Explore Codebase Skill Skill

Explore Codebase Skill

Pattern for exploring codebases efficiently with parallel subagents.

When to Load This Skill

You need to understand parts of the codebase
You're gathering context before making decisions
You need to find patterns, conventions, or existing implementations

Exploration Strategy

For Quick Searches (Do Yourself)

Glob("**/*{keyword}*")
Grep(pattern="functionName", type="ts")

Use when looking for a specific thing.

For Broad Understanding (Spawn Explorers)

Spawn parallel explorer subagents:

Task(
  subagent_type: "explorer",  # Custom dotagent agent (lowercase)
  model: "haiku",
  prompt: |
    Query: {specific question}
    Hints: {where to look}
    Scope: {limit if needed}

    Return structured YAML:
    - findings (location, relevance, summary)
    - patterns_observed
    - related_areas
    - gaps
)

Spawn multiple for different areas simultaneously.

Note: Use "explorer" (lowercase) for the custom dotagent agent defined in @.claude/agents/explorer.md. The built-in "Explore" (capitalized) is a different Claude Code agent with simpler behavior.

Synthesize Results

Combine explorer outputs into coherent understanding:

Common patterns across areas
Integration points
Constraints discovered
Gaps to note

Output Format

After exploration, summarize as:

codebase_context:
  architecture_summary: string
  existing_patterns: [string]
  integration_points: [string]
  constraints: [string]
  gaps: [string]

Principles

Parallel over sequential - Spawn multiple explorers at once
Breadth over depth - Explore broadly first
Structured output - Always produce YAML summaries
Note gaps - What you couldn't find matters

Agent Skills: Explore Codebase Skill

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files