| name | find-complexity |
| description | Find functions with high cyclomatic complexity, excessive length, or too many parameters. Use when the user asks to find complex code, complexity hotspots, refactoring candidates, or wants to improve code maintainability. |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
Find Complexity Hotspots
Identify Go functions that are hard to review, test, and maintain.
Rules
- Report findings, do not refactor. Refactoring is a separate task.
- Focus on production code (
controller/, api/, cmd/, cli/). Skip tests unless explicitly asked.
- Rank by severity: highest complexity first.
Step 1: Determine Scope
Ask the user:
- Branch mode: only files changed in the current branch vs main.
- Full mode: scan the entire codebase.
For branch mode:
git diff --name-only upstream/main -- 'controller/' 'api/' 'cmd/' 'cli/' | grep '\.go$' | grep -v '_test\.go$'
Step 2: Install Prerequisites
Install gocyclo and gocognit if not available:
go install github.com/fzipp/gocyclo/cmd/gocyclo@latest
go install github.com/uudashr/gocognit/cmd/gocognit@latest
Step 3: Cyclomatic Complexity
gocyclo -over 10 <target>
This shows functions with cyclomatic complexity over 10.
Thresholds: 1-10 (simple), 11-20 (moderate), 21-50 (complex), 51+ (untestable).
Step 4: Cognitive Complexity
Cognitive complexity weights nesting depth — a 5-deep if scores much higher than 5 sequential ifs.
gocognit -over 15 <target>
This shows functions with cognitive complexity over 15.
Step 5: Function Length
Find long functions (50+ lines of code, excluding comments and blank lines):
for file in $(find <target> -name '*.go' -not -name '*_test.go'); do
awk '/^func / {start=NR; func=$0}
/^}/ && start {
len=NR-start;
if(len>50) print FILENAME":"start": "func" ("len" lines)"
}' "$file"
done
Step 6: Parameter Count
Find functions with too many parameters (6+):
rg "^func.*\([^)]{60,}\)" <target> -A 0
Functions with 6+ parameters are candidates for parameter objects or config structs.
Step 7: File Size
Find large files (500+ lines):
wc -l $(find <target> -name '*.go' -not -name '*_test.go') | sort -rn | head -20
Files over 500 lines are candidates for splitting into focused packages.
Step 8: Classify Findings
For each function found, classify:
| Category | Criteria | Action |
|---|
| Split | High complexity + long body | Break into smaller functions |
| Simplify | High complexity + short body | Reduce branching (early returns, switch statements) |
| Parameterize | Too many arguments (6+) | Group into config struct |
| Monitor | Complexity 11-15, not growing | Note it, revisit if it gets worse |
| Split file | File over 500 lines | Break into focused packages |
Step 9: Report
For each finding:
- File, function name, line number
- Cyclomatic/cognitive complexity score
- Lines of code / parameter count
- Classification (split / simplify / parameterize / monitor)
- Brief suggestion
Summary: total hotspots, top 5 worst offenders, estimated refactoring effort.