refactoring

Refactoring with act

6 MCP refactor tools with preview mode and undo/redo. All tools are tree-sitter based — no LSP required.

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Refactor Tools

rename

Rename a symbol and update all references across the codebase.

rename(file="src/user.ts", old_name="getData", new_name="fetchData", preview=true)

extract_function

Extract a code range into a new named function.

extract_function(file="src/utils.ts", new_name="validateInput", start_line=10, start_column=1, end_line=20, end_column=50, preview=true)

extract_variable

Extract an expression into a named variable.

extract_variable(file="src/calc.ts", new_name="basePrice", start_line=15, start_column=5, end_line=15, end_column=40, preview=true)

inline

Inline a variable or function at all usage sites.

inline(file="src/utils.ts", symbol="tempResult", preview=true)

move_symbol

Move a symbol to a different file, updating all imports.

move_symbol(file="src/models.ts", symbol="UserService", destination="src/services/user.ts", preview=true)

import_organize

Sort and clean up imports in a file.

import_organize(file="src/main.ts", preview=true)

Workflow

1. Preview first — Set preview=true (or omit — default is false, so always set it explicitly for safety)
2. Review the diff — Check the returned FileChange[] array
3. Apply — Re-run with preview=false
4. Verify — Run diagnostics(file="...") to check for introduced errors
5. Undo if needed — history_undo(preview=true) then history_undo()

History (Undo/Redo)

history_list(limit=10)   # See recent operations
history_undo(count=1)    # Undo last operation
history_redo(count=1)    # Redo undone operation

Safety Rules

1. Always preview before applying — especially for rename and move_symbol which affect multiple files
2. Run diagnostics after each batch of refactors — catch introduced errors immediately
3. Batch independent operations in parallel — operations that touch different symbols/files can run concurrently. This is the primary efficiency advantage of act. Only sequence operations that depend on each other's output.
4. Undo immediately if diagnostics show new errors — don't stack more refactors on top of a broken state
5. Don't create files manually — operations like move_symbol, extract-class, and extract-interface create destination files automatically. Never write a file just so an operation can target it.

Compound Refactoring

Complex refactors often require sequences of operations. See compound-sequences.md for patterns like extract-then-rename, move-then-organize, and decompose-god-class.

Code Generation

After structural refactoring (extract class, extract interface), the new type often needs boilerplate. See the code-generation skill for batch generation of constructors, accessors, equals, hash, serialization, and other derived methods.

Full Operation Catalog

The act CLI supports ~160 refactor operations beyond the 6 MCP tools (generate-constructor, convert-async, wrap-try-catch, etc). See operation-catalog.md for the complete list organized by category. These are available via the CLI but not yet exposed as individual MCP tools.

Error Recovery

See error-recovery.md for handling common failures.