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Systematic Audit Process

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Overview

Comprehensive, methodical auditing to find issues, inconsistencies, and broken features across a codebase.

Core principle: Define scope → Create checklist → Execute systematically → Report findings → Prioritize fixes.

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When to Use

Use this skill when user wants to:

• Audit entire application for issues
• Find all instances of a problem pattern
• Check for broken features systematically
• Comprehensive quality verification
• Identify inconsistencies across codebase

Do NOT use for:

• Security vulnerability scanning (use skill-security-audit)
• Code quality review (use skill-code-review)
• Single file searches (use Grep/Glob directly)
• Performance profiling

The Process

Phase 1: Scope Definition

Step 1: Understand Audit Objectives

**Audit Objectives:**

What to audit: [app features, code patterns, specific issues]
Why auditing: [what prompted this, what problem are we solving]
Scope: [entire app, specific module, particular feature set]
Depth: [surface-level or deep inspection]

Step 2: Define Audit Criteria

Use AskUserQuestion if needed:

**Audit Focus:**

Which aspects should I audit?
1. Functional - Do features work as expected?
2. Consistency - Are patterns applied uniformly?
3. Completeness - Are implementations finished?
4. Quality - Is code maintainable?
5. User-facing - Does UI/UX work correctly?
6. Integration - Do components work together?

Step 3: Create Audit Plan

**Audit Plan**

**Areas to Cover:**
1. [Area 1: e.g., All form submissions]
2. [Area 2: e.g., All API endpoints]
3. [Area 3: e.g., All button states]
4. [Area 4: e.g., All error handling]

**Methodology:**
- [ ] Identify all instances
- [ ] Test each systematically
- [ ] Document findings
- [ ] Categorize by severity
- [ ] Propose fixes

**Estimated Coverage:** [X components, Y files, Z features]

Phase 2: Discovery

Step 1: Identify Audit Targets

Use Glob and Grep to find all relevant code:

**Finding Audit Targets:**

Searching for: [pattern/feature]
Method: [glob pattern or grep query]

**Found:**
1. [File 1:line]
2. [File 2:line]
3. [File 3:line]
...
N. [File N:line]

Total instances: [N]

Step 2: Create Audit Checklist

**Audit Checklist:**

- [ ] Item 1: [component/feature to check]
  - Location: [file:line]
  - Expected: [what should happen]
  - Test: [how to verify]

- [ ] Item 2: [component/feature to check]
  - Location: [file:line]
  - Expected: [what should happen]
  - Test: [how to verify]

...

Total items to audit: [N]

Use task plan tool to track audit progress.

Phase 3: Systematic Execution

Step 1: Execute Audit Checklist

For each item:

**Auditing Item [N]/[Total]: [Description]**

**Location:** [file:line]

**Check 1: [Test name]**
- Expected: [what should happen]
- Method: [how to test - code review, runtime check, etc.]
- Result: ✓ Pass / ❌ Fail
- Evidence: [what you observed]

**Check 2: [Test name]**
- Expected: [what should happen]
- Method: [how to test]
- Result: ✓ Pass / ❌ Fail
- Evidence: [what you observed]

**Overall Status:** ✓ Pass / ⚠️ Issues Found / ❌ Broken

**Issues:**
[If any issues, list them here]

Step 2: Track Progress

Audit Progress:
✓ [1/50] User login form
✓ [2/50] Password reset form
⚠️ [3/50] Registration form (issues found)
❌ [4/50] Contact form (broken)
⚙️ [5/50] Newsletter signup (in progress)
- [6/50] Survey form
...

Phase 4: Analysis & Reporting

Step 1: Categorize Findings

**Audit Findings Summary**

**Critical Issues (Broken Functionality):**
1. [Issue 1]
   - Location: [file:line]
   - Impact: [what's broken]
   - Severity: Critical

2. [Issue 2]
   - Location: [file:line]
   - Impact: [what's broken]
   - Severity: Critical

**Major Issues (Degraded Functionality):**
1. [Issue 1]
   - Location: [file:line]
   - Impact: [what's wrong]
   - Severity: Major

**Minor Issues (Inconsistencies/Polish):**
1. [Issue 1]
   - Location: [file:line]
   - Impact: [what's inconsistent]
   - Severity: Minor

**Passed Checks:**
- [N] items fully functional
- [List if relevant]

Step 2: Provide Statistics

**Audit Statistics**

Total Items Audited: [N]
✓ Passed: [N] ([X%])
⚠️ Issues Found: [N] ([X%])
❌ Broken: [N] ([X%])

**By Category:**
- Critical: [N]
- Major: [N]
- Minor: [N]

**Coverage:**
- Files reviewed: [N]
- Components tested: [N]
- Code paths verified: [N]

Phase 5: Remediation Plan

Step 1: Prioritize Issues

**Recommended Fix Priority:**

**Phase 1: Critical Fixes (Do First)**
1. [Issue - file:line]
   - Why critical: [reason]
   - Estimated effort: [time]

2. [Issue - file:line]
   - Why critical: [reason]
   - Estimated effort: [time]

**Phase 2: Major Fixes (Do Next)**
1. [Issue - file:line]
   - Impact: [description]
   - Estimated effort: [time]

**Phase 3: Minor Fixes (Nice to Have)**
1. [Issue - file:line]
   - Impact: [description]
   - Estimated effort: [time]

**Total Estimated Effort:** [sum of all fixes]

Step 2: Offer to Execute Fixes

**Next Steps:**

I found [N] issues during the audit.

Would you like me to:
1. Fix all critical issues now (estimated [time])
2. Fix issues one category at a time (critical → major → minor)
3. Let you review findings first, then decide what to fix
4. Create detailed tickets/todos for each issue

What's your preference?

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Audit Entire App for Broken Features

User: "Create a process to audit and check the entire app for things that might be broken"

Implementation:

**Phase 1: Scope**
- Audit all user-facing features
- Check for runtime errors
- Verify expected behavior

**Phase 2: Discovery**
- List all features (from routes, components, docs)
- Create comprehensive checklist

**Phase 3: Execute**
- Test each feature systematically
- Document working vs broken

**Phase 4: Report**
- Critical: Features that crash
- Major: Features that work incorrectly
- Minor: Features with UX issues

**Phase 5: Fix**
- Prioritized remediation plan

Pattern 2: Audit for Specific Pattern

User: "Find all instances of direct DOM manipulation and check if they should use React state"

Implementation:

**Phase 1: Scope**
- Audit: Direct DOM manipulation patterns
- Goal: Identify React anti-patterns

**Phase 2: Discovery**
- Grep for: document.querySelector, getElementById, etc.
- Found: [N] instances

**Phase 3: Execute**
- Check each instance:
  - Is there a good reason for direct DOM?
  - Should it use React state instead?
  - Is it causing bugs?

**Phase 4: Report**
- List instances that should migrate to React
- List instances that are fine as-is

**Phase 5: Fix**
- Refactor problematic instances

Pattern 3: Consistency Audit

User: "Audit the app for button style consistency"

Implementation:

**Phase 1: Scope**
- Audit: All button elements
- Goal: Ensure consistent styling

**Phase 2: Discovery**
- Find all buttons in codebase
- Identify button component(s)

**Phase 3: Execute**
- Check each button against style guide
- Document inconsistencies

**Phase 4: Report**
- Buttons using correct component: [N]
- Buttons with inconsistent styles: [N]
- Buttons using deprecated patterns: [N]

**Phase 5: Fix**
- Standardize all buttons to design system

Integration with Other Skills

With skill-debug

Audit found a broken feature?
→ Use skill-debug to investigate root cause
→ Use systematic debugging to fix

With skill-visual-feedback

Audit found UI inconsistencies?
→ Use skill-visual-feedback to fix visual issues
→ Ensure consistency across app

With skill-iterative-loop

Large audit with many items?
→ Use skill-iterative-loop to process in batches
→ Loop through sections of the app

With skill-security-audit

Audit includes security concerns?
→ Delegate security-specific checks to skill-security-audit
→ Use skill-audit for functional checks

Best Practices

1. Be Systematic, Not Random

Good:

Auditing all form submissions:
1. Login form
2. Registration form
3. Password reset form
4. Contact form
5. Newsletter signup
...
(Methodical, complete)

Poor:

Checking some forms:
- Login form
- Maybe that contact thing
- Whatever else I find
(Random, incomplete)

2. Document Everything

For each audit item, record:

• What was checked
• How it was checked
• Result (pass/fail)
• Evidence (what you observed)

3. Use Categories

Group findings into meaningful categories:

• By severity (critical, major, minor)
• By type (functional, UI, consistency, performance)
• By component (forms, navigation, data display)

4. Make Findings Actionable

Good:

Issue: Registration form submit button doesn't work
Location: src/components/RegisterForm.tsx:45
Root cause: onClick handler missing
Fix: Add onClick={handleSubmit}
Effort: 5 minutes

Poor:

Issue: Some button broken somewhere
Fix: Fix it

Red Flags - Don't Do This

Action	Why It's Wrong
Skip creating checklist	Will miss things, duplicate work
Test randomly without system	Incomplete coverage
Not documenting findings	Can't prioritize or fix later
Audit without clear criteria	Don't know what "pass" means
Fix while auditing	Confuses audit with remediation
Ignore patterns	Miss systemic issues

Audit Templates

Template 1: Functional Feature Audit

**Feature:** [Name]
**Location:** [file:line]

**Tests:**
- [ ] Feature loads without errors
- [ ] Feature responds to user input
- [ ] Feature displays correct data
- [ ] Feature handles errors gracefully
- [ ] Feature works on mobile
- [ ] Feature is accessible

**Result:** ✓ Pass / ⚠️ Issues / ❌ Broken
**Issues:** [if any]

Template 2: Code Pattern Audit

**Pattern:** [What to check]
**Instance:** [file:line]

**Checks:**
- [ ] Follows current best practices
- [ ] Consistent with codebase
- [ ] No deprecated APIs used
- [ ] Properly typed/documented
- [ ] No obvious bugs

**Result:** ✓ Good / ⚠️ Needs update / ❌ Problematic
**Notes:** [any observations]

Template 3: UI Consistency Audit

**Component:** [Name]
**Location:** [file:line]

**Checks:**
- [ ] Uses design system components
- [ ] Follows spacing guidelines
- [ ] Uses correct colors
- [ ] Typography consistent
- [ ] Responsive design works
- [ ] States handled (hover, active, disabled)

**Result:** ✓ Consistent / ⚠️ Minor issues / ❌ Inconsistent
**Issues:** [if any]

Quick Reference

Audit Type	Discovery Method	Check Method	Output
Functional	List features	Test each	Pass/fail report
Pattern	Grep for code	Review each instance	Compliant/non-compliant
Consistency	Find all instances	Compare to standard	Consistent/inconsistent
Completeness	List requirements	Verify each exists	Complete/incomplete

The Bottom Line

Systematic audit → Complete checklist + Methodical execution + Prioritized findings
Otherwise → Missed issues + Duplicate work + No clear action plan

Define scope. Create checklist. Execute systematically. Report findings. Prioritize fixes.