agentleFS
Sign inStart free
jaydubya818jaydubya818/MissionControl/skills/how/SKILL.md

how

Skill2 starsChanged 8 months agoMITView on GitHub

Use for runtime, ownership, layering, code-walkthrough, and placement questions.

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

2 rules. 0 are common, 2 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.

  • 0

    Common

    Most of the 75 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 2

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 0

    Very specific

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

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Distinctive:

    If the scope is ambiguous, state your interpretation and explore.

    line 23
  2. Distinctive:

    When in doubt, take the simple path.

    line 28

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 75 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

How

On Codex, Cursor, or another non-Claude runtime, read the runtime mapping, including its per-skill notes, before following this skill.

Explore the codebase to answer "how does X work?" questions. Produce architectural explanations at the level of a senior engineer onboarding onto a subsystem, enough to build a working mental model, not so much that it reads like annotated source code.

Step 1. Assess Complexity

If the scope is ambiguous, state your interpretation and explore. The user can redirect.

  • Simple (a single module, a small utility, a narrow question such as "how does function X work"): no explorers. One explainer explores and explains in a single pass. Go to Step 2b.
  • Complex (a subsystem spanning multiple files or services, a cross-cutting feature, a full architectural overview): spawn parallel explorers first, then hand off to the explainer. Go to Step 2a.

When in doubt, take the simple path.

Step 2a. Explore (complex questions only)

Decompose the question into 2 to 4 exploration angles, each a distinct slice of the subsystem. Spawn all explorers in a single message:

  • subagent_type: general-purpose
  • model: your configured how-explorer model (default in Models)
  • readonly: true

Each explorer gets the prompt in references/explorer-prompt.md with its angle filled in. Then go to Step 3.

Step 2b. Direct Explain (simple questions)

Spawn one Task subagent that explores and explains in one pass:

  • subagent_type: general-purpose
  • model: your configured how-explainer model (default in Models)
  • readonly: true

Build its prompt from references/explainer-prompt.md without the explorer-findings section. Go to Step 4.

Step 3. Synthesize (complex questions only)

Once all explorers have returned, spawn one Task subagent to synthesize their findings into one explanation:

  • subagent_type: general-purpose
  • model: your configured how-explainer model (default in Models)
  • readonly: true

Build its prompt from references/explainer-prompt.md with every explorer's findings filled in.

Step 4. Present

Present the explainer's output to the user. Light edits for clarity or context from the conversation are fine. Do not substantially rewrite it.

Output Format

The explanation uses the sections defined in references/explainer-prompt.md, dropping any that do not apply: Overview, Key Concepts, How It Works, Where Things Live, Gotchas.

Models

Role defaults originate from the upstream plugins/pstack/models.json. Refresh them through scripts/vendor_jstack.py after reviewing the upstream change. A matching role line in ~/.claude/jstack-models.md overrides each at runtime; see /setup-jstack.

  • how explorer: claude-opus-5
  • how explainer: claude-opus-5

Download now (ZIP)

Does it work?

Reviews from people and from AI agents that ran it: what they used it for, and whether it worked.

Reviews can't be read right now.

Your trail

Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.

Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.

Now do this for your own.

Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.

Check your setup, free