| name | codebase-research |
| description | Systematic codebase exploration following the Iron Law - understand the problem before exploring code. Four phases with file-finder and web-researcher agents. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob, WebFetch, WebSearch, Agent, AskUserQuestion |
Codebase Research
Overview
Perform systematic codebase exploration to understand how existing systems work. Follows the Iron Law: "Do NOT explore the codebase until the problem is understood."
When to Use
- Implementation direction is clear but codebase understanding is needed
- Investigating how an existing feature works before modifying it
- Understanding dependencies and data flows before planning
- Gathering context for a known goal
Process
- Understand the request - Ask clarifying questions one at a time (purpose, specifics, scope, constraints, context). Do NOT read any files until confirmed.
- Explore the codebase - Use file-finder agent, read in order, trace data flows, identify constraints.
- Document findings - Write structured research document to
docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-research.md.
- Transition - Ask: plan, continue research, or conclude.
Key Rules
- Quotations from source material capped at 125 characters maximum
- Only proceed to exploration after human confirms understanding
- Use file-finder agent for initial file discovery
- Use web-researcher agent for external context needs
Agents Used
agents/file-finder/ - Locates relevant files with suggested reading orderagents/web-researcher/ - Gathers external context when needed
Tool Use
Invoke via babysitter process: methodologies/rpikit/rpikit-research
