Codebase Orientation
Build an evidence-based map of an unfamiliar repository or subsystem before planning or changing it. Use for architecture questions, onboarding, ownership discovery, or the first task in an unfamiliar area.
Install
$ agentstack add skill-avacadorun-dev-soba-agent-codebase-orientation ✓ scanned · ✓ verified — works with Claude Code, Cursor, and more.
Security review
✓ PassedNo issues found. Passed automated security review. · v0.1.0 How review works →
- ✓ Prompt-injection patterns
- ✓ Secret / credential exfiltration
- ✓ Dangerous shell & filesystem operations
- ✓ Untrusted network calls
- ✓ Known-malicious package signatures
What it can access
- ✓ Network access No
- ✓ Filesystem access No
- ✓ Shell / process execution No
- ✓ Environment & secrets No
- ✓ Dynamic code execution No
From automated source analysis of v0.1.0. “Used” means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it’s unsafe.
About
Codebase Orientation
Purpose
Discover only the architecture, workflows, and constraints needed to act confidently in the requested area.
Triggers
Apply this workflow to architecture explanations, onboarding, ownership discovery, or implementation work in an unfamiliar repository or subsystem.
Inputs To Inspect
- Project and directory-specific instructions.
- Top-level documentation, manifests, task definitions, and runtime configuration.
- Entry points and source layout near the requested behavior.
- Representative tests, fixtures, and public contracts.
- Relevant recent changes and project memory when available.
Procedure
- Translate the request into a bounded area, behavior, or data flow to understand.
- Inspect the top-level structure and project-defined commands without assuming a language, build system, or repository shape.
- Locate entry points, ownership boundaries, dependencies, state transitions, and external interfaces relevant to that boundary.
- Read representative implementation and tests on both sides of important boundaries.
- Trace one concrete path through the system to validate the emerging map.
- Summarize confirmed module roles, data flow, extension points, verification commands, and risk areas.
- Separate observed facts from assumptions and name the next useful action when the request includes implementation.
Verification Contract
Support the map with inspected files, symbols, configuration, or command output. Do not infer architecture from directory names alone. Validate important relationships from both producer and consumer sides when practical.
Failure Recovery
When documentation is absent or stale, work outward from executable entry points, task definitions, and tests. When multiple ownership hypotheses remain plausible, inspect one discriminating artifact for each before choosing.
Memory Policy
Read memory as a navigation hint and confirm it against current artifacts. Write no memory unless the user asks or a stable convention is verified across multiple project sources.
Stop Conditions
Stop when the user has a focused, actionable map of the requested area. Stop as blocked only when inaccessible generated code, dependencies, or external systems are essential to the map.
Anti-Patterns
- Do not inventory the entire repository without a task boundary.
- Do not confuse file layout with runtime architecture.
- Do not present documentation claims as current behavior without corroboration.
- Do not start broad refactoring during orientation.
Source & license
This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.
- Author: avacadorun-dev
- Source: avacadorun-dev/soba-agent
- License: MIT
- Homepage: https://soba-agent.dev/
Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.
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Versions
- v0.1.0 Imported from the upstream source.