compress-commentslisted
Install: claude install-skill mickzijdel/dev-hooks
# compress-comments
Review the comments this session's work added and cut them down. AI-authored comments skew
verbose: they restate the code, narrate the change, or argue with an imagined reviewer. One
rule decides everything:
> **A comment survives only if it states something the code cannot show** — a constraint,
> invariant, gotcha, why-not-the-obvious-way, spec/issue link, or domain fact.
Delete-biased: when in doubt, delete. Compress only when a real "why" is buried in
verbosity — keep the why, drop the narration.
## Find the comments
Judge only comments on lines this session's work added or changed. Never touch pre-existing
comments.
- **On a feature branch**: `git diff $(git merge-base main HEAD)` for committed work plus
`git diff HEAD` for uncommitted work (substitute `master` where that's the default branch).
Untracked new files are entirely yours — review all their comments.
- **On the default branch itself**: review the commits you remember making this session
(`git log --oneline` to jog memory; your commits carry the Claude co-author trailer), plus
the uncommitted diff.
## Dispositions
| Disposition | When |
|---|---|
| **Delete** (default) | The comment fails the survival rule: code-echo, change narration, planning forensics, reviewer justification, section headers, leftovers — see [references/comment-smells.md](references/comment-smells.md) for the taxonomy with examples. |
| **Compress** | A real why is buried in narration: rewrite to just the