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Agent skill

Codebase Onboarding

by spencerpauly in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills

Launch multiple explore subagents in parallel to investigate architecture, data models, auth, APIs, and deployment.

CC0-1.0Auto-check: notesDevelopment

Install Codebase Onboarding

skills CLI
$ npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill codebase-onboarding -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills codebase-onboarding --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/resources/codebase-onboarding .claude/skills/codebase-onboarding && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
codebase-onboarding
GitHub stars
841
Token cost
~653 tokens
SKILL.md length
260 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
59
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
CC0-1.0

At a glance

Launch multiple explore subagents in parallel to investigate architecture, data models, auth, APIs, and deployment.

  • Works in 3 steps: Launch Parallel Explorers → Synthesize → Save
  • Tasks that involve Codebase onboarding
  • SKILL.md covers Workflow and Tips
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Codebase Onboarding is an agent skill from spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills. Launch multiple explore subagents in parallel to investigate architecture, data models, auth, APIs, and deployment. Synthesize into an onboarding document.

Its SKILL.md is about 650 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development, covering Codebase onboarding, Subagents and ORMs and data access. The repository describes itself as: A curated list of awesome skills for Cursor. The licence is CC0-1.0.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Codebase onboarding
  • Tasks that involve Subagents
  • Tasks that involve ORMs and data access

Example prompts

  • “/codebase-onboarding”

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Launch Parallel Explorers
  2. Synthesize
  3. Save

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 99cd265. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Codebase Onboarding loads about 653 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 44 tokens; SKILL.md has 260 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~44
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~653

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:42
    up environment: copy `.env.example` to `.env`

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills at commit 99cd265, republished under its CC0-1.0 licence (© spencerpauly). 260 words, ~653 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/codebase-onboarding/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
codebase-onboarding
description
Launch multiple explore subagents in parallel to investigate architecture, data models, auth, APIs, and deployment. Synthesize into an onboarding document.
user-invocable
true

Codebase Onboarding

Generate a comprehensive onboarding document for a codebase by exploring it in parallel.

Workflow

1. Launch Parallel Explorers

Spawn 5 explore subagents, each investigating a different area:

Agent 1 — Architecture & Structure

"Map the top-level directory structure. Identify the framework (Next.js, Express, Django, etc.), monorepo tools (turbo, nx), and key config files. List every app/package and what it does."

Agent 2 — Data Models & Database

"Find all database schemas, ORM models, migrations, and seed files. List every entity, its fields, and relationships. Identify the database (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, etc.) and ORM (Prisma, Drizzle, SQLAlchemy, etc.)."

Agent 3 — API Routes & Endpoints

"Find all API route definitions. List every endpoint with its HTTP method, path, auth requirements, and what it does. Identify the API style (REST, GraphQL, tRPC)."

Agent 4 — Authentication & Authorization

"Find how auth works. Identify the auth provider (Auth.js, Clerk, Supabase Auth, custom), session management, protected routes, role/permission checks, and middleware."

Agent 5 — Deployment & Infrastructure

"Find deployment config (Dockerfile, Vercel config, fly.toml, terraform), CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, etc.), environment variables needed, and how to run the app locally."

2. Synthesize

Combine the results from all 5 agents into a single onboarding document:

markdown
# Codebase Onboarding

## Quick Start
1. Clone the repo
2. Install dependencies: `<command>`
3. Set up environment: copy `.env.example` to `.env`
4. Run database migrations: `<command>`
5. Start dev server: `<command>`

## Architecture
<Agent 1 findings>

## Data Models
<Agent 2 findings>

## API Reference
<Agent 3 findings>

## Authentication
<Agent 4 findings>

## Deployment
<Agent 5 findings>

## Key Files to Know
- `<file>` — <why it matters>
3. Save

Write the document to ONBOARDING.md in the project root, or wherever the user specifies.

Tips

  • Each explore agent is read-only and fast — the whole process takes under a minute
  • For monorepos, consider one additional agent per app/package
  • The document should be opinionated — highlight the "start here" files, not just list everything
  • Include gotchas: common setup issues, env vars that are easy to forget, required system dependencies

© spencerpauly, CC0-1.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in resources/codebase-onboarding of spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 99cd265

Compare with similar skills

Codebase Onboarding next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Codebase Onboarding compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Codebase Onboarding this skillspencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills841—~653Automated safety check: NotesCC0-1.0
How Does This Work Explainercursor/plugins10k6 repos~771Automated safety check: PassNone
Codebase Research QuestionsWirasm/prp2.3k—~2.8kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Stash Deploymentcipherstash/stack157—~6.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Olore Claude Code Latestolorehq/olore103—~901Automated safety check: PassMIT
Hk Follow Breadcrumbdeepklarity/harness-kit100—~1.4kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT

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Categories

Questions about Codebase Onboarding

What does Codebase Onboarding do?

Launch multiple explore subagents in parallel to investigate architecture, data models, auth, APIs, and deployment. Codebase Onboarding is an agent skill from spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills. Launch multiple explore subagents in parallel to investigate architecture, data models, auth, APIs, and deployment.

When should I use Codebase Onboarding?

Codebase Onboarding fits situations like: tasks that involve Codebase onboarding; tasks that involve Subagents; tasks that involve ORMs and data access.

How do I install Codebase Onboarding in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill codebase-onboarding -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (resources/codebase-onboarding in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills) into .claude/skills/codebase-onboarding in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Codebase Onboarding in Codex?

Run `npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill codebase-onboarding -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (resources/codebase-onboarding in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills) into .agents/skills/codebase-onboarding in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Codebase Onboarding in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill codebase-onboarding -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/codebase-onboarding, .gemini/skills/codebase-onboarding, .github/skills/codebase-onboarding and .opencode/skills/codebase-onboarding in your project.

What does Codebase Onboarding need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Codebase Onboarding is instructions for the agent only.

Does Codebase Onboarding access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Codebase Onboarding safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (mentions a .env file), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Codebase Onboarding use?

Codebase Onboarding is published under the CC0-1.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Codebase Onboarding use?

About 653 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.6k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Codebase Onboarding?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Codebase Onboarding: How Does This Work Explainer (cursor/plugins, 10k stars), Codebase Research Questions (Wirasm/prp, 2.3k stars), Stash Deployment (cipherstash/stack, 157 stars) and Olore Claude Code Latest (olorehq/olore, 103 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Codebase Onboarding?

spencerpauly (a GitHub user) maintains it in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills, which has 841 GitHub stars. The repository holds 59 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 2, 2026.

Source: spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.