Analyze a codebase and generate onboarding documentation

Codebase onboarding

by alirezarezvani · MIT license · ★ 26,349 on GitHub · updated Aug 30

Analyze a codebase and generate onboarding documentation for engineers, tech leads, and contractors. Fast fact-gathering and repeatable onboarding outputs.

---
name: "codebase-onboarding"
description: "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."
---

# 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

Overview

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

Manual install (npx, ZIP)

Claude Codenpx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills --skill codebase-onboarding -g -a claude-code

Claude Code (manual)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && curl -sL https://codeload.github.com/alirezarezvani/claude-skills/tar.gz/19392f7a0826 \
  | tar -xz -C ~/.claude/skills --strip-components=3 claude-skills-19392f7a0826/engineering/skills/codebase-onboarding

Windows (PowerShell)

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.claude\skills" | Out-Null; Invoke-WebRequest "https://m.agentalley.io/zip/c3261b47bc8c9b904f67/codebase-onboarding.zip" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\codebase-onboarding.zip"; Expand-Archive "$env:TEMP\codebase-onboarding.zip" -DestinationPath "$HOME\.claude\skills" -Force

Claude.ai / desktopDownload the ZIP and upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Codex, Cursor, other agentsPoint them at SKILL.md. The other files are plain text.

Connects with Agent Alley MCP · agentalley.io/mcp

Files included

SKILL.md2.5 KB
references/2 files · 4.3 KB
scripts/1 file · 5.4 KB

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alirezarezvani/19392f74 files

SKILL.md2.5 KB

SKILL.md

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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

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

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

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.

1	---
2	name: "codebase-onboarding"
3	description: "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."
4	---
5
6	# Codebase Onboarding
7
8	Tier: POWERFUL
9	Category: Engineering
10	Domain: Documentation / Developer Experience
11
12	---
13
14	## Overview
15
16	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.
17
18	## Core Capabilities
19
20	- Architecture and stack discovery from repository signals
21	- Key file and config inventory for new contributors
22	- Local setup and common-task guidance generation
23	- Audience-aware documentation framing
24	- Debugging and contribution checklist scaffolding
25
26	---
27
28	## When to Use
29
30	- Onboarding a new team member or contractor
31	- Rebuilding stale project docs after large refactors
32	- Preparing internal handoff documentation
33	- Creating a standardized onboarding packet for services
34
35	---
36
37	## Quick Start
38
39	```bash
40	# 1) Gather codebase facts
41	python3 scripts/codebase_analyzer.py /path/to/repo
42
43	# 2) Export machine-readable output
44	python3 scripts/codebase_analyzer.py /path/to/repo --json
45
46	# 3) Use the template to draft onboarding docs
47	# See references/onboarding-template.md
48	```
49
50	---
51
52	## Recommended Workflow
53
54	1. Run `scripts/codebase_analyzer.py` against the target repository.
55	2. Capture key signals: file counts, detected languages, config files, top-level structure.
56	3. Fill the onboarding template in `references/onboarding-template.md`.
57	4. Tailor output depth by audience:
58	- Junior: setup + guardrails
59	- Senior: architecture + operational concerns
60	- Contractor: scoped ownership + integration boundaries
61
62	---
63
64	## Onboarding Document Template
65
66	Detailed template and section examples live in:
67	- `references/onboarding-template.md`
68	- `references/output-format-templates.md`
69
70	---
71
72	## Common Pitfalls
73
74	- Writing docs without validating setup commands on a clean environment
75	- Mixing architecture deep-dives into contractor-oriented docs
76	- Omitting troubleshooting and verification steps
77	- Letting onboarding docs drift from current repo state
78
79	## Best Practices
80
81	1. Keep setup instructions executable and time-bounded.
82	2. Document the "why" for key architectural decisions.
83	3. Update docs in the same PR as behavior changes.
84	4. Treat onboarding docs as living operational assets, not one-time deliverables.
85