Codebase Recon

Codebase Recon

Build a reusable, falsifiable model of a repository. This skill reports what the tree and executable probes support; it does not edit code or issue a final PASS/WARN/FAIL verdict.

Workflow

1. Record the current commit and the repository's local source-of-truth precedence. Search for a prior recon pack before starting.
2. If no prior pack exists, use baseline mode. If one exists, verify its still-valid claims against the current commit and use delta mode. Preserve valid evidence by reference and describe only changed paths and synthesis.
3. Trace representative paths from entry point to domain logic, integration boundary, and test. Prefer a few complete flows over a broad file inventory.
4. Keep four views distinct in the report: mental model, bounded audit, pattern evidence, and synthesis. Label each claim fact, inference, or unknown, assign confidence, and cite evidence for facts and inferences.
5. List inspected and uninspected scope. Write the JSON manifest and companion report, then run the validator. Missing evidence and hidden coverage gaps are contract failures, not prose caveats.

skills/codebase-recon/scripts/validate-output.sh <recon.json>

Evidence entries are existing file paths, optionally followed by a line number. Delta manifests require an existing prior pack, baseline_verified: true, and at least one described change.

Executable behavior: references/codebase-recon.feature.

Do not

• Regenerate a full replacement report when a verified delta is possible.
• Present an inference as fact or omit uninspected scope.
• Turn the recon artifact into a completion verdict or a code-change plan.