A practical framework for measuring and managing technical debt in software projects. Developed for use in Open Source with SLU experiential learning programs, but applicable to any team that wants to understand and improve code quality systematically.
- Guidebook — How to prepare for and conduct technical debt assessments, identify debt, prioritize findings, communicate results, and plan remediation
- Rubric — Structured scoring framework across code quality dimensions
- Tech Leads conducting self-assessments
- Mentors and advisors evaluating projects
- New maintainers getting oriented to a codebase
- Teams preparing for handoffs
- Anyone wanting to understand technical debt systematically
These documents are designed to be used together. Start with the Guidebook to understand the assessment process, then apply the Rubric to score specific dimensions of your codebase.
If you spot an error or have a suggestion for improvement, feel free to submit a pull request.
This work © 2026 by Open Source with SLU, the open source program office of Saint Louis University, is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.