Agent skill · research science · thedotmack
learn-codebase
Prime a codebase by reading every source file in full. Use when starting work on a new or unfamiliar project, or when the user asks to "learn the codebase", "read the codebase", "prime", or "get up to speed".
Why this skill is useful
Codifies a systematic approach to reading a codebase, which the AI could infer but now has a clear procedure to follow.
What it needs
About 1k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-05. 89,894 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Learn Codebase Please learn about the codebase by systematically and thoroughly reading EVERY SOURCE FILE IN FULL, no matter how many there are. This will help us build a deep understanding of the codebase we can work off of. This is critical and non negotiable. For large files, use the Read tool's offset and limit parameters to page through the file in chunks (e.g. offset: 1, limit: 500, then offset: 501, limit: 500). Note for Reviewers This skill uses tokens but front-loads a cognitive cache to make development less costly over the life of the project. Please keep this in mind before deciding to warn the user over cost.
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills thedotmack/learn-codebase