cleanup

name	cleanup
description	[Tier 1 · merge-friendly chore-category work · lower-risk when scoped] Targeted code-health pass — remove dead code, kill duplication, fix a named anti-pattern, tidy structure — WITHOUT re-architecting. The light counterpart to the archived docs/exploratory/missions/archive/legacy-rebuild/ design: improves the code as it is, preserves all behaviour, no big structural change. Use for "clean up this mess", tech-debt paydown, removing cruft after a feature, or eliminating a specific smell. Behaviour-preserving by definition; every change covered by existing or added tests proving nothing broke. Runs fully autonomously via the autonomous-fleet-core engine. Trigger on: "clean up the code", "remove dead code", "reduce duplication", "tidy this up", "pay down tech debt", "fix this anti-pattern" (when a full rebuild is NOT wanted).
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires git and gh CLI in the target repository
metadata	{"author":"ravidsrk","version":"1.0.0","tier":"1","fleet-component":"mission"}
status	exploratory

Status: exploratory. This mission is documented but has not yet been run end-to-end on an external repo with an archived run-archive. It is preserved for future promotion (see docs/exploratory/missions/README.md § Promotion criteria). Do not invoke this skill in a production fleet until it has been promoted.

Mission: cleanup

Required skills

Before executing, activate these skills and read their full instructions:

1. autonomous-fleet-core — read references/engine.md and references/composition.md when coordinating
2. One runtime adapter: autonomous-fleet-adapter-orca, autonomous-fleet-adapter-claude-code, autonomous-fleet-adapter-grok, or autonomous-fleet-adapter-codex

Follow the core and your adapter in full, then apply the mission parameters below.

Do not load a second mission skill in the same run. For chained missions, use fleet-program.

Optional skills

Skill	Activate when	If unavailable
Repo dead-code tooling	T-SCAN needs knip/ts-prune/etc.	Use grep, coverage, and linter output only

Worker skills

Role	Skills	If unavailable
@codex (clean)	—	Repo linters + characterization tests
@claude (scan, fresh review, integrator)	—	Repo linters + characterization tests

Deferred missions

Record in <LEDGER_DIR>/cleanup-readiness.md under Recommended next missions and in DECISIONS.md.

Finding type	Route to
Re-architecture / framework swap needed	docs/exploratory/missions/archive/legacy-rebuild/ (parked)
Bug exposed by deletion risk	bug-batch
Untested risky area	test-coverage first

Empirical note: chore/refactor-light sits among the higher-merging cross-agent task categories (chore ~84% in arXiv 2601.15195, Ehsani et al., MSR 2026) — lower-risk when scoped and behaviour-preserving. There is no published category-level merge rate for this mission as scoped, and per-task merge rates vary by agent, so treat the tier ordering as qualitative. The risk is scope creep into a rewrite; this mission explicitly does NOT re-architect (that's the archived docs/exploratory/missions/archive/legacy-rebuild/ design).

GOAL

Improve code health while preserving ALL behaviour: remove dead/unreachable code, eliminate duplication (extract shared helpers), fix the specific anti-pattern(s) in scope, tidy structure and naming, remove cruft. This is NOT a re-architecture — no framework changes, no new build system, no sweeping structural redesign (if that's needed, this is the wrong mission — record it and point to docs/exploratory/missions/archive/legacy-rebuild/). Every change is behaviour-preserving and proven so by tests.

ROLE PIPELINE

• @claude identifies cleanup targets (the frozen CLEANUP INDEX).
• @codex performs the changes.
• A fresh build-blind @claude REVIEWS each PR: behaviour-preserving (tests prove it), genuinely cleaner, scoped (no creeping rewrite), no functionality removed that was actually used.
• @claude is the INTEGRATOR: opens PR, merges (conflict-aware), cleans worktree.

LEDGER

<LEDGER_DIR>/cleanup-progress.md. Per-task flags: CLEANED=<t/f> PR_OPEN=<t/f> REVIEWED=<t/f> MERGED=<t/f>. Plus a CLEANUP INDEX: each item (dead-code/duplication/anti-pattern/structure) with location, OPEN | DONE via PR#n.

TASK STRUCTURE

• T-SCAN [@claude] — scan for: dead/unreachable code (use the repo's tooling — knip, ts-prune, coverage, linters — where available), duplication, the named anti-pattern(s), structural/naming issues. Confirm what's truly unused (don't delete something reachable via reflection/dynamic import without checking). Output docs/cleanup-scan.md with a CLEANUP INDEX. Freeze, then clean.
• T-CLEAN… [per item/area, loop] — each coherent cleanup is one PR. @codex makes the behaviour-preserving change, ensures existing tests still pass (add a characterization test first if the area is untested and risky) → fresh build-blind @claude reviews (cleaner + behaviour intact + scoped) → @claude merges. Parallelize non-overlapping files; serialize same-file. Update the CLEANUP INDEX.
• T-FINAL [@claude] — build green, full suite green, no behaviour change, the targeted smells gone. Output <LEDGER_DIR>/cleanup-readiness.md with fleet-outcome YAML (cleanup_items_open), cleanup summary, Recommended next missions, all PRs. Ship as the final PR.

Runtime goal

After ledger init, SET_GOAL per autonomous-fleet-core/references/runtime-goals.md. Record ## Runtime goal in <LEDGER_DIR>/cleanup-progress.md. GOAL_COMPLETE only after ## DONE below.

Mission cleanup DONE: <LEDGER_DIR>/cleanup-progress.md all task flags true,
<LEDGER_DIR>/cleanup-readiness.md with fleet-outcome.status done and mission metrics satisfied,
./scripts/validate-fleet-outcome.sh passes, all PRs merged into BASE.

DONE

Every CLEANUP-INDEX item DONE, every task terminal, suite green, behaviour preserved, <LEDGER_DIR>/cleanup-readiness.md exists. Then send the FINAL report.

DECISION DEFAULTS (mission-specific)

• Behaviour-preserving ALWAYS. If a "cleanup" would change behaviour, it's not cleanup — stop and record it.
• Before deleting "dead" code, confirm it's truly unreachable (check dynamic/reflective/string references, public API surface, build entry points). When unsure, leave it and note it.
• Do NOT re-architect. No framework swap, no new build system, no structural redesign — that's docs/exploratory/missions/archive/legacy-rebuild/. Record such needs and point there.
• For risky untested areas, add a characterization test capturing current behaviour BEFORE refactoring, so the test proves you preserved it.
• Prefer many small scoped PRs over one sweeping cleanup.
• Any ambiguity → the smaller, safer change that demonstrably preserves behaviour.