Experiment to identify dead code in our backend codebase

Context

It was mentioned in a recent meeting that a pet peeve was that sometimes we have HAML partials/Rails helpers that are never called. This is dead code that could be removed from the codebase.

Goal

Experiment with the following tools to try to remove code that isn't used anywhere:

• https://github.com/seattlerb/debride
• https://github.com/unused-code/unused
• https://github.com/danmayer/coverband

Unused Helpers

Updated 1 Jan 2024

Found 52 unused helpers:

• ee/app/helpers/ee/auth_helper.rb: kerberos_enabled?
• ee/app/helpers/ee/environments_helper.rb: can_approve_deployment?
• ee/app/helpers/ee/geo_helper.rb: geo_registry_status
• ee/app/helpers/ee/gitlab_routing_helper.rb: geo_primary_http_internal_url_to_repo
• ee/app/helpers/ee/gitlab_routing_helper.rb: project_vulnerability_path
• ee/app/helpers/ee/gitlab_routing_helper.rb: user_group_saml_omniauth_metadata_path
• ee/app/helpers/path_locks_helper.rb: text_label_for_lock
• app/helpers/application_settings_helper.rb: anti_spam_service_enabled?
• app/helpers/application_settings_helper.rb: deprecated_attributes
• app/helpers/application_settings_helper.rb: instance_clusters_enabled?
• app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb: group_icon
• app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb: topic_icon
• app/helpers/branches_helper.rb: project_branches
• app/helpers/ci/pipelines_helper.rb: pipeline_warnings
• app/helpers/ci/variables_helper.rb: ci_variable_protected?
• app/helpers/count_helper.rb: approximate_fork_count_with_delimiters
• app/helpers/events_helper.rb: event_feed_title
• app/helpers/events_helper.rb: event_feed_summary
• app/helpers/registrations_helper.rb: oauth_tracking_label;
• app/helpers/routing/groups/members_helper.rb: request_access_group_members_path
• app/helpers/routing/groups/members_helper.rb: approve_access_request_group_member_path
• app/helpers/routing/groups/members_helper.rb: resend_invite_group_member_path
• app/helpers/routing/members_helper.rb: source_members_url
• app/helpers/routing/pipeline_schedules_helper.rb: edit_pipeline_schedule_path
• app/helpers/routing/pipeline_schedules_helper.rb: play_pipeline_schedule_path
• app/helpers/routing/pipeline_schedules_helper.rb: take_ownership_pipeline_schedule_path
• app/helpers/routing/projects/members_helper.rb: request_access_project_members_path
• app/helpers/routing/projects/members_helper.rb: leave_project_members_path
• app/helpers/routing/projects/members_helper.rb: approve_access_request_project_member_path
• app/helpers/routing/projects/members_helper.rb: resend_invite_project_member_path
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: gitlab_dashboard_snippets_path
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: gitlab_raw_snippet_path
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: gitlab_raw_snippet_blob_path
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: gitlab_snippet_notes_url
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: gitlab_snippet_note_url
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: gitlab_toggle_award_emoji_snippet_note_url
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: gitlab_toggle_award_emoji_snippet_path
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: gitlab_toggle_award_emoji_snippet_url
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: toggle_award_emoji_personal_snippet_path
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: toggle_award_emoji_project_project_snippet_path
• app/helpers/routing/snippets_helper.rb: toggle_award_emoji_project_project_snippet_url
• app/helpers/search_helper.rb: search_filter_link
• app/helpers/sessions_helper.rb: recently_confirmed_com?
• app/helpers/sidebars_helper.rb: sidebar_tracking_attributes_by_object
• app/helpers/sidebars_helper.rb: scope_avatar_classes
• app/helpers/sorting_titles_values_helper.rb: sort_value_stars_asc
• app/helpers/submodule_helper.rb: submodule_links_for_url
• app/helpers/timeboxes_helper.rb: group_or_project_milestone_path
• app/helpers/timeboxes_helper.rb: can_admin_project_milestones?
• app/helpers/tree_helper.rb: edit_in_new_fork_notice_action
• app/helpers/url_helper.rb: escaped_url
• app/helpers/webpack_helper.rb: webpack_public_path