Download .claude/skills/explore/SKILL.md from the publisher, or copy the path and open the repository. PlugMCP lists the skill and does not host the file.
Where does explore live?
The publisher keeps it at https://github.com/parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3.
Which agents can use explore?
Claude, Cursor, and Codex can read a SKILL.md you add from the publisher's repository.
Meta-skill for internal codebase exploration at varying depths (quick/deep/architecture)
Meta-skill for exploring an internal codebase at varying depths. READ-ONLY workflow - no code changes.
Usage
/explore <depth> [options]
Question Flow (No Arguments)
If the user types just /explore with no or partial arguments, guide them through this question flow. Use AskUserQuestion for each phase.
Phase 0: Workflow Selection
question: "How would you like to explore?"
header: "Explore"
options:
- label: "Help me choose (Recommended)"
description: "I'll ask questions to pick the right exploration depth"
- label: "Quick - fast overview"
description: "Chain: tldr tree → tldr structure (~1 min)"
- label: "Deep - comprehensive analysis"
description: "Chain: onboard → tldr → research → document (~5 min)"
- label: "Architecture - layers & dependencies"
description: "Chain: tldr arch → call graph → layer mapping (~3 min)"
Mapping:
"Help me choose" → Continue to Phase 1-4 questions
"Quick" → Set depth=quick, skip to Phase 2 (scope)
"Deep" → Set depth=deep, skip to Phase 2 (scope)
"Architecture" → Set depth=architecture, skip to Phase 2 (scope)
If Answer is Unclear (via "Other"):
question: "I want to understand how deep you want to explore. Did you mean..."
header: "Clarify"
options:
- label: "Help me choose"
description: "Not sure - guide me through questions"
- label: "Quick - fast overview"
description: "Just want to see what's here"
- label: "Deep - comprehensive analysis"
description: "Need thorough understanding"
- label: "Neither - let me explain differently"
description: "I'll describe what I need"
Phase 1: Exploration Goal
question: "What are you trying to understand?"
header: "Goal"
options:
- label: "Get oriented in the codebase"
description: "Quick overview of structure"
- label: "Understand how something works"
description: "Deep dive into specific area"
- label: "Map the architecture"
description: "Layers, dependencies, patterns"
- label: "Find where something is"
description: "Locate specific code/functionality"
Mapping:
"Get oriented" → quick depth
"Understand how" → deep depth
"Map architecture" → architecture depth
"Find where" → quick with --focus
Phase 2: Scope
question: "What area should I focus on?"
header: "Focus"
options:
- label: "Entire codebase"
description: "Explore everything"
- label: "Specific directory or module"
description: "I'll specify the path"
- label: "Specific concept/feature"
description: "e.g., 'authentication', 'API routes'"
If "Specific directory" or "Specific concept" → ask follow-up for the path/keyword.
Phase 3: Output Format
question: "What should I produce?"
header: "Output"
options:
- label: "Just tell me what you find"
description: "Interactive summary in chat"
- label: "Create a documentation file"
description: "Write to thoughts/shared/docs/"
- label: "Create handoff for implementation"
description: "Prepare context for coding agent"
Mapping:
"Documentation file" → --output doc
"Handoff for implementation" → --output handoff
Phase 4: Entry Point (Architecture only)
If architecture depth selected:
question: "Where should I start the analysis?"
header: "Entry point"
options:
- label: "Auto-detect (main, cli, app)"
description: "Find common entry points"
- label: "Specific function/file"
description: "I'll specify the entry point"
Summary Before Execution
Based on your answers, I'll run:
**Depth:** deep
**Focus:** "authentication"
**Output:** handoff
**Path:** src/
Proceed? [Yes / Adjust settings]
# Just tldr commands, no agents
tldr tree ${src_dir} --ext .py
tldr structure ${src_dir} --lang python
if [ -n "$focus" ]; then
tldr search "$focus" ${src_dir}
fi
Deep:
# 1. Check/run onboard
if [ ! -f .claude/cache/tldr/meta.json ]; then
# Spawn onboard agent via Task tool
fi
# 2. Structure
tldr structure src/ --lang python
# 3. Research (spawn scout agent)
# Task tool with subagent_type: "scout"
# Prompt: "Research patterns in ${focus:-codebase}"
# 4. Write output
# → doc or handoff based on --output
Architecture:
# 1. Arch detection
arch_output=$(tldr arch ${src_dir})
# 2. Call graph
calls_output=$(tldr calls ${src_dir})
# 3. Impact from entry (if provided)
if [ -n "$entry" ]; then
impact_output=$(tldr impact $entry ${src_dir} --depth 3)
fi
# 4. Synthesize and write output
Key Principles
READ-ONLY - This skill never modifies code
Uses scout, not Explore - Per project rules, scout (Sonnet) over Explore (Haiku)
Token-efficient - Uses tldr commands (95% savings over raw reads)
Outputs to shared locations - thoughts/shared/research/ or handoff directory
Entry point to /build - Exploration handoffs feed into brownfield builds
Related Skills
Skill
When to Use
tldr-explorer
Direct tldr commands (used internally by explore)
tldr-code
Specific analysis commands (cfg, dfg, slice)
onboard
First-time project setup (used by deep depth)
research-codebase
Pattern documentation (used by deep depth)
create_handoff
Handoff format (used by --output handoff)
Troubleshooting
tldr not found:
# Check if installed
which tldr
# Install if missing
uv tool install llm-tldr
# or: pip install llm-tldr
# May need to specify src directory
tldr arch ./ # Current directory
tldr arch src/ # Explicit src
How do I install explore?
Download .claude/skills/explore/SKILL.md from the publisher, or copy the path and open the repository. PlugMCP lists the skill and does not host the file.
Where does explore live?
The publisher keeps it at https://github.com/parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3.
Which agents can use explore?
Claude, Cursor, and Codex can read a SKILL.md you add from the publisher's repository.