OpenParable
Skip to content
← Back to skills

Codebase Onboarding

Documents
codebase-onboarding

Codebase Onboarding is an Agent Skill for documents published in the alirezarezvani/claude-skills repository on GitHub: a SKILL.md instruction file an AI agent can load to do this task.

Analyze a codebase and generate onboarding documentation for engineers, tech leads, and contractors. Fast fact-gathering and repeatable onboarding outputs. Use when onboarding a new engineer, writing architecture-overview docs for a new project, or producing tech-lead briefings for unfamiliar repos.

View on GitHub ↗
QUICK START

How to use this skill

Bring this guide into your coding agent with a prompt tailored to the tool you use.

  1. Open your project in Codex.
  2. Copy and paste the prompt below.
  3. Review files and risks before approving any action.
Prompt to paste
Inspect the Agent Skill at https://github.com/alirezarezvani/claude-skills/blob/HEAD/engineering/skills/codebase-onboarding/SKILL.md and all supporting files. Report provenance, permissions, scripts, dependencies, and security risks. Propose an exact installation into .agents/skills/codebase-onboarding, but wait for my approval before writing files or running scripts.

Copying this prompt does not install or run the skill. Review third-party files before use.

Codebase Onboarding

Tier: POWERFUL
Category: Engineering
Domain: Documentation / Developer Experience

Overview

Analyze a codebase and generate onboarding documentation for engineers, tech leads, and contractors. This skill is optimized for fast fact-gathering and repeatable onboarding outputs.

Core Capabilities

  • Architecture and stack discovery from repository signals
  • Key file and config inventory for new contributors
  • Local setup and common-task guidance generation
  • Audience-aware documentation framing
  • Debugging and contribution checklist scaffolding

When to Use

  • Onboarding a new team member or contractor
  • Rebuilding stale project docs after large refactors
  • Preparing internal handoff documentation
  • Creating a standardized onboarding packet for services

Quick Start

# 1) Gather codebase facts
python3 scripts/codebase_analyzer.py /path/to/repo

# 2) Export machine-readable output
python3 scripts/codebase_analyzer.py /path/to/repo --json

# 3) Use the template to draft onboarding docs
# See references/onboarding-template.md

Recommended Workflow

  1. Run scripts/codebase_analyzer.py against the target repository.
  2. Capture key signals: file counts, detected languages, config files, top-level structure.
  3. Fill the onboarding template in references/onboarding-template.md.
  4. Tailor output depth by audience:
    • Junior: setup + guardrails
    • Senior: architecture + operational concerns
    • Contractor: scoped ownership + integration boundaries

Onboarding Document Template

Detailed template and section examples live in:

  • references/onboarding-template.md
  • references/output-format-templates.md

Common Pitfalls

  • Writing docs without validating setup commands on a clean environment
  • Mixing architecture deep-dives into contractor-oriented docs
  • Omitting troubleshooting and verification steps
  • Letting onboarding docs drift from current repo state

Best Practices

  1. Keep setup instructions executable and time-bounded.
  2. Document the "why" for key architectural decisions.
  3. Update docs in the same PR as behavior changes.
  4. Treat onboarding docs as living operational assets, not one-time deliverables.