project-summary — Instant Codebase Overview

Generate a structured project summary for onboarding developers or providing context to agents.

Steps

1. Scan Project Root

Read these files first (all optional):

• package.json / pyproject.toml / Cargo.toml / go.mod / *.sln / *.csproj
• README.md — existing description
• LICENSE
• Dockerfile / docker-compose.yml
• .github/workflows/*.yml / .gitlab-ci.yml / Jenkinsfile
• tsconfig.json / babel.config.* / webpack.config.* / vite.config.*
• .eslintrc* / .prettierrc* / pyproject.toml [tool.ruff]

2. Detect Language & Framework

Primary language — count file extensions:

find . -type f -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/.git/*' -not -path '*/dist/*' -not -path '*/target/*' -not -path '*/__pycache__/*' -not -path '*/.venv/*' | sed 's/.*\.//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -10
# Windows:
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -File -Exclude node_modules,.git,dist,target | Group-Object Extension | Sort-Object Count -Descending | Select-Object -First 10 Count,Name

Framework — check dependencies (see readme-generator skill for detection table).

3. Map Architecture

Identify the architecture pattern from directory structure:

4. Identify Entry Points

# Look for common entry points
ls -la src/index.* src/main.* app.* main.* index.* manage.py server.* 2>/dev/null
# Check package.json "main", "module", "bin", "scripts.start"
# Check Cargo.toml [[bin]] or src/main.rs
# Check pyproject.toml [project.scripts]

5. Catalog Key Files

List the most important files with one-line descriptions:

## Key Files
| File | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `src/index.ts` | Application entry point |
| `src/routes/` | API route definitions |
| `src/models/` | Database models / schemas |
| `src/middleware/` | Express middleware (auth, logging) |
| `prisma/schema.prisma` | Database schema |
| `docker-compose.yml` | Local development services |
| `.github/workflows/ci.yml` | CI pipeline — test + lint + build |

Focus on files a new developer needs to know about. Skip generated files, configs that are self-explanatory, and boilerplate.

6. Document Test Setup

# Detect test framework
grep -l "jest\|vitest\|mocha\|pytest\|unittest\|cargo test\|go test" package.json pyproject.toml Cargo.toml Makefile 2>/dev/null
# Find test files
find . -name "*.test.*" -o -name "*.spec.*" -o -name "test_*" -not -path '*/node_modules/*' 2>/dev/null | head -20

Report: test framework, test location, how to run tests, approximate test count.

7. Check CI/CD

If CI config exists, summarize:

• What triggers the pipeline (push, PR, schedule)
• What steps run (lint, test, build, deploy)
• Where it deploys to (if detectable)

8. Map Dependencies

List the top 10 most important dependencies (not all of them):

• Focus on framework, database, auth, testing, and build tools
• Note the approximate total count

## Key Dependencies
| Package | Purpose |
|---------|---------|
| express | Web framework |
| prisma | Database ORM |
| jsonwebtoken | JWT authentication |
| jest | Testing framework |
| **Total** | **47 dependencies (12 dev)** |

9. Output Structured Summary

# Project Summary: [name]

**Description:** [from package.json or README]
**Language:** TypeScript | **Framework:** Express.js | **Runtime:** Node.js 20
**Architecture:** MVC | **Package Manager:** pnpm
**License:** MIT

## Quick Start
[install + run commands]

## Structure
[architecture description + key directories]

## Key Files
[table from Step 5]

## Dependencies
[table from Step 8]

## Testing
- **Framework:** Jest
- **Run:** `pnpm test`
- **Coverage:** `pnpm test -- --coverage`

## CI/CD
- **Platform:** GitHub Actions
- **Triggers:** Push to main, PRs
- **Pipeline:** Lint → Test → Build → Deploy to Vercel

## Notes
[Anything unusual or important — monorepo setup, required services, known issues from README]

Edge Cases

• Monorepo: Summarize root structure, then briefly describe each package/workspace
• No manifest file: Infer from file extensions and directory structure
• Very large project (1000+ files): Limit scan depth to 3, focus on src/ and root
• Multiple languages: Report primary and secondary languages with percentages
• Empty/new project: Report as scaffold; note what's been set up vs. what's missing

Error Handling

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Built by Clawb (SOVEREIGN) — more skills at [coming soon]