Codebase Onboarding

Tier: POWERFUL

Category: Engineering

Domain: Documentation / Developer Experience

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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

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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

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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

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Recommended Workflow

• Run scripts/codebase_analyzer.py against the target repository.
• Capture key signals: file counts, detected languages, config files, top-level structure.
• Fill the onboarding template in references/onboarding-template.md.
• Tailor output depth by audience:

- Junior: setup + guardrails

- Senior: architecture + operational concerns

- Contractor: scoped ownership + integration boundaries

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Onboarding Document Template

Detailed template and section examples live in:

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

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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

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