version: "1.0.1" name: polish-code description: "Stage, format, lint, test, review, smoke test, and re-run itself until stable. Use when the user asks to \"polish code\", \"refine code\", \"iterate on code quality\", \"review loop\", \"clean up, test, and review loop\", or \"run the polish loop\"."

Polish Code

Task Tracking

At the start of every invocation (including re-runs from Step 7), use update_plan to track each step:

1. Run $stage skill
2. Deterministic cleanup
3. Run $review-code skill
4. Run $evaluate-findings skill
5. Run $apply-findings skill
6. Run $smoke-test skill
7. Re-run $polish-code skill if changed

Step 1: Run $stage Skill

Run the $stage skill.

Step 2: Deterministic Cleanup

Run the project's full verification gate: every check it defines as a pass/fail condition. The goal is that passing this step means the project's own checks (and CI, where it exists) pass. Build the gate by combining every source below that the project declares (sources 1-3); run the baseline (source 4) only when the project declares none of them:

1. CI config — where present, it is the authoritative gate; run the checks it enforces.
2. Check scripts — package-manager scripts (check, verify, lint, typecheck), Makefile or Taskfile targets, or a combined format+lint script.
3. Configured tools — any tool with a config committed to the repo, such as a dead-code or unused-dependency gate. A committed config means the project treats the tool as a gate; run it even when no script or CI invokes it. Do not run such a tool when the project has not configured it; unconfigured runs are discovery, which belongs to $find-dead-code.
4. Baseline — when the project declares nothing more, run the formatter, then the linter, then the test suite.

Run the formatter first so later checks see formatted code, then the rest. Fix any failure the tools do not auto-resolve. For test failures, run the $investigate skill to diagnose the root cause, apply the suggested fix, and re-run; if investigation finds no root cause, stop and report with its findings.

Stage all changes made in this step before continuing.

Step 3: Run $review-code Skill

Run the $review-code skill on the staged changes. The diff command is git diff --cached.

Step 4: Run $evaluate-findings Skill

Run the $evaluate-findings skill on the results from Step 3.

Step 5: Run $apply-findings Skill

Run the $apply-findings skill on the evaluated results.

Stage all changes made in this step before continuing.

Step 6: Run $smoke-test Skill

Run the $smoke-test skill to produce the smoke test plan. Delegate test execution to a Codex sub-agent with inherited model defaults. Pass the plan and the diff command (git diff --cached) into the sub-agent's context.

If any test fails, fix the issues and stage the fixes.

Step 7: Re-run $polish-code Skill if Changed

Check whether any file was edited during Steps 5-6. Any edit counts.

The iteration number below refers to the $polish-code run currently executing Step 7. It is not the iteration number of a prospective re-run. Iteration 1 is the initial run; iteration 2 is the first auto-re-run; iteration 3 is the second auto-re-run; iteration 4 and beyond exist only when the user opts in at the hard-cap ask. Iterations 1 and 2 always follow the classification gate (they never trigger the hard cap at their own Step 7, even when the auto-re-run they spawn would be iteration 3). The hard cap fires at the end of iteration 3 and every iteration thereafter.

Iterations 1 and 2, if changes were made, classify what Steps 5-6 edited:

• Structural edits (fixed bugs, new or removed functions, changed function signatures, moved code between files, changed control flow, added or removed dependencies, corrected a stale or wrong comment that was itself a documentation bug) — run $polish-code again as a fresh skill invocation. Scope the diff command to only the files modified in Steps 5-6: use git diff --cached -- <file1> <file2> ... as the diff command for $review-code. Smoke test scope remains unchanged (full feature scope, not file-narrowed). If the round contains both structural and in-place edits, treat it as structural and re-run automatically.
• In-place edits only (renamed local variables without changing behavior, reformatted, adjusted whitespace, edited neutral comments) — output a summary of what changed, then use request_user_input to ask whether to run one more round or stop here. Do not silently continue or silently stop.

Iterations 1 and 2, if changes were made but you believe re-running is unnecessary, use request_user_input to ask for skip permission. Do not skip silently.

Iteration 3 or later, if Steps 5-6 of this run made changes, the hard cap is reached. This replaces the classification gate above for iteration 3 and every iteration after it. Output a summary of what is still changing and whether it is structural or in-place. Then use request_user_input to offer three options: continue for another iteration, stop here and accept the current state, or escalate to $consult-oracle for a different perspective on the remaining issues.

The re-invocation is a full, fresh run of this skill. Every step (1-7) executes with its own task tracking and skill invocations. "Scoped to modified files" only affects the diff command passed to $review-code. It does not affect which steps run or whether skills are invoked.

Then update or check the active plan and proceed to any remaining task.

Rules

• Every step must run in every iteration. $review-code covers correctness, security, consistency, API usage, coverage, and simplicity across parallel internal reviewers plus peer review. $evaluate-findings is a judgment gate that must run before $apply-findings.
• Each step must invoke its designated skill by reading and following that installed skill's instructions, not by substituting inline reasoning.
• Re-invocations from Step 7 are full runs with fresh task tracking and complete skill invocations.