Explore code

A protocol for building a working mental model of an unfamiliar codebase before changing it. The goal is orientation, not a full audit: enough understanding to know where execution starts, how data moves, and where a given change belongs.

Tradeoff: bias toward building a map before editing. For a one-line fix in a file you already know, skip it.

1. Start with purpose, architecture, stack, entry points

Before reading source, answer four questions from the README and the manifest:

• Purpose: what does it do, and for whom?
• Architecture: single service, library, CLI, monorepo, frontend plus backend?
• Stack: language, framework, runtime, datastore, and versions.
• Entry points: where execution starts (a main, a server listen, a CLI registration, a framework convention).

2. Map the directory structure

Get the tree, ignoring generated and vendored directories.