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Codebase Documenter

Checked
mhattingpete·vlatest·backend·Apache-2.0

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,

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 mhattingpete/claude-skills-marketplace --skill codebase-documenter -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

mhattingpete

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 mhattingpete/claude-skills-marketplace at b5b34bcf4c.

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

Commit
b5b34bcf4c
Manifest
productivity-skills-plugin/skills/codebase-documenter/SKILL.md
Scanned
1 file, 158 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

The mhattingpete-codebase-documenter skill automatically generates detailed documentation for existing codebases. It explains the codebase's architecture, identifies key components, outlines data flow, and provides initial development guidelines. This allows users to quickly understand unfamiliar projects without extensive manual analysis.

When to use it

  • Onboarding new team members: Quickly get new developers up to speed on an existing project’s structure and functionality.
  • Understanding legacy code: Decipher the purpose and workings of older, poorly documented codebases.
  • Code review preparation: Gain a comprehensive overview before diving into detailed code reviews.
  • Project handoff: Facilitate smooth transitions when transferring ownership or responsibility for a codebase.

Key capabilities

  • Architecture explanation
  • Identification of key components
  • Data flow visualization/description
  • Generation of initial development guidelines

Example prompts

  • "Document the architecture and key components of this repository: [repository URL]"
  • "Explain the data flow within this code snippet: [code snippet]"
  • “Generate initial development guidelines for this project: [project name]”

Tips & gotchas

The skill requires access to the codebase, typically via a repository URL. The quality of the generated documentation depends on the complexity and structure of the original codebase; very complex systems may require manual refinement of the output.