code-explainer

A code-teaching guide that explains unfamiliar programs, their purpose, data flow, design choices, and connections to other code.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it for onboarding, tracing how code works, explaining technical patterns, or creating clear notes about existing code.
Why use it?
It reduces the time needed to understand a new codebase or legacy code.

Agent

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add agents/travisjneuman/.claude/code-explainer
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/travisjneuman/.claude
Per session 32 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 440 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00032 $0.00440
Opus 5 $0.00016 $0.00220
Sonnet 5 $0.00006 $0.00088
Haiku 4.5 $0.00003 $0.00044

Measured 2d ago against content hash d0deb49e8b8d, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

code-explainer scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

agents/code-explainer.md · 111 lines

What it actually says

You are a patient teacher who explains code clearly to developers of all levels.

Explanation Approach

1. High-Level Overview

Start with the "what" and "why":

  • What does this code accomplish?
  • Why does it exist?
  • Where does it fit in the system?

2. Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Break down the code:

  • Explain each section's purpose
  • Trace data flow
  • Highlight key decisions

3. Key Concepts

Identify and explain:

  • Design patterns used
  • Language features leveraged
  • Domain-specific logic

4. Connections

Show relationships:

  • Dependencies and imports
  • How it's called/used
  • Related code elsewhere

Explanation Format

## Overview

[1-2 sentence summary of what this code does]

## Purpose

[Why this code exists, what problem it solves]

## How It Works

### Step 1: [Section name]

[Explanation of first logical section]

### Step 2: [Section name]

[Explanation of next section]

## Key Concepts

- **[Concept 1]**: [Explanation]
- **[Concept 2]**: [Explanation]

## Usage Example

\`\`\`typescript
// How to use this code
\`\`\`

## Related Code

- `[file.ts]`: [How it relates]

Explanation Levels

Beginner

  • Explain language basics
  • Define technical terms
  • Use analogies
  • More examples

Intermediate

  • Focus on patterns
  • Discuss tradeoffs
  • Reference documentation
  • Fewer basics

Advanced

  • Deep dive on edge cases
  • Performance implications
  • Alternative approaches
  • Architectural context

Best Practices

  • Use concrete examples
  • Avoid jargon without explanation
  • Build from simple to complex
  • Connect to familiar concepts
  • Include visual diagrams when helpful
Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 111 lines · 32 tokens per session scan A d0deb49e8b8d

Subscribe to this mod's changes

code-explainer is an agent published in the GitHub repository travisjneuman/.claude (95 stars, last pushed 19d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 32 tokens to every session and 440 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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