how
How
On Codex, read the platform mapping, including its per-skill notes, before following this skill.
On GitHub Copilot, read the platform mapping, including its per-skill notes, before following this skill.
On Muse, read the platform mapping, including its per-skill notes, before following this skill.
Explore the codebase to answer "how does X work?" questions. Produce architectural explanations at the level of a senior engineer onboarding onto a subsystem, enough to build a working mental model, not so much that it reads like annotated source code.
Every spawn is a Agent subagent with subagent_type: "general-purpose" and readonly: true. Explorers use the how explorer line in pstack-models.md (default in Models), and every explainer uses the how explainer line (default in Models). Set model to that line's value, or to the default if the sheet or the line is missing. Leave model unset when the value is auto or inherit-parent. If the Agent tool rejects a slug, use the default and say so. If it rejects the default, use the closest valid slug of the same family from its error message. Pick each subagent's reasoning level for the job, per the Subagents section of the poteto-mode skill.
1. Assess complexity
If the scope is ambiguous, state your interpretation and explore. The user can redirect.
- Simple (a single module, a small utility, a narrow question such as "how does function X work"): no explorers. Spawn one explainer that explores and explains in one pass, built from
references/explainer-prompt.mdwithout the explorer-findings section. Go to step 4. - Complex (a subsystem spanning multiple files or services, a cross-cutting feature, a full architectural overview): go to step 2.