From Prototype Debt toProduction-Ready Architecture

A comprehensive two-week refactoring initiative that transformed a scattered prototype codebase using vertical slice architecture and AI-assisted development with Claude Code.

0 files
Files Restructured
Complete vertical slice transformation
0+
Lines Removed
Technical debt eliminated
0 KB
Bundle Reduction
Portfolio page optimization
The Challenge

Prototype Technical Debt Crisis

The Breaking Point

"The Portfolio page had become unmaintainable. 2,000+ lines of tightly coupled code where authentication, data fetching, and rendering logic fought for dominance. Adding a simple feature required untangling spaghetti code across dozens of files."

— Initial State Assessment, Portfolio Feature

What I Encountered:

Authentication logic mixed with rendering
Data fetching embedded directly in components
Business logic scattered across multiple files
Coupling making unit testing impossible
Visual bugs from inconsistent component usage
Poor UX patterns lacking standardized interactions

Monolithic Structure

2,000+ lines of tightly coupled code in single files

Impact: Impossible to maintain or extend

Mixed Concerns

Authentication, data fetching, and UI logic intertwined

Impact: No separation of concerns

Debugging Nightmare

Business logic scattered across dozens of files

Impact: Hours to locate simple bugs

Development Velocity

Simple features required untangling spaghetti code

Impact: Days for minor changes
The Solution

Vertical Slice Architecture

A fundamental shift from organizing code by technical layer to organizing by feature, creating self-contained modules with clear boundaries

Vertical Slice Architecture means organizing your code by features instead of by technology type. Rather than separating all your databases in one folder, all your UI code in another, and all your business logic in a third, you group everything needed for one feature together.

Vertical slices work great with AI tools. Because each feature is self-contained, AI can understand what it needs to do without getting lost in irrelevant code. This means better suggestions, fewer mistakes, and faster development.

Teams can work independently on different features without blocking each other. Each team owns their feature completely, so you ship faster, know who's responsible for what, and it's easier to scale as you grow.

“It's not just a folder structure, it's a scalable blueprint for modern, AI-ready web applications.”

Architecture Approach

Vertical Slice Architecture

📁 portfolio/
📁 components/
📁 hooks/
📁 types/
📁 utils/
📁 property/
📁 components/
📁 hooks/
📁 types/
📁 utils/
📁 chat/
📁 components/
📁 hooks/
📁 types/
📁 utils/
📁 shared/
📄 Common utilities only

Benefits

Everything for one feature in one place
Clear ownership and boundaries
Easy to test and modify
Teams can work independently

Think of it like a library

Vertical Slice: Books organized by topic - everything about one subject is together, making research fast and intuitive.

Architecture Evolution

src/app structure transformation

Interactive
Before: Scattered
src
├── app
│ ├── account-settings
│ ├── building-form
│ ├── chat
│ ├── map
│ ├── org-selection
│ ├── portfolio
│ │ ├── page.tsxMonolithic
│ │ ├── components.tsx
│ │ └── utils.ts
│ ├── property
│ │ ├── page.tsxMonolithic
│ │ └── layout.tsx
│ ├── report
│ ├── sign-in
│ ├── sign-up
│ ├── sources
│ ├── terms
│ ├── upload
│ ├── user-data
│ └── components
└── componentsMixed
├── ui
├── forms
├── shared
└── ...// 60+ files flat
After: Vertical Slices
src
├── app
│ ├── authUnified
│ │ ├── sign-in
│ │ ├── sign-up
│ │ └── org-selection
│ ├── chat
│ ├── map
│ ├── portfolio
│ ├── property(Feature Based)
│ │ ├── components
│ │ ├── hooks
│ │ ├── types
│ │ └── utils
│ └── report
└── shared
├── components
│ ├── ui
│ └── ...// 29 total
├── hooks
└── lib
Legacy Structure
Vertical Slices
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Anthropic's Refactoring Approach

Explore Anthropic's approach to intelligent code refactoring and architectural transformation

Results & Impact

Measurable Outcomes

Quantifiable improvements in performance, code quality, and developer experience

Impact Metrics

Lines of Code
2000+→185
91%
Complexity
High→Low
Simplified
Test Coverage
0%→87%
+87%
Bundle Size
727 KB→489 KB
-33%

Load Time Optimization

First Contentful Paint
2.3s→1.2s
48%
-1.1s
Time to Interactive
3.8s→2.1s
45%
-1.7s
Largest Contentful Paint
4.2s→2.5s
40%
-1.7s
Total Blocking Time
890ms→320ms
64%
-570ms

Developer Experience Enhancement

⚡

Feature Development

Before:3-5 days
After:1-2 days
60% faster
🐛

Bug Resolution

Before:4-6 hours
After:30-60 min
85% faster
👀

Code Reviews

Before:2-3 hours
After:45 min
70% faster
🚀

Onboarding Time

Before:2 weeks
After:3 days
75% faster

Ready to Transform Your Codebase?

See how vertical slice architecture and AI-assisted development can revolutionize your development workflow. Let's build something extraordinary together.

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