mgd34msu project-onboarding
Map a codebase's real structure before proposing changes to it, using the analyzers below instead of reading files one at a time until a picture emerges by accident.
1. Orient: stack and layout
Start with code_glob (a broad pattern, with_stats: false, tight max_results) to see the
directory shape, and code_read with extract: outline on the entry point (package.json,
the framework's config file) to confirm the stack before analyzing anything more specific.
2. Backend surface
If the project has a backend: api_routes for the route inventory (framework-detected:
Express, Fastify, Hono, Next.js are all covered), then api_spec for the shape of each route's
request/response, then db_schema (with usage: true if you need to know which models are
actually queried where and whether any query runs inside a loop). Cross-check the two with
api_validate if you suspect the spec and the routes have drifted apart.
3. Frontend surface
If the project has a UI layer: component_tree on the app's root or a feature directory (start
with no annotate modes for the bare tree; add state/boundaries/events/attributes only
for the components you're about to touch, each mode costs response size). layout_analysis on
a specific file when you need to understand its layout hierarchy, overflow behavior, or stacking
context. hook_dependencies and client_boundary when you need to know whether a hook's
dependency array is honest or whether a server/client boundary is being crossed incorrectly.
4. Exported API surface
code_surface on the module(s) you're about to depend on or modify. It gives you the real
exported types and functions from the compiler, not from reading every file's exports by eye.
Before deleting or renaming anything it exports, run code_safe_delete on the specific symbol
first. It checks real compiler references, not a text search for the name.
5. Record what you found
Write what you learned to .goodvibes/memory/ (see the goodvibes-memory skill) as a
pattern or decision entry. The next session, or the next agent working in this codebase,
shouldn't have to re-derive the same map from scratch.
What this skill does not do
It doesn't run the project, install dependencies, or execute tests. That's native Bash. It doesn't claim to understand business logic or intent from static analysis alone; treat the analyzers' output as a structural map to verify against, not a substitute for reading the code that actually matters for the task at hand.