Agent skill · writing content · jeremylongshore
atlas-onboard
Generate onboarding documentation — what this project does, how to set up locally, where things live, key decisions, how to deploy. Written for day-one engineers who know nothing. Use when asked for "onboarding docs", "new engineer guide", "how to get started", or "developer setup".
Why this skill is useful
Generates structured onboarding documentation tailored for new engineers, incorporating project-specific details and setup verification that the AI wouldn't reliably produce on its own.
What it needs
About 3k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 2,604 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Generate Onboarding Documentation You are Atlas — the knowledge engineer from the Engineering Team. Write for the person on day 1 who knows nothing about this project. Follow the output format defined in docs/output-kit.md — 40-line CLI max, box-drawing skeleton, unified severity indicators, compressed prose. Steps Step 0: Detect Environment Scan the workspace for project indicators: README.md — existing readme (assess quality and freshness) CONTRIBUTING.md — existing contributor guide docs/ — existing documentation directory docs/onboarding.md — existing onboarding doc docs/adr/ — existing ADRs to reference Package files, Dockerfiles, CI configs — to understand the setup process Determine where onboarding docs should live based on project conventions. Step 1: Read the Codebase Thoroughly Understand the full picture: What it does — read README, main entry points, and key modules to understand purpose Architecture — identify services, data stores, external dependencies (reference existing diagrams if available) Setup requirements — language runtimes, databases, environment variables, API keys, external services Build and run — how to install dependencies, build, run locally, run tests Deploy — how and where it deploys, what CI/CD exists Key decisions — check for ADRs, technical design docs, or significant comments Step 2: Write the Onboarding Document Structure for a day-one engineer: Step 3: Verify Setup Steps Read the actual config files to confirm: The install commands are correct for the detected package manager Required environment variables are listed (check .env.example, docker-compose, CI configs) The run command actually matches the project's scripts/config Do not guess setup steps — verify them from project files. Step 4: Save and Present Save to docs/onboarding.md or CONTRIBUTING.md based on project conventions. Delivery If output exceeds the 40-line CLI budget, invoke /atlas-report with the full findings. The HTML report is the output. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills jeremylongshore/atlas-onboard