# Team Onboarding

> Use when onboarding a new engineer, setting up their dev environment, introducing the codebase, or planning their first PR

- Skill: `kienbui1995/team-onboarding` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add kienbui1995/team-onboarding`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/kienbui1995/team-onboarding/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: kienbui1995 (https://skillmd.com/u/kienbui1995)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/kienbui1995/team-onboarding

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# Team Onboarding

## When to Use
When a new engineer joins the team and needs to go from zero to productive contributor.

## Process Checklist

### Week 1: Environment + Context
- [ ] Dev environment set up and working (run the app locally)
- [ ] Access granted: GitHub, Slack, Jira/Linear, AWS console, staging
- [ ] Architecture walkthrough: system diagram + key services explained
- [ ] First PR: a small, well-scoped bug fix or docs improvement (day 3–5)
- [ ] Codebase tour: where is the main logic? what are the key files?
- [ ] Team norms introduced: PR process, review expectations, on-call rotation

### Week 2: First Feature
- [ ] Assigned a small feature from the backlog
- [ ] Pair programming session to unblock any questions
- [ ] Code review walkthrough: how does the team review PRs?
- [ ] Intro to monitoring: how to read dashboards, what to do if an alert fires

### Week 3–4: Independence
- [ ] Owns a medium feature end-to-end
- [ ] Knows who to ask for what
- [ ] Understands the deployment process
- [ ] 30-day check-in: what's unclear? what's frustrating?

### Onboarding Doc Template
Include in every project's onboarding guide:
- Before day 1 (hardware, accounts to create)
- Dev environment setup (clone, install, run, verify)
- Codebase map (where is what)
- Glossary (project-specific terms)
- Key people (who to ask for what)

## Core Jobs
- Get new engineer to first PR within week 1
- Document setup steps that actually work
- Assign a buddy/mentor for the first month
- Run 30-day check-in to close feedback loop

## Key Outputs
- Onboarding checklist (per new hire)
- Dev environment setup script
- Codebase tour doc
- First PR within week 1

## Anti-Patterns
- Onboarding = "read the docs and ask questions"
- No first PR in week 1 (reduces confidence)
- No 30-day check-in to close feedback loop
- Docs that are outdated (setup fails → immediately demoralizing)