explain

A command that explains code, technical ideas, or how a system behaves at a chosen level of detail.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to understand a file, function, module, architecture, or control flow, including its trade-offs.
Why use it?
It turns unfamiliar files, functions, data flows, and design decisions into explanations matched to the time and depth you need.

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/florianbruniaux/claude-code-plugins/explain
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/FlorianBruniaux/claude-code-plugins
Per session 15 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 939 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 $0.00015 $0.00939
Opus 5 $0.00008 $0.00469
Sonnet 5 $0.00003 $0.00188
Haiku 4.5 $0.00002 $0.00094

Measured 2d ago against content hash 6524ea6808ea, 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 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.

plugins/code-quality/commands/explain.md · 173 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 173 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Code Explainer

Explain code, concepts, or system behavior with adjustable depth levels.

Purpose

Get clear explanations of:

  • How specific code works
  • Why certain patterns are used
  • What a system/module does
  • Architectural decisions and trade-offs

Instructions

Step 1: Determine Scope

Identify what needs explanation:

  • File: Entire file structure and purpose
  • Function/Method: Specific implementation details
  • Concept: Architectural pattern or design decision
  • Flow: How data/control moves through the system

Step 2: Assess Complexity

Simple (1-2 min read)     → Quick summary, key points only
Standard (3-5 min read)   → Purpose, how it works, key decisions
Deep (10+ min read)       → Full breakdown, alternatives, trade-offs

Step 3: Gather Context

# For file explanations
head -50 "$FILE"  # See imports and structure

# For function explanations
grep -A 30 "function $NAME\|def $NAME\|fn $NAME" "$FILE"

# For module explanations
ls -la "$DIR"
cat "$DIR/index.ts" 2>/dev/null || cat "$DIR/__init__.py" 2>/dev/null

Step 4: Structure the Explanation

Output Format


📖 Explanation: [Target]

Scope: [file/function/concept/flow] Depth: [simple/standard/deep]

What It Does

[1-3 sentences describing the purpose]

How It Works

[Step-by-step breakdown appropriate to depth level]

Key Decisions

Decision Why Alternative
[choice made] [reasoning] [what else could work]

Example Usage

// How to use this correctly

Related Code

  • path/to/related.ts - [relationship]
  • path/to/dependency.ts - [relationship]

💡 Learning Notes (if --learn flag)

[Additional context for understanding the broader pattern]


Depth Levels

Simple (/explain --simple)

**validateUser()** checks if the user object has required fields
(email, password) and returns a boolean. Uses regex for email format.

Read the full file on GitHub · 173 lines

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 · 173 lines · 15 tokens per session scan A 6524ea6808ea

Subscribe to this mod's changes

explain is a command published in the GitHub repository FlorianBruniaux/claude-code-plugins (40 stars, last pushed 2mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 15 tokens to every session and 939 once invoked, about $0.0001 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.