technical-debt-assessor

Assess and quantify technical debt with cost-to-fix and cost-to-carry estimates.

2|Updated Jan 31, 2026

Search Tags:#code quality #refactoring #technical debt #developer productivity #roi #software economics

Ready to run

npx skills add https://github.com/michaelalber/ai-toolkit --skill technical-debt-assessor

💬 Prompt for ChatGPT / Claude Chat▼

Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: technical-debt-assessor
Source: https://github.com/michaelalber/ai-toolkit/tree/main/skills/technical-debt-assessor
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/michaelalber/ai-toolkit --skill technical-debt-assessor

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

This Skill helps you identify, quantify, and build business cases for addressing technical debt, transforming vague complaints into actionable financial justifications for improvement.

Core Features & Use Cases

Debt Identification & Classification: Distinguish deliberate vs. accidental debt across categories like architecture, code, tests, documentation, infrastructure, and dependencies.
Quantification: Estimate cost-to-fix (principal) and cost-to-carry (interest per sprint).
Business Case Construction: Translate technical findings into ROI-driven proposals to secure funding for debt reduction.
Use Case: A team suspects technical debt is slowing down feature delivery. This Skill helps them precisely measure the cost of that debt and present a compelling case to management for allocating sprint time to fix it.

Quick Start

Use the technical-debt-assessor skill to analyze the provided codebase description for technical debt.

Frequently Asked Questions about technical-debt-assessor

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema

How do I quantify technical debt to justify refactoring to management?▼

You quantify technical debt by calculating cost-to-fix as principal and cost-to-carry as interest per sprint, translating technical findings into an ROI-driven business case to secure funding for refactoring.

What is the difference between deliberate and accidental technical debt?▼

Deliberate technical debt is intentionally incurred for short-term delivery speed, while accidental debt emerges from poor design or coding practices. This Skill classifies debt types to help prioritize remediation strategies accurately.

How do I calculate the cost-to-carry interest for code debt per sprint?▼

Calculate cost-to-carry interest by estimating the ongoing financial impact and developer productivity loss that specific code debt categories inflict each sprint. This quantification supports prioritizing which technical debt to fix first.

Can I assess infrastructure and dependency debt without external code analysis tools?▼

Yes, you can assess infrastructure and dependency debt by providing a codebase description. The Skill analyzes architecture, code, tests, documentation, and dependencies internally without requiring external analysis tool integrations.

What is the best way to build a business case for technical debt remediation?▼

The best way to build a technical debt remediation business case is to classify debt categories, quantify cost-to-fix and cost-to-carry metrics, and generate an ROI-driven proposal that demonstrates financial impact to stakeholders.

When should I prioritize technical debt reduction over new feature delivery?▼

Prioritize technical debt reduction when cost-to-carry interest significantly impacts developer productivity and slows feature delivery. Quantifying these financial costs helps determine when refactoring provides a higher ROI than new features.