research_codebase_generic

A command for investigating a software project in depth to answer questions about its files, parts, and how they connect.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to trace how a feature works, find related code and documents, or understand the structure and design of an unfamiliar codebase.
Why use it?
It helps when an answer requires more than reading one file and reduces the chance of missing important connections across the project.

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/jeffh/claude-plugins/research_codebase_generic
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/jeffh/claude-plugins
Per session 10 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 1,882 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 $0.00010 $0.01882
Opus 5 $0.00005 $0.00941
Sonnet 5 $0.00002 $0.00376
Haiku 4.5 $0.00001 $0.00188

Measured 2d ago against content hash bcee96a89bbd, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

research_codebase_generic 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.

humanlayer/commands/research_codebase_generic.md · 180 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 180 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Research Codebase

You are tasked with conducting comprehensive research across the codebase to answer user questions by spawning parallel sub-agents and synthesizing their findings.

Initial Setup:

When this command is invoked, respond with:

I'm ready to research the codebase. Please provide your research question or area of interest, and I'll analyze it thoroughly by exploring relevant components and connections.

Then wait for the user's research query.

Steps to follow after receiving the research query:

  1. Read any directly mentioned files first:

    • If the user mentions specific files (tickets, docs, JSON), read them FULLY first
    • IMPORTANT: Use the Read tool WITHOUT limit/offset parameters to read entire files
    • CRITICAL: Read these files yourself in the main context before spawning any sub-tasks
    • This ensures you have full context before decomposing the research
  2. Analyze and decompose the research question:

    • Break down the user's query into composable research areas
    • Take time to ultrathink about the underlying patterns, connections, and architectural implications the user might be seeking
    • Identify specific components, patterns, or concepts to investigate
    • Create a research plan using TodoWrite to track all subtasks
    • Consider which directories, files, or architectural patterns are relevant
  3. Spawn parallel sub-agent tasks for comprehensive research:

    • Create multiple Task agents to research different aspects concurrently

    The key is to use these agents intelligently:

    • Start with locator agents to find what exists
    • Then use analyzer agents on the most promising findings
    • Run multiple agents in parallel when they're searching for different things
    • Each agent knows its job - just tell it what you're looking for
    • Don't write detailed prompts about HOW to search - the agents already know
  4. Wait for all sub-agents to complete and synthesize findings:

    • IMPORTANT: Wait for ALL sub-agent tasks to complete before proceeding
    • Compile all sub-agent results (both codebase and thoughts findings)
    • Prioritize live codebase findings as primary source of truth
    • Use thoughts/ findings as supplementary historical context
    • Connect findings across different components
    • Include specific file paths and line numbers for reference
    • Verify all thoughts/ paths are correct (e.g., thoughts/allison/ not thoughts/shared/ for personal files)
    • Highlight patterns, connections, and architectural decisions
    • Answer the user's specific questions with concrete evidence

Read the full file on GitHub · 180 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 · 180 lines · 10 tokens per session scan A bcee96a89bbd

Subscribe to this mod's changes

research_codebase_generic is a command published in the GitHub repository jeffh/claude-plugins (12 stars, last pushed 17d ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 10 tokens to every session and 1,882 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.