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aprameyakaprameyak/coding-skills/explore-codebase/SKILL.md

explore-codebase

Skill1 starsChanged 41 days agoMITView on GitHub

Efficiently map and search a codebase before changing it. Use when entering an unfamiliar repo, locating implementations, or answering architecture questions.

13 other projects use a version of this.

Adopted by

Most recently taken up by

Used with

Projects with it also use debug-issue, review-changes and 1 more.

Other files people use alongside this one.

Files found in the same public projects as a version of this one, more often than they turn up anywhere else. Each project counts once, large collections count for less, and this file's own repository is left out.
  • NVIDIASkill

    debug-issue

    Use when the user asks to debug, investigate, or fix a GitHub issue or supplies a repository bug report.

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  • DockerSkill

    review-changes

    Review uncommitted or recently committed documentation changes for correctness, coherence, and style compliance. Use before creating a PR to catch issues. "review my changes", "review the diff", "check the fix before submitting", "does this look right".

    Also in 4 projects that use this

  • zbruhnkeSkill

    explain-code

    Explain how code works in detail. Use when trying to understand unfamiliar code, complex logic, or system architecture.

    Also in 3 projects that use this

The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

6 rules. 0 are common, 5 are distinctive, and 1 is very specific to this project.

  • 0

    Common

    Most of the 11 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 5

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 1

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Very specific:

    Read root manifests (README, package.json, pyproject.toml, go.mod, Cargo.toml, lockfiles).

    line 14
  2. Distinctive:

    Search by symbol and path patterns before opening large files.

    line 16
  3. Distinctive:

    Only then open deep implementation files.

    line 19
  4. Distinctive:

    Prefer exact symbol / string search over broad greps.

    line 23
  5. Distinctive:

    Do not edit until the change site and callers are identified.

    line 40
  6. Distinctive:

    Prefer existing patterns over inventing new ones.

    line 41

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 11 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

Explore Codebase

Goal

Build enough mental model to act correctly while minimizing reads and tokens.

Order of Operations

  1. Read root manifests (README, package.json, pyproject.toml, go.mod, Cargo.toml, lockfiles).
  2. Map top-level directories; infer app vs lib vs tests vs infra.
  3. Search by symbol and path patterns before opening large files.
  4. Open entrypoints, routers, and config first.
  5. Trace one happy-path call chain end-to-end.
  6. Only then open deep implementation files.

Search Strategy

  • Prefer exact symbol / string search over broad greps.
  • Cap initial reads; expand only where evidence points.
  • Parallelize independent searches.
  • Ignore generated dirs (node_modules, dist, build, .git, vendor caches).

Record

Stack: ...
Entrypoints: ...
Key modules: ...
Conventions: ...
Test command: ...

Rules

  • Do not edit until the change site and callers are identified.
  • Prefer existing patterns over inventing new ones.
  • Cite file paths when summarizing findings.

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What did you use it for? e.g. Reviewing pull requests in a Rails app

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