Code complexity trends

Severity: Optional

Code complexity is a leading indicator of technical debt. Tracking trends helps catch debt accumulation early.

Check automatically:

# Look for complexity tooling config
find . -maxdepth 3 -type f \( -name ".codeclimate*" -o -name "sonar-project.properties" -o -name ".plato*" -o -name "complexity-report*" \) 2>/dev/null

# Check for complexity in CI
grep -riE "complexity|codeclimate|sonarqube|sonar|plato" .github/workflows/ .circleci/ .gitlab-ci.yml Jenkinsfile 2>/dev/null

# Look for eslint complexity rules
grep -riE "complexity|max-depth|max-nested" .eslintrc* eslint.config* 2>/dev/null

Ask user:

• "Is code complexity measured?" (ESLint rules, SonarQube, CodeClimate, manual audits)
• "Can you see trends over time?" (dashboard, reports, CI history)
• "Are there thresholds that fail builds or warn?"

Common tools:

Tool	What it measures
ESLint complexity rule	Cyclomatic complexity per function
SonarQube	Complexity, duplication, code smells
CodeClimate	Maintainability grade, complexity
Plato	JS complexity reports

Pass criteria:

• Complexity measured (at least ESLint rule or equivalent)
• Trend visible (reports over time, or CI history)
• Team aware of complexity hotspots

Fail criteria:

• No complexity measurement
• Measured but not tracked over time
• Thresholds exist but always ignored/overridden

Cross-reference with:

• Section 8 (CRAP score)
• Section 28 (Code Architecture - SOLID, quality tools)

Evidence to capture:

• Complexity tools in use
• Thresholds configured
• Whether trends are tracked
• Recent complexity scores (if available)

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