analyzing-projects_skill

Overview

This skill analyzes codebases to quickly surface structure, technology choices, conventions, and developer workflows. It helps engineers onboard faster, answer "how does this work?", and produce a concise project summary that teams can act on.

How this skill works

The analyzer scans root files and manifests to detect package managers, frameworks, and infra markers. It maps directory layout, locates entry points and tests, detects architectural patterns (monolith, microservices, serverless), and extracts development commands and tooling. The output is a structured summary that flags uncertain findings as "needs clarification."

When to use it

• Onboarding to a new repository to get a fast orientation
• Exploring unfamiliar code before making changes or reviews
• Preparing design or migration proposals that depend on architecture
• Answering questions like "what's the tech stack?" or "where is the API implemented?"
• Auditing a project to document conventions and developer workflow

Best practices

• Start with README and root manifests to avoid false assumptions
• Verify detected tools by opening actual files (Dockerfile, pyproject, package.json)
• Annotate the project tree with purposes for each directory
• Mark unverifiable items explicitly as "needs clarification" in the summary
• Surface commands (install, dev, test, build) and confirm they run when possible

Example use cases

• Generate a one-page summary for a sprint kickoff with tech stack and entry points
• Produce a checklist for a new hire to follow during repository onboarding
• Create a migration plan by identifying frameworks, ORMs, and deployment infra
• Audit repos to standardize linting, testing, and CI configurations
• Quickly prepare context for code review by listing key directories and patterns