Athanor

4-stage alchemical transmutation — decompose prima materia → purify essence → illuminate target form → synthesize refined. Athanor = furnace maintaining steady heat all stages.

Use When

• Transform legacy → modern well-structured
• Refactor deeply tangled modules where incremental fixes keep failing
• Convert paradigm (procedural → functional, monolith → modular)
• Process raw messy data → clean analytical datasets
• Simpler refactoring stalled + full-cycle transformation needed

In

• Required: Material (file paths, module names, data srcs)
• Required: Desired end state (target architecture, paradigm, format)
• Optional: Known constraints (preserve API, can't change DB schema, etc.)
• Optional: Prior failed attempts + why stalled

Do

Step 1: Nigredo — Decomposition

Break prima materia into constituent elements. Nothing sacred; everything cataloged.

1. Inventory completely:
   • Every fn, class, module, data entity
   • All deps (imports, calls, data flows)
   • Hidden coupling (shared globals, implicit state, side effects)
2. Surface hidden assumptions:
   • Undocumented behaviors code relies on?
   • Err conditions silently swallowed?
   • Ordering deps exist?
3. Catalog anti-patterns + tech debt:
   • God objects, circular deps, copy-paste duplication
   • Dead code paths, unreachable branches, vestigial features
   • Hardcoded values, magic numbers, embedded config
4. Produce Nigredo Inventory: structured catalog of every element + dep + assumption + anti-pattern

→ Complete unflinching inventory. Should feel uncomfortable — if not, decomposition not thorough. Every hidden assumption now explicit.

If err: Material too large → decompose by module boundary + each module separate athanor run. Deps too tangled to map → grep/Grep trace actual call sites not docs.

Step 2: Meditate — Calcination Checkpoint

Run meditate → clear assumptions accumulated during nigredo.

1. Set aside nigredo inventory + clear mental ctx
2. Anchor on transformation goal stated in Inputs
3. Observe nigredo biases — decomposition made certain approaches seem inevitable?
4. Label premature solution ideas "tangent" + return to goal

→ Clear unbiased state → eval material no anchoring to current form. Goal feels fresh not constrained by what was found.

If err: Nigredo findings keep pulling attention (particularly bad anti-pattern, clever hack tempting to preserve) → write down + explicitly set aside. Proceed only when goal clearer than current form.

Step 3: Albedo — Purification

Separate essential from accidental. Strip everything not serving target form.

1. From nigredo inventory classify each:
   • Essential: Core business logic, irreplaceable algos, critical data transformations
   • Accidental: Framework boilerplate, workarounds for old bugs, compat shims
   • Toxic: Anti-patterns, security vulnerabilities, dead code
2. Extract essential into isolation:
   • Pull core logic from framework wrappers
   • Separate data transformation from I/O
   • Extract interfaces from impls
3. Remove toxic entirely — doc what removed + why
4. Accidental → determine if equivalents exist in target form
5. Produce Albedo Extract: purified essential logic + clean interfaces

→ Set of pure isolated fns/modules representing core value. Each piece testable in isolation. Extract significantly smaller than original.

If err: Essential + accidental too intertwined → introduce seam pts (interfaces) first. Material resists purification → may need dissolve-form before athanor continues.

Step 4: Heal — Purification Assessment

Run heal → assess purification thorough.

1. Triage albedo extract: anything still carrying toxic residue?
2. Check drift: purification drifted from transformation goal?
3. Assess completeness: all essential accounted for, or discarded prematurely?
4. Rebalance: restore essential elements incorrectly classified as accidental

→ Confidence that albedo extract complete + clean + ready for illumination. No essential logic lost; no toxic patterns remain.

If err: Assessment reveals significant gaps → return Step 3 w/ specific gaps ID'd. No proceed to citrinitas w/ incomplete material.

Step 5: Citrinitas — Illumination

See target form. Map purified elements → optimal structure.

1. Pattern recognition: which design patterns serve purified:
   • Data flow suggests pipes/filters, event sourcing, CQRS?
   • Interfaces suggest strategy, adapter, facade?
   • Module structure suggests hexagonal, layered, micro-kernel?
2. Design target architecture:
   • Map each essential → new location
   • Define interfaces between components
   • Specify data flow through new structure
3. ID what must be new (no equivalent in original):
   • New abstractions unifying duplicated logic
   • New interfaces replacing implicit coupling
   • New err handling replacing silent failures
4. Produce Citrinitas Blueprint: complete mapping albedo extract → target form

→ Clear detailed blueprint, every essential has home + every interface defined. Should feel inevitable — given purified elements, structure = natural fit.

If err: Multi valid architectures compete → eval each vs Input constraints. No clear winner → prefer simplest + doc alternatives as future options.

Step 6: Meditate — Pre-Synthesis Checkpoint

Run meditate → prep for final synthesis.

1. Clear analytical ctx from citrinitas
2. Anchor on citrinitas blueprint as synthesis guide
3. Observe anxiety about transformation — anything rushed?
4. Confirm readiness: blueprint clear + material purified + constraints known

→ Calm clarity about what to build. Synthesis should be execution, not design.

If err: Doubt persists about blueprint → revisit Step 5 w/ specific concerns. Better refine blueprint than begin synthesis w/ uncertainty.

Step 7: Rubedo — Synthesis

Compose purified elements → target form. Philosopher's stone: working + optimized code.

1. Build new structure per citrinitas blueprint:
   • Create files, modules, interfaces as specified
   • Migrate each essential to new location
   • Impl new abstractions + interfaces
2. Wire components:
   • Connect data flows as designed
   • Impl err propagation through new paths
   • Config dep injection or module loading
3. Verify synthesis:
   • Each component works in isolation? (unit tests)
   • Components compose correctly? (integration tests)
   • Full system produces same out as original? (regression tests)
4. Remove scaffolding:
   • Delete temp compat shims
   • Remove migration aids
   • Clean up remaining refs to old structure
5. Produce Rubedo Out: transmuted code, fully functional in new form

→ Working code measurably better than original: fewer lines, clearer structure, better test coverage, fewer deps. Transformation complete + old form can be retired.

If err: Synthesis reveals gaps in blueprint → no patch → return Step 5 (citrinitas) revise design. Individual components fail → isolate + fix before full integration. Rubedo must not produce half-transformed chimera.

Check

• Nigredo inventory complete (all elements, deps, assumptions cataloged)
• Meditate checkpoint passed between nigredo/albedo (assumptions cleared)
• Albedo extract contains only essential + clean interfaces
• Heal assessment confirms purification completeness
• Citrinitas blueprint maps every essential → target form
• Meditate checkpoint passed between citrinitas/rubedo (ready for synthesis)
• Rubedo out passes regression tests vs original behavior
• Rubedo out measurably improved (complexity, coupling, test coverage)
• No toxic elements survived → final out
• Transformation constraints from Inputs satisfied

Traps

• Skip nigredo depth: Rushing decomposition → hidden coupling surfaces during synthesis. Invest fully in inventory.
• Preserve accidental complexity: Attachment to clever workarounds or "it works, don't touch it" code. Not essential → goes.
• Skip meditate checkpoints: Cognitive momentum from 1 stage biases next. Pauses structural, not optional.
• Blueprint-less synthesis: Starting code pre-citrinitas complete → patchwork not transmutation.
• Incomplete regression testing: Rubedo must reproduce original behavior. Untested paths break silently.
• Scope creep during citrinitas: Illumination reveals opportunities beyond original goal. Note but don't pursue — athanor serves stated transformation not hypothetical ideal.

→

• transmute — lighter-weight transformation for single fns or small modules
• chrysopoeia — value extraction + optimization (base code → gold)
• meditate — meta-cognitive clearing used as stage-gate checkpoints
• heal — subsystem assessment used for purification validation
• dissolve-form — material too rigid for athanor → dissolve first
• adapt-architecture — complementary approach for system-level migration patterns
• review-software-architecture — post-synthesis architecture review