Onboard - Project Discovery & Ledger Creation

Name: onboard
Rating: 92
Author: parcadei

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:

code

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_plan instead
•Handoff can be updated anytime with /create_handoff