explain

A command that explains code from a file the user references. The explanation covers the code's purpose, structure, dependencies, execution flow, technical details, possible problems, and improvement ideas.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to review functions, classes, components, imports, algorithms, edge cases, security concerns, performance issues, and testing suggestions, with file and line references.
Why use it?
It helps readers understand unfamiliar code without tracing every line themselves. If no file is provided, it asks which file to explain or offers to use pasted code.

Command

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 commands/cyperx84/claude-code-plugin-examples/explain
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cyperx84/claude-code-plugin-examples
Per session 9 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 264 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 $0.00009 $0.00264
Opus 5 $0.00005 $0.00132
Sonnet 5 $0.00002 $0.00053
Haiku 4.5 $0.00001 $0.00026

Measured yesterday against content hash 8cc333376f21, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

explain 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 yesterday.

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.

examples/01-beginner/code-snippets-plugin/commands/explain.md · 50 lines

What it actually says

Explain Code Command

Analyze and explain the code that the user references (using @filename syntax).

Your explanation should include:

  1. High-Level Purpose:

    • What does this code do?
    • What problem does it solve?
  2. Code Structure:

    • Main functions/classes/components
    • Key variables and their purposes
    • Flow of execution
  3. Dependencies:

    • External libraries used
    • Internal modules imported
    • API calls or external services
  4. Technical Details:

    • Algorithms or patterns used
    • Performance considerations
    • Edge cases handled
  5. Potential Issues:

    • Code smells or anti-patterns
    • Security concerns
    • Performance bottlenecks
    • Missing error handling
  6. Suggestions:

    • Possible improvements
    • Refactoring opportunities
    • Testing recommendations

Format the explanation clearly with:

  • Headers for each section
  • Code snippets for examples
  • Line number references (file.ts:42)
  • Clear, accessible language

If the user doesn't provide a file:

  • Ask which file they want explained
  • Or offer to explain code from their clipboard
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. yesterday First seen · 50 lines · 9 tokens per session scan A 8cc333376f21

Subscribe to this mod's changes

explain is a command published in the GitHub repository cyperx84/claude-code-plugin-examples (2 stars, last pushed 10mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 9 tokens to every session and 264 once invoked, about $0.0000 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 2026-08-31.