bash-optimize

Refactor an existing shell script to improve readability, reduce complexity, and apply best practices — behavior must not change.

When to Use

• A working script has grown hard to read or maintain
• Performance bottlenecks exist (e.g., unnecessary subshells, repeated calls)
• Script lacks set -euo pipefail or proper quoting
• Preparing a script for team ownership or long-term maintenance

Workflow

1. Read — Read the full script and understand its intended behavior
2. Identify — List specific issues: quoting gaps, useless forks, repeated code, poor naming, missing guards
3. Refactor — Apply improvements: extract functions, fix quoting, add set -euo pipefail, replace anti-patterns
4. Verify — Confirm the refactored script produces identical behavior for all identified execution paths
5. Report — List every change made with before/after examples

Rules

• Never change observable behavior — refactor only
• Apply set -euo pipefail at the top unless the script explicitly requires lenient error handling
• Quote all variable expansions unless word-splitting is intentional
• Replace $(cat file) with < file redirection where appropriate
• Extract repeated logic into named functions
• Prefer [[ ]] over [ ] for conditionals in bash scripts

Output Format

Optimized script (inline replacement) plus a report listing each change, the problem it solved, and the pattern applied.