quality checks. </automated_quality_checks>

<interpreting_results> Overall Score:

• 95+ (excellent) - Maintain this standard
• 90-94 (good) - Minor improvements possible
• 80-89 (acceptable) - Consider refactoring
• Below 80 - Prioritize improvements

File Ratings:

• A/B - Acceptable quality
• C - Needs attention
• D/F - Requires refactoring

Issue Types:

• Code Smells (Reek) - Design and readability issues
• Complexity (Flog) - Overly complex methods
• Duplication (Flay) - Repeated code patterns </interpreting_results>

<responding_to_issues> Priority order:

1. Critical smells - Long parameter lists, high complexity, feature envy
2. Duplication - Extract shared methods or modules
3. Minor smells - Unused parameters, duplicate method calls
4. Style issues - Naming, organization

Incremental fixing:

• Fix one issue at a time
• Run analysis after each fix
• Verify score improves
• Explain significant improvements to user

When scores drop:

• Identify which file/method caused the drop
• Review recent changes in that area
• Fix immediately before continuing
• Don't accumulate technical debt </responding_to_issues>

<error_handling> Common errors and solutions:

"RubyCritic not found": Script auto-installs, but if it fails:

• Check Ruby is installed: ruby --version
• Manually install: gem install rubycritic
• Or add to Gemfile: gem 'rubycritic', require: false

"No files to analyze": Verify path contains .rb files

• Check path is correct
• Use explicit path: scripts/check_quality.sh app/models

"Bundler error": Gemfile.lock conflict

• Run bundle install first
• Or use system gem: gem install rubycritic && rubycritic [path]

Analysis hangs: Large codebase

• Analyze specific directories instead of entire project
• Use --no-browser flag to skip HTML generation
• Consider .rubycritic.yml to exclude paths

For additional error scenarios, see references/error-handling.md </error_handling>

<git_hooks_integration> Pre-commit quality checks: Automatically run RubyCritic before commits:

# .git/hooks/pre-commit
#!/bin/bash
# Get staged Ruby files
RUBY_FILES=$(git diff --cached --name-only --diff-filter=ACM | grep '\.rb$')

if [ -n "$RUBY_FILES" ]; then
  echo "Running RubyCritic on staged files..."
  scripts/check_quality.sh $RUBY_FILES

  if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Quality check failed. Fix issues or use --no-verify to skip."
    exit 1
  fi
fi

CI integration: Add to GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or other CI systems:

# .github/workflows/quality.yml
- name: Run RubyCritic
  run: |
    gem install rubycritic
    rubycritic --format json --minimum-score 90

For complete git hooks setup and CI examples, see references/git-hooks.md </git_hooks_integration>

**Basic configuration** (`.rubycritic.yml`):

minimum_score: 95
formats:
  - console
paths:
  - 'app/'
  - 'lib/'
no_browser: true

Common options:

• minimum_score: Fail if score below this threshold
• formats: Output formats (console, html, json)
• paths: Directories to analyze
• no_browser: Don't auto-open HTML report

For advanced configuration and custom thresholds, see references/configuration.md

<common_patterns> Quick quality check during development:

# Check recently modified files
scripts/check_quality.sh $(git diff --name-only | grep '\.rb$')

Generate detailed HTML report:

bundle exec rubycritic --format html app/
# Opens browser with detailed analysis

Compare with main branch (CI mode):

rubycritic --mode-ci --branch main app/
# Shows only changes from main branch

Check specific file types:

scripts/check_quality.sh app/models/*.rb
scripts/check_quality.sh app/services/**/*.rb

</common_patterns>

<code_smell_reference> For detailed examples of common code smells and how to fix them, see references/code_smells.md

Quick reference:

• Control Parameter - Replace boolean params with separate methods
• Feature Envy - Move method to the class it uses most
• Long Parameter List - Use parameter objects or hashes
• High Complexity - Extract methods, use early returns
• Duplication - Extract to shared methods or modules </code_smell_reference>

**Automatic installation**: The `check_quality.sh` script handles installation automatically:

• Detects if RubyCritic is installed
• Uses bundler if Gemfile present
• Falls back to system gem installation
• Adds to Gemfile development group if needed

Manual installation:

With Bundler:

# Gemfile
group :development do
  gem 'rubycritic', require: false
end

System-wide:

gem install rubycritic

<success_criteria> RubyCritic is successfully integrated when:

• Quality checks run automatically after significant code changes
• Overall score maintained at 90+ (or project-defined threshold)
• Critical code smells addressed immediately
• Quality improvements explained to user when significant
• No quality regressions introduced by changes
• Files maintain A or B ratings </success_criteria>

<reference_guides> Detailed references:

• references/code_smells.md - Common smells and fixes with examples
• references/configuration.md - Advanced RubyCritic configuration
• references/git-hooks.md - Pre-commit hooks and CI integration
• references/error-handling.md - Troubleshooting common errors </reference_guides>