Instructions

Read all references in references/ before using this skill.

What is a Squatter?

A squatter is a module or package that occupies a namespace position it does not semantically own.

In real estate, squatters occupy property without legal claim. In codebases, squatters occupy import paths without conceptual legitimacy. They exist because:

1. Agentic programming prioritizes "make it work" over "make it belong"
2. Domain modeling was deferred — the code landed somewhere expedient
3. Compensatory naming masked the misplacement (e.g., las_fields.py instead of las/fields.py)

Squatters degrade navigability. A developer (or agent) cannot guess where code lives because the filesystem lies about ownership.

Central Invariant

Every module should be importable from a path that a domain expert would guess correctly.

If a module name compensates for weak structure, or sits beside a package it should be inside, the filesystem is lying about the domain model.

Signals

• Reviewing package structure after significant growth
• Noticing common/, utils/, or helpers/ packages
• Seeing modules with underscore prefixes matching sibling package names (e.g., las_fields.py beside las/)
• Finding single-function modules that only wrap a foreign dependency
• Observing imports that cross architectural layers upward

References

Directory: references/

• 01_GOAL.md — What this skill accomplishes
• 02_DEFINITIONS.md — Vocabulary for squatters and namespace violations
• 03_INVARIANTS.md — Rules that determine violations
• 04_HEURISTICS.md — Detection patterns and signals
• 05_PROCEDURE.md — Step-by-step audit process
• 06_REMEDIATION.md — Refactoring directions (hypotheses, not mandates)
• 07_OUTPUT.md — Report format and severity classification

Scripts

Directory: scripts/

• detect.sh: Scan for structural smells (macOS/Linux/WSL)
• detect.ps1: Scan for structural smells (Windows)

Usage

# Scan a package for squatters
.codex/skills/refactor/squatters/scripts/detect.sh pulsar/api

# Scan with specific pattern focus
.codex/skills/refactor/squatters/scripts/detect.sh pulsar/api --pattern utility-dump
.codex/skills/refactor/squatters/scripts/detect.sh pulsar/api --pattern stuttery-sibling