code-towel 1.0.4

A Python tool that DRYs your code - finds and refactors repeated code using unification-based analysis

Towel

A Python tool that DRYs your code.

Towel automatically detects and refactors violations of the DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principle in Python codebases using unification algorithms from automated theorem proving.

Testing Status

• Unit Tests: 125/125 passing (100%)
• Observational Equivalence: 175/175 refactoring proposals pass automated behavioral equivalence testing
• Test Coverage: 18 example files with comprehensive edge cases

All refactorings are verified to behave identically to the original code through automated observational equivalence testing.

Quick Start

The tool uses only Python stdlib with zero external dependencies.

Using Just (Recommended)

The easiest way to use the tool is with just:

# Install just: brew install just (macOS) or cargo install just

# Preview refactoring opportunities (read-only)
just preview test_examples/

# Apply refactorings to a new directory
just dry test_examples/ cleaned_examples/

# Apply refactorings in-place (overwrites original)
just dry my_code/ my_code/

# Run tests
just test

# Check test coverage
just coverage-unification

# See all commands
just --list

CLI Commands

After installation, Towel provides three main commands:

# Preview duplicates (read-only)
towel preview <file_or_directory>

# Apply refactorings
towel dry <input> <output>

# Rename extracted functions with LLM assistance
towel rename-helpers <directory>

Direct Script Usage

You can also run the scripts directly without installation:

# Preview duplicates (read-only)
python3 scripts/preview <file_or_directory>

# Refactor code (writes to output location)
python3 scripts/dry <input> <output>

Features

• Zero External Dependencies: Uses only Python standard library
• Unification-Based Analysis: Advanced algorithm from automated theorem proving
• Hygienic Code Generation: Generates functions with hygienically renamed parameters to avoid name conflicts. The generated parameter names like __param_0 are intentionally generic and can be renamed to more meaningful names using an LLM coding assistant for better readability.
• Referential Transparency: Preserves referential transparency and maintains program semantics through careful scope analysis
• Safe Refactoring:
  • Alpha-renaming for loop variables (treats i and j as equivalent)
  • Return value propagation (detects returns anywhere in block)
  • Orphan variable detection (prevents unsafe extractions)
  • Builtin filtering (never parameterizes len, print, etc.)
  • F-string handling (correct AST manipulation)
• Smart Parameterization:
  • Constant parameterization (different numbers/strings become parameters)
  • Structural comparison (only extracts truly similar code)
  • Max parameter limits (prevents over-parameterization)
• Class-Aware Method Extraction:
  • Promotes duplicate methods into the nearest shared base class when possible
  • Preserves decorators (@classmethod, @staticmethod) and implicit binders (self/cls)
  • Rewrites call sites across files to dispatch through the new helper correctly
  • Falls back gracefully when no safe shared ancestor exists
• Cross-File Support: Automatically handles duplicates spanning multiple files
• Comprehensive Testing:
  • 175/175 refactoring proposals pass observational equivalence testing
  • 125 unit tests passing (100%)
  • Automatic observational equivalence testing verifies refactored code behaves identically to original
  • Tests 175 refactoring proposals across 18 example files automatically
  • Intelligent test input generation based on AST analysis
  • Recursive testing of returned functions (closures)
  • See tests/OBSERVATIONAL_EQUIVALENCE.md for details

Installation

For Users

# Install from PyPI (zero external dependencies)
pip install code-towel

# Or install from source
git clone https://github.com/ericeallen/towel.git
cd towel
pip install -e .

For Developers

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# Install with dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Alternatively, install the specific tools you need
pip install black flake8 mypy coverage

Optional: Enhanced Progress Bars

For nicer progress bars during analysis, you can optionally install tqdm:

pip install tqdm

Without tqdm, Towel still works perfectly with zero dependencies - it just uses simpler progress indicators.

Usage

Preview Mode (Read-Only)

Preview refactoring opportunities without modifying files:

# Preview a single file
python3 preview.py my_code.py

# Preview a directory
python3 preview.py src/

Refactoring Mode

Apply refactorings to code:

# Refactor to a new location (safe - doesn't overwrite)
python3 dry.py src/ src_refactored/

# Refactor a single file
python3 dry.py my_code.py my_code_clean.py

# Refactor in-place (overwrites original)
python3 dry.py src/ src/
python3 dry.py src/ src/ --progress detail --max-iterations 0  # verbose unlimited
python3 dry.py src/ src/ --progress none --max-iterations 100  # quiet capped

Examples

Preview duplicates in test examples:

just preview test_examples/

Refactor a project to a new location:

just dry my_project/ my_project_refactored/

Test the tool with coverage:

just coverage-unification

Renaming Extracted Helpers with LLM Assistance

After running the DRY tool, extracted functions are named __extracted_func_* with generic parameter names like __param_0. Towel includes an interactive tool that uses LLM assistance to rename these into meaningful, human-readable names:

# Interactive mode: Generate LLM prompt and apply suggestions
towel rename-helpers src/

# List all extracted helpers
towel rename-helpers src/ --list

# Apply renamings from a JSON file
towel rename-helpers src/ --rename-file renames.json

# Dry run (preview only)
towel rename-helpers src/ --dry-run

# Limit to specific files or functions
towel rename-helpers src/ --file mymodule.py
towel rename-helpers src/ --function __extracted_func_7

How It Works

The rename-helpers command works in two modes:

1. Interactive Mode (default):

• Analyzes all __extracted_func_* functions in your code
• Generates a prompt showing each function's code
• You paste this prompt into Claude Code, ChatGPT, or any LLM
• The LLM suggests meaningful names based on what each function does
• You paste the LLM's JSON response back
• Towel automatically renames all references throughout your codebase

2. File Mode (--rename-file):

• Provide a JSON file mapping old names to new names
• Towel applies these renamings across your entire codebase

Example workflow:

# Run the refactoring tool
towel dry src/ src_cleaned/

# Use LLM to rename extracted functions
towel rename-helpers src_cleaned/
# (Follow the interactive prompts to get LLM suggestions)

The tool uses smart regex-based renaming to update all function definitions and calls throughout your project.

How It Works

The tool uses unification from automated theorem proving to detect and parameterize duplicates:

1. Parsing: Parses Python files into ASTs using the ast module
2. Block Extraction: Extracts all contiguous code blocks from functions
3. Unification: Uses a nominal unification algorithm to find blocks that can be unified:
   • Matches AST structure recursively
   • Allows alpha-renaming of loop variables (i ≈ j)
   • Parameterizes differing constants and expressions
   • Respects Python builtin names and scoping rules
4. Orphan Detection: Validates that extraction won't create undefined variable references
5. Function Extraction: Generates hygienically-renamed extracted functions
6. Replacement Generation: Creates function calls with correct parameter order
7. Cross-File Support: Handles duplicates across multiple files with import generation

Safety Guarantees

The tool ensures safe refactorings by:

• Orphan Variable Detection: Never extracts code that binds variables used later
• Return Value Propagation: Detects return statements anywhere in block
• Alpha-Renaming: Treats loop variables i, j, k as equivalent binding constructs
• Builtin Filtering: Never parameterizes Python builtins (len, print, range, etc.)
• F-String Handling: Correct AST manipulation for f-strings (never parameterizes literal parts)
• Comprehension Scoping: Respects that comprehension variables are local to the comprehension
• Structural Similarity: Only unifies blocks with >60% structural similarity

Advanced Features

Class-Aware Helper Promotion – Duplicate instance, class, or static methods are automatically lifted into their nearest shared base class, even across different files:

• Builds an inheritance table while scanning the project
• Chooses the most specific shared ancestor for the extracted helper
• Preserves method semantics (decorators, implicit parameters, and call dispatch)
• Emits the helper in the ancestor class and rewrites original methods to dispatch through it, inserting imports only when needed

Orphan Variable Detection – Prevents unsafe extractions that would create undefined variables:

# Rejects this unsafe extraction:
def compute():
  x = 10
  y = 20
  total = x + y
  return total  # Would leave 'total' undefined if lines 1-3 extracted alone

Return Value Propagation – Detects returns anywhere in code blocks:

# Correctly generates: return extracted_func()
if x > 100:
  return y * 2  # Nested return automatically detected

Alpha-Renaming for Loop Variables - Treats i, j, k as equivalent binding variables:

for i in range(10):  # Unifies with
for j in range(10):  # this block

Progress & Iteration Feedback

The directory fixed-point refactoring loop supports progress modes via --progress:

Mode	Description
tqdm	Rich progress bar (applied count + queued proposals).
auto	Attempts tqdm; falls back to single-line textual bar.
none	Suppresses progress output (quiet / CI).
detail	Verbose: lists discovered proposals (first 25) and localized follow-ups.

refactor_directory_to_fixed_point returns (results_dict, termination_reason) where termination_reason is fixed_point (no proposals remain) or iteration_cap (stopped due to --max-iterations N). Use --max-iterations 0 (default) for unlimited iterations until a fixed point.

Example (detail mode):

[towel] Analyzing 26 file(s)...
[towel] Discovered 128 proposal(s)
  1. Extract common code from state_machine_pattern_v1 and state_machine_pattern_v2
  2. Extract common code from deeply_nested_computation_v1 and deeply_nested_computation_v2
  ...

Localized follow-ups: after each applied proposal the engine re-analyzes only changed files and prepends new opportunities to the queue for faster chained extraction.

Testing

Observational Equivalence Testing

Towel includes automatic observational equivalence testing that verifies refactored code behaves identically to the original:

# Run observational equivalence tests
just test-observational

# Run comprehensive automatic tests on all 18 example files
python -m unittest tests.test_observational_equivalence.TestAutomaticObservationalEquivalence -v

Features:

• 175/175 proposals pass (100%) across 18 example files
• No manual test configuration needed - extracts function names from proposals
• Intelligent test input generation using AST analysis:
  • Detects tuple unpacking: for a, b in pairs: → generates [('a', 1), ('b', 2)]
  • Detects dictionary access: data['key'] → generates {'key': 'value'}
  • Uses type annotations and parameter name heuristics
• Recursive testing: When functions return functions (closures), tests the returned functions for behavioral equivalence
• 100% success rate - all refactorings preserve program behavior

See tests/OBSERVATIONAL_EQUIVALENCE.md for complete documentation.

Unit Tests

Run the comprehensive unit test suite:

# Run all 125 unit tests (100% passing)
just test

# Run with coverage
just coverage-unification

# Generate HTML coverage report
just coverage-html

# Test specific aspects
just test-bindings    # Binding constructs (for loops, comprehensions)
just test-returns     # Return value propagation
just test-fstrings    # F-string handling
just test-orphans     # Orphan variable detection
just test-engine      # End-to-end refactoring

### Fast Smoke Suite

During inner-loop development you can run a curated fast subset (proposal generation, stability, and observational equivalence on representative examples) instead of the full suite:

```bash
just test-smoke

Use this for quick validation (< a few minutes). Run the full suite (just test or just test-all) before pushing or releasing.

## Project Structure

src/towel/ # Core package (towel for compatibility) └── unification/ # Unification-based refactoring system ├── refactor_engine.py # Main refactoring engine ├── unifier.py # Nominal unification algorithm ├── extractor.py # Hygienic function extraction ├── scope_analyzer.py # Variable scope analysis ├── orphan_detector.py # Orphan variable detection └── builtins.py # Python builtin filtering

scripts/ ├── dry # Main refactoring tool ├── preview # Read-only preview tool └── verify-examples # Verification tool

tests/ # 125 comprehensive unit tests test_examples/ # 18 example files with duplicates docs/ # Documentation

## Examples

The `test_examples/` directory contains examples with DRY violations:

- `example1_simple.py`: Simple repeated validation logic
- `example4_complex.py`: Complex data processing loops
- `bindings_for_loops.py`: Loop variable edge cases
- `bindings_comprehensions.py`: List/dict/set comprehensions
- `return_values.py`: Return value propagation scenarios
- `fstrings_constants.py`: F-string and constant handling

## Justfile Commands

Run `just --list` to see all commands, or `just help` for detailed help.

### Common Commands

```bash
# For users
just dry <input> <output>   # Refactor code (writes to output)
just preview <target>       # Preview duplicates (read-only)
just help                   # Show detailed help

# For developers
just test                   # Run all 97 unit tests
just coverage-unification   # Check coverage (91%)
just coverage-html          # Generate HTML coverage report
just check                  # Run all code quality checks (format, lint, typecheck)
just clean                  # Clean generated files
just reset-examples         # Reset example files to original state

# Documentation
just docs                  # Show usage guide
just docs-cross-file       # Show cross-file refactoring docs
just docs-directory        # Show directory usage docs

Examples

# Analyze test examples
just analyze test_examples

# Preview what would change in src/
just preview src/

# Run all tests
just test-all

# Apply refactoring to example3
just refactor-example3

Python API - Unification-Based Approach

The tool uses a unification-based approach for principled refactoring:

from towel.unification.refactor_engine import UnificationRefactorEngine

# Create engine
engine = UnificationRefactorEngine(
    max_parameters=5,  # Max parameters for extracted functions
    min_lines=4        # Minimum lines for code blocks
)

# Analyze entire directory (finds cross-file duplicates)
proposals = engine.analyze_directory("src/")

# Apply refactorings
for proposal in proposals:
    modified_files = engine.apply_refactoring_multi_file(proposal)
    for file_path, content in modified_files.items():
        with open(file_path, 'w') as f:
            f.write(content)

See docs/USAGE_GUIDE.md for complete API documentation.

Documentation

• docs/USAGE_GUIDE.md - Complete usage guide
• docs/CROSS_FILE_REFACTORING.md - Cross-file refactoring details
• docs/README_DIRECTORY_USAGE.md - Directory analysis guide
• docs/UNIFICATION_IMPLEMENTATION.md - Implementation details
• docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md - Common issues and solutions
• docs/JUSTFILE_REFERENCE.md - Complete justfile command reference

License

Apache 2.0