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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.
Passed 9 of 18 test cases with the skill, and 4 of 18 without it.
and 7 more in the full report
10 fixed2 passed either way9 still failing3 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
This benchmark measured an earlier version of the skill.
One of 10 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
When setting up the subagent prompt for a simple single-module question (Step 2b), which reference template file is used and what section must be omitted from it?
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| Constructs the prompt using references/explainer-prompt.md. | Missed | Passed |
| Omits the explorer-findings section from the prompt template. | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
On Codex, read the platform mapping, including its per-skill notes, before following this skill.
On GitHub Copilot, read the platform mapping, including its per-skill notes, before following this skill.
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 Agent subagent with subagent_type: "general-purpose" and readonly: true. Explorers use the how explorer line in pstack-models.md (default in Models), and every explainer uses the how explainer line (default in Models). Set model to that line's value, or to the default if the sheet or the line is missing. Leave model unset when the value is auto or inherit-parent. If the Agent 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.
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.
Role defaults, stamped from plugins/pstack/models.json (edit there, rerun tools/generate.mjs). A matching role line in the pstack-models.md override sheet overrides each at runtime; /setup-pstack writes it and lists its path per runtime.
opustest cases passed, vs 4 / 18 without
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