This is merely one instance/example of a deeper principle: avoid mixing layers of abstraction

Cyclomatic complexity is like trying to measure complexity of a mathematical formula by the counting penstrokes. Don’t mistake a metric’s ease of measurement for its correctness, see: productivity vs lines of code.

Every point under “Why?” is too optimistic about forced deconstructions being good, that all the small pieces will be cut along the right seams.

Breaking up a messy scribble in the wrong places just leaves you with the same messy knot, now as a shuffled jigsaw puzzle.

If the code is written for humans, then excercise human judgement and use a relaxed “complexity metric”. If the code is written for agents, then this metric matters even less. If forced to pick a number, I’d use something like 50+ to only alert on the truly excessive.

It’s Ruby. And yes, it could be simpler as a plain, pure function. There is nothing that warrants having the temporary objects, no tricky long-lived state, no leased/shared resource, etc