| name | codebase-documenter |
| description | Generates comprehensive documentation explaining how a codebase works, including architecture, key components, data flow, and development guidelines. Use when user wants to understand unfamiliar code, create onboarding docs, document architecture, or explain how the system works. |
Codebase Documenter
Generates comprehensive documentation for codebases - architecture, components, data flow, development guidelines.
When to Use
- "explain this codebase"
- "document the architecture"
- "how does this code work"
- "create developer documentation"
- "generate codebase overview"
- "create onboarding docs"
What It Documents
1. Project Overview
- Purpose & vision
- Target users
- Key features
- Technology stack
- Project status
2. Architecture
- High-level structure
- Design patterns
- Data flow
- Control flow
- Diagrams (Mermaid)
- Architectural decisions
3. Directory Structure
- Organization purpose
- Naming conventions
- Entry points
- Core modules
- Configuration locations
4. Key Components
- Major modules
- Classes & functions
- Responsibilities
- Interactions
- Extension points
- Code examples
5. External Integrations
- APIs consumed
- Databases & schemas
- Authentication
- Caching
- Message queues
- File storage
6. Data Models
- Database schema
- Data structures
- Validation
- Migrations
- Data transformations
7. Development Setup
- Prerequisites
- Installation steps
- Configuration
- Running the app
- Testing
- Debugging
- Troubleshooting
8. Development Guidelines
- Coding conventions
- Testing approach
- Error handling
- Logging
- Security practices
- Performance patterns
9. Deployment
- Build process
- Deployment steps
- Environments
- Monitoring
- Rollback procedures
10. Contributing
- Development workflow
- Code review guidelines
- Testing requirements
- Documentation updates
Approach
- Explore using Explore agent (thorough)
- Map structure with Glob
- Read critical files (README, entry points, core modules)
- Identify patterns with Grep (imports, exports)
- Trace execution paths
- Extract knowledge from docs, comments, tests
- Synthesize into cohesive documentation
Output
Creates markdown documentation:
docs/
├── README.md # Overview and quick start
├── ARCHITECTURE.md # System architecture
├── DEVELOPMENT.md # Development guide
├── API.md # API documentation
├── DEPLOYMENT.md # Deployment guide
└── CONTRIBUTING.md # Contribution guidelines
Or single comprehensive doc if preferred.
Depth Levels
- Quick: High-level overview (15-30 min)
- Standard: Comprehensive coverage (30-60 min)
- Deep: Exhaustive with examples (60+ min)
Visual Elements
- Mermaid diagrams (architecture, flow charts, sequence)
- Code examples from codebase
- Specific file:line references
- Tables for structured info
- Lists for guidelines
Tools Used
- Task (Explore agent): Codebase exploration
- Glob: Map directory structure
- Grep: Find patterns, imports, exports
- Read: Analyze key files
- Write: Create documentation
- Bash: Extract metadata (git log, versions)
Success Criteria
- Complete coverage of all areas
- Clear explanations with examples
- Visual diagrams for complex concepts
- Specific file:line references
- Actionable setup/development instructions
- New developer can onboard using only docs
- Organized, navigable structure
- Accurate and current information
Integration
- code-auditor: Includes quality/security context
- project-bootstrapper: Documents bootstrap decisions
- visual-html-creator: Create visual diagrams
