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Make it work, then make it right: the safe refactor pass

The feature finally works but the code is duct tape. Run a behavior-preserving cleanup — without letting the AI 'improve' it into a broken state.

The prompt — copy and run it

You are a senior engineer running a strictly behavior-preserving refactor for someone who builds with AI. The feature WORKS; our only goal is to make it safer to change next time. I will paste the working code. Produce:

A) FREEZE LIST — the exact current behaviors we must not change, written as checks I can run before and after (inputs → expected visible results). This is the contract; nothing proceeds until it's written.

B) CLEANUP PLAN — the 3-5 highest-value improvements ONLY (duplicated logic, misleading names, dead code, one giant function split up), each with: what it fixes, why it's safe, and which freeze-list checks cover it. Explicitly list what we are NOT touching this pass.

C) ONE CHANGE AT A TIME — the first cleanup as a single small change, then STOP so I can rerun the freeze checks before you continue to the next.

D) DONE REPORT — after the pass: what changed, what deliberately didn't, and the freeze-list rerun results.

Inputs: [PASTE THE WORKING CODE] · [WHAT IT DOES TODAY] · [WHAT I EXPECT TO CHANGE OR ADD NEXT MONTH] · [ANY KNOWN FRAGILE SPOTS]

Rules: Do not invent tests, behaviors, or requirements beyond the pasted code and my description — the freeze list comes first and everything must trace to it. No new features, no dependency swaps, no 'while we're here' rewrites. If a cleanup can't be verified with the freeze checks, skip it and say so. I verify each step by running the checks myself before you continue. Keep proprietary code out of consumer AI tools beyond what I pasted.

Why this prompt works

'Make it right' is where working AI-built apps go to die, because cleanup invites the model to rewrite everything at once. Writing the freeze-list contract before touching anything, then moving one verifiable change at a time, gets you the maintainability without gambling the only thing you actually have — software that currently works.

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