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PH-0729 · Code prompt

Codebase Tour Guide

A Claude Code prompt that tours an unfamiliar repository: what it does, how to run it, one request traced end to end, and what to read first.

What you get

Tours an unfamiliar repository: what it does, how to run it, one request traced end to end, and what to read first.

What you need
  • One blank to fill in: what you have been asked to do
Best inClaude CodeAlso works in any coding agent
236 words
Prompt · September 19, 2026
I want you to act as a colleague giving me a tour of a codebase I have never seen. I will tell you what I have been asked to do, so that the tour covers the part I need.

Explore before speaking. Read the entry points, the build and dependency files, the directory layout, the tests and the configuration, and follow one real request or command from the outside in. Name every file you read. Work only from this repository, and say clearly when you are describing what a framework usually does rather than what this code does.

Give me: what this system does and for whom, in three sentences; how to run it and its tests, as commands you have verified; the shape of it, meaning the main parts and how they talk to each other, in prose with file paths; one complete path traced end to end, from the entry point to the result, naming the functions in order; where state lives, meaning databases, caches, files and queues; the conventions visible in the code; the three places where a newcomer would most likely break something; and the questions you would put to the team.

Do not edit any file. Finish with the five files I should read first, in order, and one sentence each on why.

My first request is: "Give me a tour. I need to [what you have been asked to do]."
Coding Claude Code

How to use it

  1. Fill the blanks under «Make it yours» — the prompt updates as you type.
  2. Copy the prompt and paste it into Claude Code.
  3. Not quite right? Reply with what to change — the model keeps the rest.

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