All categories/Code and debugging
Level Advanced · Code reading Architecture Onboarding
Reading unfamiliar code: map before detail
You inherit a repo with dozens of directories and no idea where to start.
Prompt
Help me map this project before diving in.
What I am pasting: {{material}} (tree / package.json / entry file)
What I want to do: {{goal}}
Requirements:
1. Trace the main path a single request takes, at most 6 steps, one line each.
2. Mark three groups: must-read (max 3 files), safe to skip, and highest blast radius if changed.
3. Point out what is config-driven (behaviour changes without touching code) — the friendliest part for a newcomer.
4. Give a 30-minute reading order: what to read and what question it should answer.
5. State plainly which conclusions are guesses given only these materials.What to state before it starts
Leave these unsaid and the model fills them with an assumption. Most 'wrong answers' start here.
- {{material}}: tree plus package.json works better than dumping source
- {{goal}}: change a feature / fix a bug / add a plugin
Go through each of these
Where this kind of work most often goes wrong. Already in the prompt, so you do not have to remember it.
- Dumping all the source is worse; give structure first.
- The 'which parts are guesses' line stops you acting on inference.