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Describe Design

Checked
posit-dev·vlatest·writing·MIT

Analyzes design documents/mockups to generate clear, concise descriptions suitable for developers and stakeholders.

Repository

Install on your platform

Showing Claude Code. One command installs this skill into any of the agents below.

  1. 1

    Run this in your project

    terminal
    $ npx skills add posit-dev/skills --skill describe-design -a claude-code

  2. Uses the open-source skills CLI and needs Node.js. Add -g to install it for your user instead of this project.

What we know about this skill

Publisher

posit-dev

Taken from the source listing. We haven't verified who controls this account.

Install target

Live repository

Not pinned. Installing fetches whatever the repository holds at the time you run the command.

No human has reviewed this code. The checks below are a static scan of the files at one commit — nobody has run this skill or judged whether it works. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent, so read the source before you install it.

Automated safety checks

scanned

This skill passed all 6 checks. We read its files at one commit and looked for the things that make a skill dangerous to run — not for whether it works.

  • Declares what it does: passed

    SKILL.md parses and declares a name and a description.

    SKILL.md exists, its frontmatter parses, and it declares a name and a description.

  • No undeclared network calls: passed

    Makes no network calls.

    Every host the skill dials — from its scripts, its config endpoints or the commands it tells the agent to run — is either well-known package and API infrastructure or declared in its own frontmatter. Links in documentation are not counted.

  • No obfuscated payloads: passed

    No encoded or obfuscated payloads.

    No base64, hex or compressed blob is decoded and then executed, and no encoded shell commands.

  • No credential access: passed

    Reads no keys, tokens, keychains or credential files.

    Neither the code nor the SKILL.md instructions read SSH keys, cloud credentials, keychains, token stores, browser cookie databases or dotfiles that hold secrets.

  • No pipe-to-shell installers: passed

    No pipe-to-shell or download-and-run installers.

    No `curl … | sh` pattern, in the code or in the instructions, that runs code fetched at run time.

  • Pinned to a commit: passed

    Scanned posit-dev/skills at 1bb49b8eec.

    The exact upstream commit SHA that was scanned is recorded, so the result refers to specific bytes.

Commit
1bb49b8eec
Manifest
posit-dev/describe-design/SKILL.md
Scanned
1 file, 202 lines
This is a static scan, not a review. It reads the skill's files; it does not run them, and it cannot tell you whether the skill is any good or whether the code does what its description says. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent.
What each check looks for →

About this skill

What it does

This skill analyzes a codebase and generates architectural documentation describing how features or systems work. It produces a markdown file suitable for both human readers and future AI agents, following a structured workflow that includes scope definition, exploration, deep research, draft generation, and finalization. The process involves building a mental model of the codebase and presenting an outline for user confirmation before proceeding with detailed analysis.

When to use it

  • Documenting complex features or systems within a codebase.
  • Creating architectural overviews for new developers joining a project.
  • Generating documentation for AI agents that need to understand system behavior.
  • Clarifying the interactions between different components of a software application.
  • Building a reference guide for troubleshooting and maintenance purposes.

Key capabilities

  • Scope Definition: Clarifies the feature, system, or component to be documented, along with the target audience.
  • Code Exploration: Scans directory structures, README files, configuration files, and key modules within a codebase.
  • Outline Generation: Creates a proposed outline of components for user approval before deep research begins.
  • Deep Research: Traces code paths, identifies dependencies, notes configuration options, and builds a code reference index.
  • Architecture Diagramming: Visually represents the system architecture.
  • Markdown Document Generation: Produces a structured markdown document describing the analyzed feature or system.

Example prompts

  • "Describe the functionality of the user authentication module in this repository."
  • "Create architectural documentation for the payment processing service, targeting developers."
  • "Document how the image resizing component works within the codebase."

Tips & gotchas

  • The skill relies on initial code exploration methods like Haiku Explore (available in Claude Code) to efficiently build a mental model.
  • User confirmation is crucial at each stage; respond "yes" to confirm the proposed outline and scope.
  • Avoid exploring external libraries or framework internals, as this can lead to unnecessary complexity.