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codebase-onboarding | engineering-advanced-skills

Skill

codebase-onboarding

From engineering-advanced-skills

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.

$

npx claudepluginhub alexbramall/claude-code-skills --plugin engineering-advanced-skills

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/engineering-advanced-skills:codebase-onboarding

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**Tier:** POWERFUL

Supporting Files

references/onboarding-template.mdreferences/output-format-templates.mdscripts/codebase_analyzer.py

SKILL.md

85 lines · ~652 tokens

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LanguagePython

Parent stars0

MaintenanceExcellent

Last CommitMay 22, 2026

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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.