Onboard - Project Discovery & Ledger Creation
Analyze a brownfield codebase and create an initial continuity ledger.
When to Use
- First time working in an existing project
- User says "onboard", "analyze this project", "get familiar with codebase"
How to Use
Spawn the onboard agent:
Use the Task tool with subagent_type: "onboard" and this prompt:
Onboard me to this project at $CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR.
1. Create required directories if they don't exist:
mkdir -p thoughts/shared/handoffs/<project-name> .claude
2. Explore the codebase using available tools:
- Try: tldr tree . && tldr structure .
- Fallback: find . -type f -name "*.py" -o -name "*.ts" -o -name "*.js" | head -50
3. Detect tech stack (look for package.json, requirements.txt, Cargo.toml, go.mod, etc.)
4. Ask the user about their goals using AskUserQuestion
5. Create a YAML handoff at thoughts/shared/handoffs/<project-name>/onboard-<date>.yaml:
---
date: <ISO date>
type: onboard
status: active
---
goal: <user's stated goal>
now: Start working on <first priority>
tech_stack: [list of detected technologies]
key_files:
- path: <important file>
purpose: <what it does>
architecture: <brief description>
next:
- <suggested first action>Why an Agent?
The onboard process:
- Requires multiple exploration steps
- Should not pollute main context with codebase dumps
- Returns a clean summary + creates the handoff
Output
- Directories created:
thoughts/shared/handoffs/<project>/,.claude/ - YAML handoff created (loaded automatically on session start)
- User has clear starting context
- Ready to begin work with full project awareness
Notes
- This skill is for BROWNFIELD projects (existing code)
- For greenfield, use
/create_planinstead - Handoff can be updated anytime with
/create_handoff