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codebase-onboarding

codebase-onboarding

github.com/spencerpaulyDevelopment869484 installsUpdated 13w ago
Repository

About codebase-onboarding

A skill for creating a codebase onboarding document by exploring architecture, data models, APIs, authentication, and deployment in parallel. It is aimed at teams or agents learning an unfamiliar project and synthesizes findings into an `ONBOARDING.md` or specified location.

Key features

  1. 01Explore five codebase areas in parallel
  2. 02Map project structure and key configuration
  3. 03Identify schemas, routes, and authentication
  4. 04Review deployment and local setup
  5. 05Synthesize findings into an onboarding document

Use cases

  1. 01Introduce a new contributor to a repository
  2. 02Document an unfamiliar monorepo
  3. 03Prepare setup guidance for local development

Install

Copy the command and run it in a terminal.

$npx skills add https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill codebase-onboarding

After installing, type/codebase-onboardingin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.

Details

From the project README

Codebase Onboarding

Generate a comprehensive onboarding document for a codebase by exploring it in parallel.

Workflow

1. Launch Parallel Explorers

Spawn 5 explore subagents, each investigating a different area:

Agent 1 — Architecture & Structure

"Map the top-level directory structure. Identify the framework (Next.js, Express, Django, etc.), monorepo tools (turbo, nx), and key config files. List every app/package and what it does."

Agent 2 — Data Models & Database

"Find all database schemas, ORM models, migrations, and seed files. List every entity, its fields, and relationships. Identify the database (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, etc.) and ORM (Prisma, Drizzle, SQLAlchemy, etc.)."

Agent 3 — API Routes & Endpoints

"Find all API route definitions. List every endpoint with its HTTP method, path, auth requirements, and what it does. Identify the API style (REST, GraphQL, tRPC)."

Agent 4 — Authentication & Authorization

"Find how auth works. Identify the auth provider (Auth.js, Clerk, Supabase Auth, custom), session management, protected routes, role/permission checks, and middleware."

Agent 5 — Deployment & Infrastructure

"Find deployment config (Dockerfile, Vercel config, fly.toml, terraform), CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, etc.), environment variables needed, and how to run the app locally."

2. Synthesize

Combine the results from all 5 agents into a single onboarding document:

# Codebase Onboarding

## Quick Start
1. Clone the repo
2. Install dependencies: `<command>`
3. Set up environment: copy `.env.example` to `.env`
4. Run database migrations: `<command>`
5. Start dev server: `<command>`

## Architecture
<Agent 1 findings>

## Data Models
<Agent 2 findings>

## API Reference
<Agent 3 findings>

## Authentication
<Agent 4 findings>

## Deployment
<Agent 5 findings>

## Key Files to Know
- `<file>` — <why it matters>
3. Save

Write the document to ONBOARDING.md in the project root, or wherever the user specifies.

Tips

  • Each explore agent is read-only and fast — the whole process takes under a minute
  • For monorepos, consider one additional agent per app/package
  • The document should be opinionated — highlight the "start here" files, not just list everything
  • Include gotchas: common setup issues, env vars that are easy to forget, required system dependencies

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