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Use for "how does X work", code walkthroughs before changing something, and placement / ownership / layering questions ("where should this live", "which package owns this", "is this the right layer"). Explains subsystem architecture, runtime flow, onboarding mental models. Can critique architecture. Use why for motivation.
1 of 23 test cases passed with the skill.
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
Lift withheld: 1 comparable cases; this report requires 8.
This benchmark measured an earlier version of the skill.
A newer attempt on gemini-3.6-flash on 10/4/2026 did not produce a publishable comparison (not comparable). The snapshot above is the previously measured run.
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
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.
Every spawn is a Task subagent with subagent_type: generalPurpose and readonly: true. Explorers use the how explorer line in the pstack-models.mdc rule (default grok-4.7-xhigh-fast), and every explainer uses the how explainer line (default claude-opus-5-5-xhigh). Set model to that line's value, or to the default if the rule or the line is missing. Leave model unset when the value is auto or inherit-parent. If the Task tool rejects a slug, use the default and say so. If it rejects the default, use the closest valid slug of the same family from its error message. Pick each subagent's reasoning level and fast or standard speed for the job, per the Subagents section of the poteto-mode skill.
If the scope is ambiguous, state your interpretation and explore. The user can redirect.
references/explainer-prompt.md without the explorer-findings section. Go to step 4.When in doubt, take the simple path.
Decompose the question into 2 to 4 angles, each a distinct slice of the subsystem. Spawn all explorers in a single message, each with references/explorer-prompt.md and its angle filled in.
Once all explorers have returned, spawn one explainer with references/explainer-prompt.md and every explorer's findings filled in.
Present the explainer's output. Light edits for clarity or context from the conversation are fine. Do not substantially rewrite it.
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.
test cases passed with the skill
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