Codebase Documenter

Generates comprehensive documentation for codebases - architecture, components, data flow, development guidelines.

When to Use

• "explain this codebase"
• "document the architecture"
• "how does this code work"
• "create developer documentation"
• "generate codebase overview"
• "create onboarding docs"

What It Documents

1. Project Overview

• Purpose & vision
• Target users
• Key features
• Technology stack
• Project status

2. Architecture

• High-level structure
• Design patterns
• Data flow
• Control flow
• Diagrams (Mermaid)
• Architectural decisions

3. Directory Structure

• Organization purpose
• Naming conventions
• Entry points
• Core modules
• Configuration locations

4. Key Components

• Major modules
• Classes & functions
• Responsibilities
• Interactions
• Extension points
• Code examples

5. External Integrations

• APIs consumed
• Databases & schemas
• Authentication
• Caching
• Message queues
• File storage

6. Data Models

• Database schema
• Data structures
• Validation
• Migrations
• Data transformations

7. Development Setup

• Prerequisites
• Installation steps
• Configuration
• Running the app
• Testing
• Debugging
• Troubleshooting

8. Development Guidelines

• Coding conventions
• Testing approach
• Error handling
• Logging
• Security practices
• Performance patterns

9. Deployment

• Build process
• Deployment steps
• Environments
• Monitoring
• Rollback procedures

10. Contributing

• Development workflow
• Code review guidelines
• Testing requirements
• Documentation updates

Approach

1. Explore using Explore agent (thorough)
2. Map structure with Glob
3. Read critical files (README, entry points, core modules)
4. Identify patterns with Grep (imports, exports)
5. Trace execution paths
6. Extract knowledge from docs, comments, tests
7. Synthesize into cohesive documentation

Output