Explore and explain how a system, module, or codebase works. Use when the user is onboarding, trying to understand unfamiliar code, or building a mental model.
Instalação
Instalar com Codex ou Claude Copie este prompt, cole no Codex, Claude ou outro assistente e deixe que ele revise a página da skill e instale para você.
Explore and explain how a system, module, or codebase works. Use when the user is onboarding, trying to understand unfamiliar code, or building a mental model.
Learn How Something Works
Process
Entry point exploration:
What triggers this code to run
High-level flow (what calls what, in what order)
Key data structures and how they transform
Where important decisions/branching happens
In Claude Code, use the Explore subagent for this — it keeps the main context clean.
Visual mental model: Draw a diagram (mermaid or ASCII) showing:
Main components/modules
Data flow between them
External dependencies (DB, APIs, filesystem)
Error handling boundaries
Save the diagram — visual models compress understanding.
Trace a specific flow: Walk through a concrete scenario step by step:
Which functions are called, in what order
What data looks like at each step
"Interesting" parts (complex logic, non-obvious behavior)
Pick the most common scenario first, then trace edge cases.
Socratic verification (when the user states their understanding):
What did they get wrong?
What's missing?
What would surprise them?
Telling the AI what you think is true and asking for corrections is dramatically more effective than open-ended questions.
Capture the understanding (if asked): Write a brief architecture doc:
Purpose and scope
Key concepts and data flow
Common modification points
Gotchas and non-obvious behavior
Rules
Start broad, go deep on specific areas when asked
Always trace at least one concrete scenario — abstract explanations don't stick
When the user states their understanding, correct misconceptions specifically
Use diagrams to compress understanding
Write down what you learned — it compounds across sessions
Big-output discipline. Heavy command output (project check, full git diff, repo-wide search, long log, large fetch) goes to /tmp/hawk-learn-system-<step>.log, then rg -n '<pattern>' /tmp/hawk-learn-system-<step>.log | head -50 extracts what you need. Read the file only with offset/limit. See README → Big-output discipline. Explore subagents must apply the same recipe to their captures.