Nino Benvenuti

✂️ TRIM REAPER Coming for your dependencies. Third-party libraries must all die. Here’s the workflow, run these one at a time with your coding agent. 1️⃣ REMOVE CONFIRMED UNUSED DEPENDENCIES Establish the build and test baseline. Check application code, dynamic loading, plugins, configuration, scripts, tests, and build/deployment tooling. Treat scanner findings as candidates to investigate. Remove confirmed unused libraries and let the package manager prune orphaned transitive dependencies. Verify and report each removal. 2️⃣ USE THE STANDARD LIBRARY Replace functionality already covered by the language’s standard library or supported platform APIs. Preserve behavior, error handling, and runtime compatibility. Verify edge cases before removing each dependency. 3️⃣ REPLACE SIMPLE FUNCTIONALITY Replace narrowly scoped utilities with small, maintainable modules and focused tests. Judge simplicity by correctness and maintenance burden, not line count. Defer anything that reveals substantial complexity. 4️⃣ CONSOLIDATE OVERLAPPING LIBRARIES Where practical, use supported APIs from a library the project already requires. Remove redundant dependencies while preserving behavior and avoiding significant new coupling. Explain why the retained library fits best. 5️⃣ REDUCE HEAVY DEPENDENCY TREES Find libraries pulling in large subtrees for functionality you barely use. Consider supported minimal packages, removing unused optional integrations, or existing alternatives. Compare resolved dependency graphs. Never remove a transitive package still required by a retained dependency. 6️⃣ SEPARATE DEVELOPMENT FROM PRODUCTION Correct the scope of build, test, and development dependencies. Exclude them from production artifacts where supported. Verify a clean production installation and representative runtime flows. Report scope changes separately from actual removals. 7️⃣ EVALUATE LARGER REPLACEMENTS Compare implementation effort, code added, security, correctness, performance, and ongoing maintenance. Implement only bounded replacements with a clear net benefit and adequate verification. Retain specialized libraries when replacement is a poor tradeoff. 8️⃣ VERIFY THE FINAL RESULT Verify a clean, reproducible installation, build, tests, and representative application flows. Update manifests, lockfiles, documentation, and any existing SBOM. Report: • Direct and transitive dependencies removed • Production scope changes • Local code added • Dependencies retained and why • Checks you could not complete Every dependency should justify its maintenance cost. So should every replacement.