S SimplicityTools Measure complexity before it measures your team.

Analyzer

SF0007

Flags supporting files whose inbound reference count exceeds the most referenced primary-path file, signaling that the scaffolding has become easier to see than the real flow.

Diagnostic contract

If more code points at the support structure than at the actual business path, the product behavior is no longer the dominant story in the system.

SF0007 SimplicityFirst.PrimaryPathFirst Warning Advisory only
When it fires

A non-primary-path source file has more inbound references than the highest referenced primary-path file.

Rule message

File {0} has {1} inbound references, exceeding the highest primary-path file count of {2}

Help link target

/analyzers/sf0007/

When it fires

These are the concrete cases to look for in code review and IDE diagnostics.

  • The analyzer first identifies primary-path files by [PrimaryPath] annotation; if none exist, it falls back to Controllers, Endpoints, Handlers, and Pages folders.
  • It counts inbound type references per source file and compares non-primary-path files to the strongest primary-path reference count.
  • It reports only when a supporting file exceeds that primary-path ceiling.

Bad / better example

Use these examples to explain the rule, not just silence it.

Before

public sealed class PolicyRegistry { }
public sealed class CheckoutHandler(PolicyRegistry registry) { }
public sealed class RefundHandler(PolicyRegistry registry) { }
public sealed class RenewalHandler(PolicyRegistry registry) { }
public sealed class TrialConversionHandler(PolicyRegistry registry) { }

The support object becomes the real center of gravity while the business handlers look secondary.

After

using SimplicityTools.Metrics;

[PrimaryPath]
public sealed class CheckoutHandler(OrderRepository orders, PaymentGateway gateway)
{
    public Task<Result> HandleAsync(Request request) => gateway.AuthorizeAsync(request.ToOrder());
}

public sealed class RetryPolicy
{
    public static bool ShouldRetry(int attempts) => attempts < 3;
}

The real path is explicit and direct, while support code stays obviously supportive.

Code fix

There is no automatic code fix for this rule today. Treat it as a prompt to simplify deliberately.

  • Add [PrimaryPath] annotations if the conventions are not enough to tell the tooling what really matters.
  • Move orchestration back into primary-path handlers instead of centralizing every decision in support registries or framework glue.
  • Treat this as a whole-flow signal, not as a demand to eliminate every shared utility.

Source and follow-up links

Use these links when you need to validate behavior against the source or connect the docs back to project tracking.

Source

Analyzer implementation

NonPrimaryPathOverReferencedAnalyzer.cs

 Tracking

Issue #55

Documentation tracker for the analyzer pages and related integration guidance.

 Filter

PrimaryPathFirst

This rule is the sharpest analyzer expression of the PrimaryPathFirst filter.

 Guide

csproj reference

Install the analyzer package and use [PrimaryPath] explicitly when conventions are not enough.