🥋 CodeSensei — Learn to Code While You Build
In-context coding tutor for Claude Code — explanations, quizzes, and belt-based progress from your real project
CodeSensei is a free, open-source Claude Code plugin by Dojo Coding that turns every coding session into a learning session.
It watches what you build locally, explains what just happened in plain language, quizzes you on concepts from your own project, and tracks your growth with a martial arts belt progression system.
Why it exists
Millions of people are building with AI before they fully understand the code.
That is not a failure — it is a new starting point.
The problem is what happens next:
- something breaks
- a new feature needs a custom change
- the AI explanation feels too abstract
- the user realizes they shipped something they cannot yet reason about
CodeSensei closes that gap.
Instead of forcing people to stop building and go study in a separate environment, it teaches inside the workflow they already use.
What you get
- 🧠 Contextual explanations — learn from your actual project, not fake toy examples
- 🧩 Micro-quizzes — quick checks that reinforce understanding instead of syntax memorization
- 🥋 Belt progression — White Belt to Black Belt, earned through XP + mastery gates
- 🔁 Persistent local profile — progress follows you across projects on the same machine
- 🎯 Adaptive teaching — explanations adjust to your belt level and professional background
- 🔒 Local-first design — no telemetry, no external calls, no code uploads from the plugin scripts
Quick start
Requirements
- Claude Code with plugin support
jq installed locally
- macOS:
brew install jq
- Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt install jq
jq is required for profile tracking, imports, quizzes, and diagnostics.
Supported platforms
- ✅ macOS
- ✅ Linux
- ⚠️ Windows via WSL recommended
CodeSensei is a Unix-shell plugin today. Its runtime depends on bash, jq, and standard Unix tools, so WSL is the safest path on Windows.
Install from marketplace
Inside Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add DojoCodingLabs/code-sensei
/plugin install code-sensei@code-sensei
First-run flow
After install:
- Run
/code-sensei:progress to initialize your local profile
- Optional: run
/code-sensei:level background marketing (or design, finance, medicine, etc.)
- Build normally with Claude Code
- Use
/code-sensei:explain after a code change you want to understand
- Run
/code-sensei:doctor if you want to verify setup or inspect local storage paths
Update
Inside Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace update DojoCodingLabs/code-sensei
/plugin update code-sensei@code-sensei
Restart your Claude Code session after updating so hooks reload cleanly.
Local development install
git clone https://github.com/DojoCodingLabs/code-sensei.git
cd code-sensei
/plugin marketplace add .
/plugin install code-sensei
Commands
CodeSensei currently ships with 10 commands:
| Command | What it does |
|---|
/code-sensei:explain | Explain what Claude just changed in terms you understand |
/code-sensei:quiz | Test your understanding with a contextual quiz |
/code-sensei:why | Explain why a specific decision or pattern was used |
/code-sensei:progress | Show your learning dashboard, streak, mastery, and next belt requirements |
/code-sensei:recap | Summarize what you learned in the session |
/code-sensei:level | Adjust difficulty or set your professional background |
/code-sensei:belt | Show current belt rank and progress |
/code-sensei:export | Export your local profile for backup or migration |
/code-sensei:import | Restore a profile from a previous export |
/code-sensei:doctor | Verify setup health and inspect exactly what CodeSensei stores locally |
How it works
-
You build normally
Prompt Claude to create files, edit code, install dependencies, and run commands.
-
Hooks watch local activity
CodeSensei listens for file changes and shell commands, then queues lightweight teaching moments locally.
DojoCodingLabs