Project Analysis Skill

Purpose

Quickly understand codebases by systematically analyzing structure, dependencies, patterns, and conventions.

Analysis Framework

Phase 1: High-Level Overview (5 minutes)

# 1. Check project type and structure
ls -la
cat README.md
cat package.json | head -50  # or pyproject.toml, Cargo.toml, etc.

# 2. Understand directory structure
tree -L 2 -I 'node_modules|.git|dist|build'

# 3. Check git history for activity
git log --oneline -20
git shortlog -sn --since="6 months ago"

Phase 2: Dependency Analysis (5 minutes)

# Node.js
cat package.json | jq '.dependencies, .devDependencies'

# Python
cat requirements.txt
cat pyproject.toml

# Go
cat go.mod

# Rust
cat Cargo.toml

Key Questions:

• What frameworks are used?
• What database/cache?
• Any outdated/vulnerable deps?

Phase 3: Architecture Mapping (10 minutes)

## Architecture Map

### Entry Points
- `src/index.ts` - Main application entry
- `src/api/` - REST API endpoints
- `src/workers/` - Background job processors

### Core Modules
- `src/services/` - Business logic
- `src/models/` - Data models/entities
- `src/repositories/` - Data access layer

### Infrastructure
- `src/config/` - Configuration management
- `src/middleware/` - Express middleware
- `src/utils/` - Shared utilities

### Data Flow
Client → API Routes → Controllers → Services → Repositories → Database

Phase 4: Pattern Recognition

Common Patterns to Identify

Phase 5: Code Quality Assessment

# Check for linting/formatting
ls .eslintrc* .prettierrc* .editorconfig

# Check for tests
ls -la tests/ __tests__/ *.test.* *.spec.*
npm test -- --coverage 2>/dev/null

# Check for CI/CD
ls .github/workflows/ .gitlab-ci.yml Jenkinsfile

# Check for documentation
ls docs/ *.md CONTRIBUTING* CHANGELOG*

Analysis Output Template

# Project Analysis: [Project Name]

## Summary
- **Type:** [Web API / CLI / Library / Monorepo]
- **Language:** [TypeScript / Python / Go / Rust]
- **Framework:** [Express / FastAPI / Gin / Actix]
- **Database:** [PostgreSQL / MongoDB / Redis]
- **Last Activity:** [Date]
- **Contributors:** [Number]

## Directory Structure

project/ ├── src/ # Source code │ ├── api/ # HTTP endpoints │ ├── services/ # Business logic │ └── models/ # Data models ├── tests/ # Test files ├── docs/ # Documentation └── scripts/ # Build/deploy scripts

## Key Dependencies
| Package | Version | Purpose |
|---------|---------|---------|
| express | 4.18.2 | HTTP server |
| prisma | 5.7.0 | ORM |
| zod | 3.22.0 | Validation |

## Architecture Style
[Description of architectural approach]

## Data Flow
[Diagram or description of how data flows through the system]

## Code Quality Indicators
- [ ] Tests: X% coverage
- [ ] Linting: [ESLint configured]
- [ ] Types: [Strict TypeScript]
- [ ] CI/CD: [GitHub Actions]
- [ ] Docs: [README, API docs]

## Notable Patterns
1. [Pattern 1 with location]
2. [Pattern 2 with location]

## Potential Issues
1. [Issue 1]
2. [Issue 2]

## Recommendations
1. [Recommendation 1]
2. [Recommendation 2]

Framework-Specific Analysis

Node.js / TypeScript

# Check TypeScript config
cat tsconfig.json

# Check for monorepo
ls packages/ apps/ pnpm-workspace.yaml lerna.json

# Check build output
cat package.json | jq '.scripts'

Python

# Check Python version
cat .python-version
cat pyproject.toml | grep python

# Check dependency management
ls requirements.txt pyproject.toml poetry.lock Pipfile

# Check for type hints
grep -r "def.*:.*->" src/ | head -5

Go

# Check Go version
cat go.mod | head -3

# Check project layout
ls cmd/ internal/ pkg/ api/

# Check for common patterns
grep -r "interface {" --include="*.go" | head -5

Rust

# Check edition and dependencies
cat Cargo.toml

# Check module structure
ls src/*.rs

# Check for async runtime
grep -E "tokio|async-std" Cargo.toml

Quick Health Check

## Project Health Score

### Documentation (X/5)
- [ ] README with setup instructions
- [ ] API documentation
- [ ] Architecture docs
- [ ] Contributing guide
- [ ] Changelog

### Testing (X/5)
- [ ] Test files exist
- [ ] Coverage > 60%
- [ ] Integration tests
- [ ] CI runs tests
- [ ] Tests are maintained

### Code Quality (X/5)
- [ ] Linter configured
- [ ] Formatter configured
- [ ] Type safety (TypeScript/types)
- [ ] No obvious code smells
- [ ] Dependencies up to date

### DevOps (X/5)
- [ ] CI/CD pipeline
- [ ] Environment configuration
- [ ] Deployment docs
- [ ] Monitoring setup
- [ ] Security scanning

### Overall: X/20

Onboarding Questions

When analyzing a project for onboarding, answer:

1. How do I run it locally?

   • Setup commands
   • Environment variables needed
   • Database/service dependencies

2. How is it structured?

   • Where does the code live?
   • What are the main components?
   • How do they interact?

3. How do I make changes?

   • Branch strategy
   • PR process
   • Testing requirements

4. How is it deployed?

   • CI/CD pipeline
   • Environments (dev/staging/prod)
   • Release process

5. Where do I get help?

   • Documentation location
   • Team contacts
   • Common troubleshooting

Red Flags to Watch For