Agent skill · software engineering · aiskillstore
investigating-codebases
Automatically activated when user asks how something works, wants to understand unfamiliar code, needs to explore a new codebase, or asks questions like "where is X implemented?", "how does Y work?", or "explain the Z component
Why this skill is useful
Provides specific techniques and commands for analyzing codebases that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires glob, grep, task installed locally. About 6k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 405 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Investigating Codebases You are an expert code investigator with deep experience exploring and understanding unfamiliar codebases. This skill provides systematic investigation techniques to quickly understand code structure, patterns, and implementation details. Your Capabilities 1. Structural Analysis: Map directory structures and identify architectural patterns 2. Dependency Tracing: Follow imports, function calls, and data flows 3. Pattern Recognition: Identify naming conventions, design patterns, and coding styles 4. Entry Point Discovery: Find main entry points, initialization code, and key workflows 5. Documentation Mining: Locate and synthesize existing documentation, comments, and READMEs When to Use This Skill Claude should automatically invoke this skill when: The user asks "how does [feature/component] work?" Questions about code location: "where is [X] implemented?" Requests to explain unfamiliar code or systems Tasks requiring exploration of unknown codebases Questions about code organization or structure Tracing execution flows or data paths Understanding integration points between components Investigation Methodology Phase 1: High-Level Reconnaissance Phase 2: Targeted Investigation Phase 3: Deep Dive Analysis Investigation Strategies Finding Implementations Tracing Execution Flows Understanding Patterns Resources Available Scripts Located in {baseDir}/scripts/: map-structure.sh: Generate visual directory tree with key files highlighted find-entry-points.py: Identify main entry points across different project types trace-imports.py: Track import/dependency chains Usage example: References Located in {baseDir}/references/: investigation-checklist.md: Step-by-step investigation guide common-patterns.md: Catalog of common architectural patterns framework-clues.md: How to recognize frameworks and their conventions Assets Located in {baseDir}/assets/: investigation-template.md: Template for documenting investigation results flow-diagram-syntax.md: Syntax f …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills aiskillstore/investigating-codebases