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.

Constraints

• To prevent a floating recon, record the exact repository commit and local source-of-truth precedence.
• Because confidence is not evidence, type every material claim and cite each fact and inference.
• To preserve traceability, prefer a verified delta when a prior pack exists instead of rewriting unchanged evidence as fresh discovery.

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.

Output Specification

• Artifact directory: .agents/recon/<run-id>/
• Filename convention: codebase-recon.json with companion report codebase-recon.md in the same directory.
• Format: codebase-recon.v1 JSON manifest plus an evidence-cited Markdown report covering the same commit, mode, flows, claims, and scope boundaries.
• Validation command: skills/codebase-recon/scripts/validate-output.sh <codebase-recon.json> validates the machine-readable manifest; the cited Markdown report remains its human-readable companion.
• Downstream handoff: pass both validated artifact paths to the requesting research, planning, review, or documentation workflow; the consumer owns any decision or code-change plan.

Baseline manifests carry at least one complete entry-to-test flow. Delta manifests name an existing prior recon, prove baseline_verified: true, and describe at least one changed path. Every manifest lists both inspected and uninspected scope.

The validator is the machine boundary:

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.

Quality

• Every fact and inference resolves to existing evidence; unknowns remain visibly typed and never masquerade as established behavior.
• Representative flows reach entry, domain, integration, and test surfaces, while inspected and uninspected scope stay explicit.
• The named validator passes before the JSON manifest and companion report are handed to a downstream consumer.

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.