| name | are-help |
| description | Show available ARE commands and usage guide |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
Display the complete ARE command reference.
First: Read .claude/ARE-VERSION → store as $VERSION. Show the user: agents-reverse-engineer v$VERSION
Then: Output ONLY the reference content below. Do NOT add:
- Project-specific analysis
- Git status or file context
- Next-step suggestions
- Any commentary beyond the reference
# agents-reverse-engineer (ARE) Command Reference
ARE generates AI-friendly documentation for codebases, creating structured summaries optimized for AI assistants.
Quick Start
/are-init — Create configuration file
/are-generate — Generate documentation for the codebase
/are-update — Keep docs in sync after code changes
/are-dashboard — View costs and telemetry
Commands Reference
/are-init
Initialize configuration in this project.
Creates .agents-reverse-engineer/config.yaml with customizable settings.
Usage: /are-init
CLI: npx agents-reverse-engineer init
/are-discover
Discover files that would be analyzed for documentation.
Shows included files, excluded files with reasons, and generates a GENERATION-PLAN.md execution plan.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|
[path] | Target directory (default: current directory) |
--debug | Show verbose debug output |
--trace | Enable concurrency tracing to .agents-reverse-engineer/traces/ |
| Usage: | |
/are-discover — Discover files and generate execution plan
CLI:
npx agents-reverse-engineer discover
npx agents-reverse-engineer discover ./src
/are-generate
Generate comprehensive documentation for the codebase.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|
[path] | Target directory (default: current directory) |
--concurrency N | Number of concurrent AI calls (default: auto) |
--dry-run | Show what would be generated without writing |
--eval | Namespace output by backend.model for comparison |
--fail-fast | Stop on first file analysis failure |
--debug | Show AI prompts and backend details |
--trace | Enable concurrency tracing to .agents-reverse-engineer/traces/ |
| Usage: | |
/are-generate — Generate docs
/are-generate --dry-run — Preview without writing
/are-generate --eval — Generate variant docs for comparison
/are-generate --concurrency 3 — Limit parallel AI calls
CLI:
npx agents-reverse-engineer generate
npx agents-reverse-engineer generate --dry-run
npx agents-reverse-engineer generate ./my-project --concurrency 3
npx agents-reverse-engineer generate --debug --trace
How it works:
- Discovers files, applies filters, analyzes each file via concurrent AI calls, writes
.sum summary files
- Generates
AGENTS.md for each directory (post-order traversal) and writes CLAUDE.md pointers
/are-update
Incrementally update documentation for changed files.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|
[path] | Target directory (default: current directory) |
--uncommitted | Include staged but uncommitted changes |
--dry-run | Show what would be updated without writing |
--eval | Namespace output by backend.model for comparison |
--concurrency N | Number of concurrent AI calls (default: auto) |
--fail-fast | Stop on first file analysis failure |
--debug | Show AI prompts and backend details |
--trace | Enable concurrency tracing to .agents-reverse-engineer/traces/ |
| Usage: | |
/are-update — Update docs for committed changes
/are-update --uncommitted — Include uncommitted changes
CLI:
npx agents-reverse-engineer update
npx agents-reverse-engineer update --uncommitted
npx agents-reverse-engineer update --dry-run
npx agents-reverse-engineer update ./my-project --concurrency 3
/are-specify (Experimental)
Generate a project specification from AGENTS.md documentation.
Collects all AGENTS.md files, synthesizes them via AI, and writes a comprehensive project specification. Auto-runs generate if no AGENTS.md files exist.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|
[path] | Target directory (default: current directory) |
--output <path> | Custom output path (default: specs/SPEC.md) |
--multi-file | Split specification into multiple files |
--force | Overwrite existing specification |
--dry-run | Show input statistics without making AI calls |
--debug | Show AI prompts and backend details |
--trace | Enable concurrency tracing to .agents-reverse-engineer/traces/ |
| Usage: | |
/are-specify — Generate specification
/are-specify --dry-run — Preview without calling AI
/are-specify --output ./docs/spec.md --force — Custom output path
CLI:
npx agents-reverse-engineer specify
npx agents-reverse-engineer specify --dry-run
npx agents-reverse-engineer specify --output ./docs/spec.md --force
npx agents-reverse-engineer specify --multi-file
/are-rebuild (Experimental)
Reconstruct a project from specification documents.
Reads spec files from specs/, partitions them into ordered rebuild units, processes each via AI, and writes generated source files to an output directory. Supports checkpoint-based session continuity for resumable long-running rebuilds.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|
[path] | Target directory (default: current directory) |
--output <path> | Output directory (default: rebuild/) |
--force | Wipe output directory and start fresh |
--dry-run | Show rebuild plan without making AI calls |
--concurrency N | Number of concurrent AI calls (default: auto) |
--fail-fast | Stop on first failure |
--debug | Show AI prompts and backend details |
--trace | Enable concurrency tracing to .agents-reverse-engineer/traces/ |
| Usage: | |
/are-rebuild --dry-run — Preview rebuild plan
/are-rebuild --output ./out --force — Rebuild to custom directory
CLI:
npx agents-reverse-engineer rebuild --dry-run
npx agents-reverse-engineer rebuild --output ./out --force
npx agents-reverse-engineer rebuild --concurrency 3
How it works:
- Reads all spec files from
specs/ directory
- Partitions specs into ordered rebuild units (from Build Plan phases or top-level headings)
- Processes units in order: sequentially between groups, concurrently within each group
- Accumulates context (export signatures) after each group for dependent phases
- Writes generated source files via
===FILE:=== delimited output parsing
Exit codes: 0 (success), 1 (partial failure), 2 (total failure)
/are-clean
Remove all generated documentation artifacts.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|
--dry-run | Show what would be deleted without deleting |
What gets deleted:
.agents-reverse-engineer/GENERATION-PLAN.md
- All
*.sum files (including eval variant .sum files)
- All
AGENTS.md and AGENTS.*.md variant files
- Pointers:
CLAUDE.md
Usage:
/are-clean --dry-run — Preview deletions
/are-clean — Delete all artifacts
CLI:
npx agents-reverse-engineer clean --dry-run
npx agents-reverse-engineer clean
/are-dashboard (Experimental)
Show telemetry dashboard with cost analysis, token usage, and trace timelines.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|
--run <id> | Per-entry drill-down for a specific run (partial timestamp match) |
--trace <id> | ASCII timeline from trace file (partial timestamp match) |
--trends | Cost & usage trends across all runs |
--format html | Self-contained HTML report with Chart.js charts |
--format json | Raw data as JSON |
Usage:
/are-dashboard — Show run summary table
/are-dashboard --run 2026-02-14 — Drill into a specific run
/are-dashboard --trace 2026-02-14 — Show execution timeline
/are-dashboard --trends — Cost trends over time
CLI:
npx agents-reverse-engineer dashboard
npx agents-reverse-engineer dashboard --run 2026-02-14
npx agents-reverse-engineer dashboard --trace 2026-02-14
npx agents-reverse-engineer dashboard --trends
npx agents-reverse-engineer dashboard --format html > report.html
/are-help
Show this command reference.
CLI Installation
Install ARE commands to your AI assistant:
npx agents-reverse-engineer install
npx agents-reverse-engineer install --runtime claude -g
npx agents-reverse-engineer install --runtime codex -g
npx agents-reverse-engineer install --runtime claude -l
npx agents-reverse-engineer install --runtime all -g
Install/Uninstall Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|
--runtime <name> | Target: claude, codex, opencode, gemini, all |
-g, --global | Install to global config directory |
-l, --local | Install to current project directory |
--force | Overwrite existing files (install only) |
Configuration
File: .agents-reverse-engineer/config.yaml
exclude:
patterns:
- "**/*.test.ts"
- "**/__mocks__/**"
vendorDirs:
- node_modules
- dist
- .git
binaryExtensions:
- .png
- .jpg
- .pdf
options:
followSymlinks: false
maxFileSize: 100000
output:
colors: true
Generated Files
Per Source File
*.sum — File summaries with YAML frontmatter + detailed prose.
---
file_type: service
generated_at: 2025-01-15T10:30:00Z
content_hash: abc123...
purpose: Handles user authentication and session management
public_interface: [login(), logout(), refreshToken(), AuthService]
dependencies: [express, jsonwebtoken, ./user-model]
patterns: [singleton, factory, observer]
related_files: [./types.ts, ./middleware.ts]
---
<300-500 word summary covering implementation, patterns, edge cases>
Per Directory
AGENTS.md — Directory overview synthesized from .sum files. Groups files by purpose and links to subdirectories.
Pointer Files
| File | Purpose |
|---|
CLAUDE.md | Project entry point — imports root AGENTS.md |
Common Workflows
Initial documentation:
/are-init
/are-generate
After code changes:
/are-update
Full regeneration:
/are-clean
/are-generate
Preview before generating:
/are-discover # Check files and exclusions
/are-generate --dry-run # Preview generation
Tips
- Custom exclusions: Edit
.agents-reverse-engineer/config.yaml to skip files
- Context loading: Install creates a hook that auto-loads AGENTS.md context when reading project files
- Total session costs: Use
npx ccusage@latest (https://github.com/ryoppippi/ccusage) to see ALL Claude Code session costs, not just ARE subprocesses
Resources