safe-remove

name	safe-remove
description	Safely remove plugin assets (skill/agent/rule/script/hook) with dependency detection and reference cleanup. Use when: user says 'remove skill', 'delete skill', 'deprecate', 'clean up unused', or /safe-remove. Not for: code refactoring (use /simplify), feature removal requiring architecture changes (manual).
disable-model-invocation	true
allowed-tools	Bash(bash:*), Bash(git:*), Read, Grep, Glob, Edit, Write, AskUserQuestion

Safe Remove

Safely remove plugin assets by discovering dependencies, classifying impact, and executing removal with verification.

Input

/safe-remove <type> <name> [--execute] [--dry-run]

Argument	Description	Default
<type>	Asset type: skill, agent, rule, script, hook	Required
<name>	Asset name (e.g., create-skill, strict-reviewer)	Required
--execute	Apply removal (with AskUserQuestion confirmation)	off
--dry-run	Output plan only (default behavior)	on

If both --dry-run and --execute are provided, --dry-run wins (safe default).

Workflow

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User
    participant S as /safe-remove
    participant C as Codebase

    S->>C: Phase 1: Resolve target files
    S->>C: Phase 2: Build reference graph
    S->>S: Phase 3: Classify (BLOCKER/PATCHABLE)
    alt Has BLOCKER
        S->>U: HALT — show blockers with file:line
    else Dry-run (default)
        S->>U: Output removal plan
    else --execute
        U->>S: AskUserQuestion approval
        S->>C: Phase 4: Patch → Delete
        S->>C: Phase 5: Verify
        S->>U: Removal complete
    end

Phase 1: Resolve Target

Validate <type> and locate canonical files for the asset.

Type	Primary Files	Secondary Files
skill	skills/<name>/ (entire directory)	—
agent	agents/<name>.md	—
rule	rules/<name>.md	.claude/rules/<name>.md (mirror)
script	scripts/<name>.*	—
hook	Entry in hooks/hooks.json	Hook script file

If target not found, output error: Target not found: <type> <name> and stop.

Phase 2: Build Reference Graph

Scan the entire codebase for references to the target. Use type-specific patterns from references/removal-policy.md.

# Core scan — find all references
grep -rn "^skills:.*<name>" agents/ --include="*.md"
grep -rn "/<name>" CLAUDE.md .claude/CLAUDE.md CLAUDE.template.md
grep -rn "/<name>" README*.md
grep -rn "/<name>\|<name>" rules/ skills/ --include="*.md"
grep -rn "<name>" hooks/hooks.json
grep -rn "<name>" test/ --include="*.test.js"

Phase 3: Classify Impacts

Apply 2-tier classification per references/removal-policy.md:

Tier	Definition	Action
BLOCKER	Structured runtime binding — removal breaks execution	HALT with file:line details
PATCHABLE	Prose/documentation reference — safe to auto-edit	Include in patch plan

Phase 4: Apply (--execute only)

Requires AskUserQuestion confirmation before any changes.

Execution order (patches first, deletes last):

1. Patch PATCHABLE references:
   • Remove the skill's entry from docs/skill-catalog.yml (tracked CLAUDE files carry no command table since R3; still grep them for prose mentions)
   • Remove/update entries in README.md + locale variants (count + detail row)
   • Update prose mentions in other skills/rules
2. Delete target files:
   • For skill type: remove entire skills/<name>/ directory + test/skills/<name>*.test.js
   • For script type: remove scripts/<name>.* + test/scripts/<name>.test.js
   • For hook type: remove hook script + JSON entry + test/hooks/<name>.test.js
   • For other types: remove primary + secondary files per Phase 1 table
   • Remove empty directories after deletion

Note: .claude/CLAUDE.md must be patched directly — do not rely on hook auto-sync for content removal.

Phase 5: Verify

Run type-specific verification from references/removal-policy.md:

# Verify no residual references (excluding archived docs)
grep -rn "^skills:.*<name>" agents/ --include="*.md"
grep -rn "/<name>" CLAUDE.md .claude/CLAUDE.md CLAUDE.template.md README*.md skills/ --include="*.md" | grep -v "archived/"
grep -n "command: /<name>" docs/skill-catalog.yml   # canonical registration surface — must be empty

If residual references found, report them. If clean, output Verification passed.

Output Format

Dry-run Plan

## Safe Remove Plan: <type> <name>

### Target Files (to delete)
| File | Status |
|------|--------|
| skills/<name>/SKILL.md | DELETE |
| test/skills/<name>*.test.js | DELETE (if exists) |

### BLOCKER References (must resolve first)
| File:Line | Pattern | Why |
|-----------|---------|-----|
| agents/foo.md:3 | skills: <name> | Agent skills field |

### PATCHABLE References (auto-fix)
| File:Line | Current | Patch |
|-----------|---------|-------|
| CLAUDE.md:90 | \| /name \| desc \| | REMOVE ROW |
| README.md:308 | \| /name \| desc \| | REMOVE ROW |

### Verdict
- BLOCKER count: N → ⛔ HALT (resolve blockers first)
- BLOCKER count: 0, PATCHABLE count: M → ✅ Ready to execute

Prohibited

• Auto-triggering (always explicit invocation only)
• Deleting without --execute flag + user confirmation
• Removing assets referenced in auto-loop rules without user acknowledgment
• Force-deleting when BLOCKERs exist
• Modifying files outside the removal scope (no side-effect changes)

References

File	Purpose	When to Read
references/removal-policy.md	BLOCKER/PATCHABLE classification rules + per-asset-type matrix	Always (Phase 2-5)

Examples

/safe-remove skill create-skill
→ Dry-run plan showing skill dir + tests to delete + 12 PATCHABLE references

/safe-remove skill create-skill --execute
→ AskUserQuestion → patch 12 refs → delete skill dir + test/skills → verify clean

/safe-remove agent unused-agent
→ Dry-run: 1 file to delete, check for BLOCKER in agents skills: field