Explore a codebase to answer "how does X work?" — architectural explanation at the level of a senior engineer onboarding onto a subsystem, with an optional critique pass by parallel architectural critics. Use when the user asks how a subsystem, feature flow, or service works, asks to be walked through what happens at runtime, or asks what is architecturally wrong with an area.
Explore a codebase to answer "how does X work?" — architectural explanation at the level of a senior engineer onboarding onto a subsystem, with an optional critique pass by parallel architectural critics. Use when the user asks how a subsystem, feature flow, or service works, asks to be walked through what happens at runtime, or asks what is architecturally wrong with an area.
disable-model-invocation
true
How
From satejbidvai/skills, unmodified. Slash-invoked only (/how) — it can spawn up to 4 explorer sub-agents plus critics, so it does not auto-trigger.
Explore the codebase to answer "how does X work?" questions. Produce clear architectural explanations at the level of a senior engineer onboarding onto a subsystem. Enough to build a working mental model, not annotated source code.
Two modes:
Explain (default). Explore the codebase and produce a clear explanation
Critique. Explain first, then spawn multiple agents to independently identify architectural issues
Explain Mode
Step 1. Understand the Question and Assess Complexity
Parse what the user is asking about:
"How does the rate limiter work?", a subsystem
"How do we handle billing for on-demand usage?", a feature flow
"How is the auth service structured?", an architectural overview
"Walk me through what happens when a user submits a form", a runtime trace
Identify the scope. If ambiguous, state your best-guess interpretation before exploring. Don't ask. Let the user redirect if you're off.
Assess complexity to decide the approach:
Simple (a single module, a small utility, a narrow question like "how does function X work"): skip explorer agents; the explainer explores and explains in a single pass. Go to Step 2b.
Complex (a subsystem spanning multiple files/services, a cross-cutting feature, a full architectural overview): spawn parallel explorer agents first, then hand off to the explainer. Go to Step 2a.
When in doubt, lean simple. You can always spawn explorers if the explainer hits a wall.
Step 2a. Explore (complex questions only)
Decompose the question into 2-4 parallel exploration angles, each a distinct slice of the subsystem so explorers don't duplicate work. Example split for "how does the rate limiter work?":
Explorer 1: data model and state management
Explorer 2: request path and enforcement
Explorer 3: configuration and metrics infrastructure
The right decomposition depends on the question. Use your judgment. Narrow questions: 2 explorers is fine. Broad subsystems: up to 4.
Spawn all explorers in parallel. Each explorer gets the same base prompt from references/explorer-prompt.md plus a specific exploration angle naming its slice. Each explorer should:
Start broad: Glob for relevant directories, Grep for key types/interfaces/class names
Follow the thread: from an entry point, trace the call chain (callers, callees, data flow, type definitions)
Read the actual code, don't guess from file names
Stop when it can describe the full path from input to output (or trigger to effect) without hand-waving any step
Note things that are surprising, non-obvious, or that a newcomer would get wrong
Each explorer returns structured findings: components found, flow traced, files read, anything non-obvious. Overlap between explorers is fine; the explainer reconciles.
Then proceed to Step 3.
Step 2b. Direct Explain (simple questions)
Spawn a single subagent that explores and explains in one pass. The agent does its own exploration (Glob, Grep, Read) and writes the explanation directly. Read references/explainer-prompt.md for the communication style and output format. Same structure, just no explorer findings as input.
Proceed to Step 4.
Step 3. Synthesize (complex questions only)
Once all explorers return, spawn a single subagent to synthesize their findings into one coherent explanation. The explainer gets all explorers' findings and writes the human-facing explanation (output format below). Read references/explainer-prompt.md for the full prompt template. The explainer reconciles overlapping findings, resolves contradictions, and weaves the slices into a unified picture.
Step 4. Present
Present the explainer's output to the user. You may lightly edit for clarity or add context from the conversation, but don't substantially rewrite. The explainer's communication is the product.
Output Format
Follow this structure, adapted to the question. Not every section is needed for every question.
Overview. 1-2 paragraphs. What it is, what it does, why it exists. Enough to decide whether to keep reading.
Key Concepts. The important types, services, or abstractions. Brief definition of each. Not exhaustive, just the ones needed to understand the rest.
How It Works. The core of the explanation. Walk through the flow: what triggers it, what happens step by step, where data goes, the decision points. Prose, not pseudocode. Reference specific files and functions so the reader can go look, but don't dump code blocks unless a snippet is genuinely necessary.
Where Things Live. A brief map of the relevant files/directories. Not every file, just the ones needed to start working in this area.
Gotchas. Non-obvious or surprising things that would trip someone up. Historical context that explains why something looks weird. Known sharp edges.
Critique Mode
Triggered when the user asks for architectural issues, problems, or improvements, not just understanding.
Step 1. Explain First
Run the full explain flow above (Steps 1-4). You must understand the architecture before critiquing it.
Step 2. Spawn Critics
After the explanation is complete, spawn 2-3 architectural critics in parallel.
Read references/critic-prompt.md for the prompt template. Each critic gets:
The explanation from Step 1 (so they don't re-explore)
The relevant file paths (so they can read the actual code)
The architectural critique rubric from references/critique-rubric.md
Step 3. Lead Judgment
You're a pragmatic lead, not an aggregator.
Categorize findings:
Act on. Architectural problems worth fixing now
Consider. Real concerns, but the cost/benefit is unclear
Noted. Valid observations, low priority
Dismissed. Wrong, missing context, or style preference
Present the explanation first (from Step 1), then the critique verdict below it. The explanation should stand on its own; someone who just wants to understand the system shouldn't wade through critique.
