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

bash
# 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.