How I Refactored VerZanctuary: Staged Releases, Real Lessons

Refactoring is often presented as a magic trick—a messy “before” and a sparkling “after.” But that erases the most valuable part of the story: the process. Real-world refactoring, especially on a project that has grown organically, is a journey with deliberate checkpoints and messy, but necessary, intermediate stages and sometimes even a lot of lessons learned.
This is my honest account of refactoring VerZanctuary, where I intentionally left some intermediate steps visible for posterity. Consider it a live demonstration of a strategic, staged approach to evolving a codebase.

What is VerZanctuary?

VerZanctuary is an open-source tool for safe, Git-backed code “sanctuaries”—snapshots you can make before inviting AI agents, doing major refactors, or experimenting with risky changes. Its mission is simple: let developers freeze a known-good (or even broken!) state, so you can always roll back after an experiment or unwanted AI “help.”

Why Refactor?

Early versions of VerZanctuary revolved around a “mega-class” that did everything: file operations, Git commands, patch/diff logic, and logging. While this accelerated initial development, the project quickly hit a complexity ceiling. It became impossible to reason about, test, or extend safely.

Symptoms included:

Every new feature meant touching the same giant class
Method boundaries blurred—responsibility was everywhere creating a system that was brittle and hard to maintain.
Testing specific behaviors became a pain

This wasn’t maintainable. Time for a real refactor.

Stage 1: The “Deliberate Mess” Release (v0.1.1)

Instead of hiding the process, I published an intentional “intermediate” release. In v0.1.1, I had extracted a foundational SanctuaryGitService, but it still contained methods that belonged elsewhere. The separation was incomplete, and the boundaries were not yet clean.

Why publish a “messy” checkpoint?

Transparency: To show the genuine, iterative process of software design, not just a polished final product.
Safety Checkpoint: It created a stable, tagged rollback point in case subsequent, more aggressive refactoring introduced issues.
A Teachable Moment: It allows anyone following the project to see the practical steps of untangling complexity, rather than just imagining them.

Stage 2: Extracting Services—Refactoring in Motion

Following v0.1.1, the core of the work began. The strategy was to methodically move responsibilities into dedicated, single-purpose services:

File operations were extracted into a SanctuaryFileService.
Patch and diff logic moved to a SanctuaryDiffService.
The SanctuaryGitService was further refined to focus solely on its core domain.

This wasn’t a single, monolithic effort. The process involved multiple small, controlled steps, evolving the design incrementally rather than chasing a perfect, all-at-once solution before the next release.

Stage 3: The “Polished” v0.1.2 Refactor

With the primary services successfully decoupled, the final stage focused on solidifying the new architecture:

The SanctuaryGitService was polished to have a clean, Git-only API.
Class- and package-level documentation was updated to reflect the new structure.
A comprehensive JUnit 5 test suite was built to validate the new, decoupled services and ensure all critical logic was covered.

The result was a codebase that is not only clearer and easier to navigate but also far more welcoming and robust for future contributors.

Key Takeaways from This Demonstration

This project serves as a practical example of a core software engineering principle: complex problems are best solved with a staged, deliberate approach.

Stage Your Refactors: Even for experienced developers, breaking down a large refactor into manageable, checkpointed releases is the most effective strategy for managing complexity.
Embrace “Messy” Intermediate Stages: These releases are valuable artifacts. They offer transparency into your process and provide safe, stable points to fall back on.
Focus on the Process, Not Just the Outcome: The high-level journey and the reasoning behind it are more valuable to other developers than granular commit logs. This demonstration was designed to highlight that journey.
Tests and Documentation Solidify the Work: A refactor isn’t truly complete until its improvements are verified by tests and made accessible to others through clear documentation.

What’s Next?

With the v0.1.2 foundation now solid, the project is poised for growth:

Planning new features on a codebase that is open and ready for collaboration.
Expanding the test suite and automation.

Finally

You can check out the project on GitHub or contact me if you’re interested in contributing or have questions!

Thanks for Reading!

If you’re wrestling with a large refactor, remember this demonstration: Do it in stages, show your work, and don’t wait for perfection to ship. That’s how real software evolves.