Suggest Changes

Suggest Changes

Get AI-guided suggestions for fixing pattern violations, security issues, or code quality problems. Returns specific code changes with before/after examples and rationale.

Overview

When Drift detects issues, drift_suggest_changes provides actionable fixes:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    SUGGESTED CHANGES                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                  │
│  Issue: Pattern violation in src/api/users.ts                    │
│  Pattern: api-rest-controller                                    │
│                                                                  │
│  BEFORE:                                                         │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│  │ app.get('/users/:id', async (req, res) => {                 │ │
│  │   const user = await db.users.findById(req.params.id);      │ │
│  │   res.json(user);  // ❌ Missing response envelope           │ │
│  │ });                                                         │ │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│                                                                  │
│  AFTER:                                                          │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│  │ app.get('/users/:id', async (req, res) => {                 │ │
│  │   const user = await db.users.findById(req.params.id);      │ │
│  │   res.json({                                                │ │
│  │     data: user,                                             │ │
│  │     meta: { timestamp: Date.now() }                         │ │
│  │   });  // ✅ Matches response envelope pattern               │ │
│  │ });                                                         │ │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│                                                                  │
│  Rationale: Your codebase uses a consistent response envelope    │
│  pattern with { data, meta } structure. This change aligns       │
│  with 23 other endpoints.                                        │
│                                                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

MCP Tool

drift_suggest_changes

drift_suggest_changes({
  target: "src/api/users.ts",        // File or function
  issue: "outlier",                   // Type of issue
  patternId: "api-rest-controller",   // Specific pattern (for outliers)
  maxSuggestions: 3                   // Max suggestions to return
})

Issue Types:

Issue	Description
outlier	Pattern violation (code doesn't match established pattern)
security	Security vulnerability or concern
coupling	High coupling or dependency issue
error-handling	Missing or improper error handling
test-coverage	Missing test coverage
pattern-violation	General pattern non-compliance

Response:

{
  "summary": "Found 2 issue(s) in src/api/users.ts. 2 suggestion(s) provided.",
  "data": {
    "summary": "Found 2 issue(s) in src/api/users.ts. 2 suggestion(s) provided.",
    "target": "src/api/users.ts",
    "issueType": "outlier",
    "suggestions": [
      {
        "id": "outlier-api-rest-controller-48",
        "title": "Pattern violation: REST Controller Pattern",
        "description": "This code deviates from the established \"REST Controller Pattern\" pattern used 23 times in the codebase.",
        "priority": "high",
        "category": "outlier",
        "location": {
          "file": "src/api/users.ts",
          "startLine": 48,
          "endLine": 53
        },
        "before": "res.json(user);",
        "after": "// See src/api/orders.ts:34 for the correct pattern",
        "rationale": "The \"REST Controller Pattern\" pattern has 23 consistent implementations with 92% confidence. This outlier should be refactored to match.",
        "relatedPattern": {
          "id": "api-rest-controller",
          "name": "REST Controller Pattern",
          "confidence": 0.92
        },
        "effort": "small",
        "impact": "Improves consistency and maintainability"
      },
      {
        "id": "error-no-try-catch-47",
        "title": "Error handling gap: no try catch",
        "description": "Missing error handling for database query",
        "priority": "medium",
        "category": "error-handling",
        "location": {
          "file": "src/api/users.ts",
          "startLine": 47,
          "endLine": 50
        },
        "before": "// getUser at line 47",
        "after": "try {\n  // existing code\n} catch (error) {\n  logger.error('Operation failed', { error });\n  throw error;\n}",
        "rationale": "Proper error handling improves reliability and debuggability.",
        "effort": "small",
        "impact": "Improves error visibility and application reliability"
      }
    ],
    "stats": {
      "totalIssues": 2,
      "bySeverity": { "high": 1, "medium": 1 },
      "estimatedEffort": "minimal"
    }
  },
  "hints": {
    "nextActions": [
      "Review suggestions and apply changes",
      "Use drift_validate_change to verify fixes"
    ],
    "relatedTools": ["drift_validate_change", "drift_code_examples", "drift_impact_analysis"]
  }
}

---

Issue-Specific Suggestions

Pattern Outliers

drift_suggest_changes({
  target: "src/api/users.ts",
  issue: "outlier",
  patternId: "api-rest-controller"
})

Suggests changes to align with established patterns.

Security Issues

drift_suggest_changes({
  target: "src/auth/login.ts",
  issue: "security"
})

Suggests security improvements:

• Input validation
• SQL injection prevention
• XSS protection
• Rate limiting

Error Handling

drift_suggest_changes({
  target: "src/services/payment.ts",
  issue: "error-handling"
})

Suggests:

• Try-catch blocks
• Error logging
• Proper error propagation
• Circuit breakers

Coupling Issues

drift_suggest_changes({
  target: "src/core/database.ts",
  issue: "coupling"
})

Suggests:

• Interface extraction
• Dependency injection
• Module boundary fixes

Test Coverage

drift_suggest_changes({
  target: "src/services/user.ts",
  issue: "test-coverage"
})

Suggests:

• Missing test cases
• Edge cases to cover
• Mock patterns to use

---

CLI Usage

Find Outliers First

drift check --detailed

Shows all pattern violations with IDs.

Get Suggestions

drift check --suggest

Includes fix suggestions in output.

---

Workflow Integration

1. Detect Issues

// Find pattern violations
const patterns = await drift_patterns_list({
  status: "discovered"
});

// Check for outliers
const filePatterns = await drift_file_patterns({
  file: "src/api/users.ts"
});

2. Get Suggestions

// Get fix suggestions
const suggestions = await drift_suggest_changes({
  target: "src/api/users.ts",
  issue: "outlier",
  patternId: filePatterns.data.outliers[0].patternId
});

3. Apply and Validate

// Apply suggestion (manually or via AI)
const newCode = applySuggestion(suggestions.data.suggestions[0]);

// Validate the change
const validation = await drift_validate_change({
  file: "src/api/users.ts",
  content: newCode
});

---

Suggestion Quality

Confidence Scores

Suggestions include a relatedPattern with confidence when applicable:

Score	Meaning
0.9+	High confidence, safe to apply
0.7-0.9	Good suggestion, review before applying
0.5-0.7	Possible improvement, needs careful review
<0.5	Low confidence, manual review required

Priority Levels

Priority	Action
critical	Should fix immediately
high	Should fix before merging
medium	Should fix, but not blocking
low	Nice to have improvement

---

Best Practices

1. Review Before Applying

// Always review suggestions
const suggestions = await drift_suggest_changes({
  target: file,
  issue: "outlier"
});

// Check confidence and rationale
for (const suggestion of suggestions.data.suggestions) {
  if (suggestion.confidence > 0.8) {
    // Safe to apply
  } else {
    // Review manually
  }
}

2. Validate After Applying

// After applying suggestions
await drift_validate_change({
  file: "src/api/users.ts",
  content: updatedCode
});

3. Run Tests

// Get affected tests
const tests = await drift_test_topology({
  action: "affected",
  files: ["src/api/users.ts"]
});

// Run them
// npm test -- ${tests.data.testFiles.join(' ')}

4. Use Related Pattern Info

Suggestions include relatedPattern when addressing pattern violations — use this to understand the pattern:

{
  "relatedPattern": {
    "id": "api-rest-controller",
    "name": "REST Controller Pattern",
    "confidence": 0.92
  }
}

Use drift_code_examples with the pattern ID to see correct implementations.

---

## Next Steps

- [Validate Change](Validate-Change) — Verify code compliance
- [Code Examples](Code-Examples) — See pattern implementations
- [Quality Gates](Quality-Gates) — CI/CD integration