LatticeCast Codebase Onboarding
Explore a codebase and produce .tmp/llm*.md docs so future Claude sessions (and humans) can ramp up instantly.
Process
1. Register Project in LatticeCast PM
Use Skill(developing/project-management) — "Setup Project" section.
This creates the PM board with tickets, views (Table/Kanban/Timeline), and shared workspace.
2. Scan Project Root
Read overview first (if they exist). ex:
README.md,CLAUDE.md,*.md— project overviewpackage.json/pyproject.toml/Cargo.toml— stack + depsdocker-compose.yml— services architecture.env.example— config shape
3. Map Directory Structure
find . -type f -not -path './.git/*' -not -path './node_modules/*' -not -path './.tmp/*' | head -200
Identify layers: frontend, backend, API, DB, auth, infra, tests.
4. Trace Key Flows
For each major module, trace:
- Entry point — where does it start?
- Data flow — input → processing → output
- Dependencies — what does it import/call?
- Config — env vars, constants, feature flags
5. Write .tmp/llm*.md Docs
Create .tmp/ if not exists. examples: (just possible, not must)
| File | Content |
|---|---|
llm.arch.md |
Overall architecture, tech stack, directory map |
llm.arch.auth.md |
Auth flow, session handling, permissions |
llm.arch.db.md |
DB schema, ORM, migrations, key queries |
llm.arch.api.md |
API routes, request/response shapes, middleware |
llm.frontend.md |
UI structure, components, state management |
llm.backend.md |
Server logic, services, business rules |
llm.infra.md |
Deploy, CI/CD, Docker, env config |
llm.gotchas.md |
Non-obvious quirks, footguns, tech debt |
Only create files for domains that exist in the project. Skip what's not there.
6. Doc Format
Each llm*.md follows:
# [Domain] — [Project Name]
## Overview
One paragraph: what this layer does and why.
## Key Files
- `path/to/file.ts` — what it does
- `path/to/other.ts` — what it does
## Architecture
How components connect. Use ascii diagram if complex:
A → B → C ↓ D
## Patterns
- Pattern name — brief explanation
- Another pattern — brief explanation
## Gotchas
- Non-obvious thing 1
- Non-obvious thing 2
Rules
- All output goes to
./.tmp/— never/tmp/ - Keep each doc under 100 lines — dense, scannable
- File paths must be current — verify they exist before writing
- No opinions — document what IS, not what should be
- Skip boilerplate/obvious stuff — only document what's non-trivial
- If project is large, prioritize: auth > API > DB > frontend > infra