| name | change-planning |
| description | Analyze blast radius, check what will break, review changes before commit. Use for pre-commit review, PR risk assessment, planning safe refactors, or checking if changes are safe to merge. NOT for debugging (use debugging) or exploring unfamiliar code (use exploring-codebases). |
| metadata | [object Object] |
Change Planning
Analyze uncommitted git changes and understand their ripple effects through the codebase.
Quick Decision
| Workflow | change_scope | base_ref |
|---|---|---|
| Before staging | "unstaged" |
- |
| Before commit | "staged" |
- |
| All uncommitted | "all" |
- |
| Compare to branch | "compare" |
"main" |
Tool Reference
noodlbox_detect_impact
Detect which processes are affected by git changes.
noodlbox_detect_impact(
repository: "current",
change_scope: "all",
include_content: false,
max_processes: 10
)
Parameters:
change_scope: What changes to analyze (see table above)base_ref: Branch/commit to compare against (for"compare"scope)include_content: Include symbol source code in responsemax_processes: Limit results per page
Risk Assessment
| Metric | Low Risk | Medium Risk | High Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
changed_symbols_count |
< 5 | 5-15 | > 15 |
total_impacted_processes |
< 10 | 10-30 | > 30 |
| Cross-community changes | None | 1-2 | > 2 |
Workflow Checklist
Pre-Commit Review
Pre-Commit Checklist:
- [ ] Run impact detection (scope: staged)
- [ ] Check changed_symbols count
- [ ] Review each impacted_process
- [ ] Verify changes are intentional
- [ ] Split commit if impact > 10 processes
Code Review
Code Review Checklist:
- [ ] Run impact detection (scope: compare, base_ref: target_branch)
- [ ] Check cross-community impact
- [ ] Verify test coverage for impacted areas
- [ ] Flag high-centrality changes
- [ ] Document coordination needs
For detailed workflow guidance, see workflows.md.
Example: Pre-Commit Check
Task: "What will my changes affect before I commit?"
Step 1: Run impact detection
noodlbox_detect_impact(
repository: "current",
change_scope: "staged"
)
→ Summary:
changed_symbols_count: 3
total_impacted_processes: 7
→ Changed symbols:
- validatePayment (src/payments/validator.ts:42) - Modified
- PaymentError (src/payments/errors.ts:15) - Modified
- formatAmount (src/payments/utils.ts:88) - Modified
→ Impacted processes:
- "Checkout flow" (5 steps affected)
- "Payment retry" (3 steps affected)
- "Webhook handler" (2 steps affected)
Step 2: Assess risk
Changed: 3 symbols → Low
Impacted: 7 processes → Low
Cross-community: None → Low
Overall: Low risk
Step 3: Verify intentionality
All impacted processes are payment-related.
Changes are contained within the payments module.
✓ Safe to commit
Checklist for this example:
- [x] Run impact detection (scope: staged)
- [x] Check changed_symbols count (3 - low)
- [x] Review impacted processes (7 - all payment-related)
- [x] Verify changes are intentional (yes, contained)
- [ ] Split commit if needed (not needed)
Output Format
Low Impact (< 10 processes)
## Impact Summary
- **Changed**: 3 symbols in 2 files
- **Affected**: 7 processes
- **Risk**: Low
## Changed Code
| Symbol | File | Type |
|--------|------|------|
| validatePayment | src/payments/validator.ts:42 | Modified |
## Affected Flows
1. **Checkout flow** - 5 steps include changed symbols
- Entry: `handleCheckout` → `processPayment` → `validatePayment`
- Risk: Low (isolated change)
## Recommendations
- [ ] Run payment integration tests
- [ ] Verify checkout flow manually
High Impact (> 10 processes)
Delegate to codebase-analyst agent for detailed analysis.
When to Use Something Else
| Need | Use Instead |
|---|---|
| Explore unfamiliar code | exploring-codebases skill |
| Generate documentation | generating-documentation skill |
| Debug failing code | debugging skill |
| Plan large refactors | refactoring skill |