Nick Codebase Onboarding

Use this as the default onboarding/ramp-up skill.

Purpose

Generate practical onboarding docs that answer:

• what is this project?
• how do I run it?
• where do I start editing?
• what are the key flows?
• what is risky or stale?
• what should I test first?

Hard rules

• Focus on how to start working right now
• Prefer practical repo orientation over academic architecture docs
• Highlight commands, entry points, and likely break points
• If the project is stale, call out likely outdated areas
• Surface env/setup blockers early

Default workflow

1. Scan top-level structure
2. Identify stack and major config files
3. Identify app entry points, routes, API surfaces, and data/auth wiring
4. Identify core commands to run, build, test, and deploy
5. Identify risky, stale, or confusing areas
6. Generate onboarding markdown

Default output

• Project summary
• Start here
• Setup checklist
• Key commands
• Important folders/files
• Main flows and data/auth wiring
• Risky areas / stale areas
• First things to test
• First safe edits to make

References

• Read references/onboarding-sections.md for the output structure
• Read references/stale-project-checklist.md when a repo looks old or neglected
• Read references/next-supabase-orientation.md for App Router + Supabase projects
• Read references/handoff-notes.md for practical developer handoff style

Bundled scripts

• scripts/init_onboarding_doc.sh — create onboarding markdown stub
• scripts/generate_project_kickstart.sh — create a fast "start here" guide
• scripts/generate_stale_repo_review.sh — create stale-project review checklist