A command for explaining a file, function, or concept in the context of a codebase. It locates definitions and callers, then summarizes what the code is, how it works, and why it matters.

Use it to explain paths, symbols, public APIs, callers, contracts, and versioning concerns in an existing codebase.

It reduces the time needed to understand unfamiliar code and makes the explanation evidence-based with file-and-line references. It also identifies related files worth reading next.

explain — Command for Claude Code by JuliusBrussee/caveman-code

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.

Clone the repo

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman-code

Made for: Claude Code.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

README.md

[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/juliusbrussee/caveman-code/explain/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/commands/juliusbrussee/caveman-code/explain)

Your own site

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/juliusbrussee/caveman-code/explain"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/juliusbrussee/caveman-code/explain/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

Your own site · 80×15

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/juliusbrussee/caveman-code/explain"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/juliusbrussee/caveman-code/explain.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>

Per session 16 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.

When invoked 245 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.

Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.

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.

Model	Per session	Once invoked
Fable 5.1	$0.00016	$0.00245
Opus 5.5	$0.00006	$0.00098
Sonnet 5.5	$0.00003	$0.00049
Haiku 4.5	$0.00002	$0.00024

Measured 2mo ago against content hash 841b02812c97, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, 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 2mo 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.

packages/coding-agent/commands/explain.md · 28 lines

What it actually says

Explain $ARGUMENTS in the context of this codebase.

If the argument looks like a path, read it. If it looks like a symbol, use grep to locate definitions and call sites.
Summarise the answer in three layers:
- What it is — one sentence.
- How it works — bullet list, ≤ 6 items, with concrete file:line references.
- Why it matters / who calls it — list upstream callers and the contract they rely on.
If the symbol is part of a public API, also mention versioning concerns.
End with a short list of "Things to read next" — adjacent files the user would benefit from skimming.

Avoid speculation: if you can't find the symbol or file, say so explicitly and suggest a grep query that might find it.

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.

2mo ago First seen · 28 lines · 16 tokens per session scan A 841b02812c97

Subscribe to this mod's changes

explain is a command published in the GitHub repository JuliusBrussee/caveman-code (947 stars, last pushed 2mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 16 tokens to every session and 245 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5.5. 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.

Learning and teaching

explain next to 6 commands from other repositories
Mod	Type	Stars	Last push	Licence	Scan	Tokens	Works with
explainJuliusBrussee/caveman-code	Command	947	2mo ago	MIT	A	16	Claude Code
learn-story-flowIntai/story-flow	Command	16	2d ago	MIT	A	10	Claude Code
start-10-1minicoohei/ai-agent-camp	Command	347	1mo ago	none	A	2	Claude Code
start-0-8minicoohei/ai-agent-camp	Command	347	1mo ago	none	A	2	Claude Code
setup-m365cli.esminicoohei/ai-agent-camp	Command	347	1mo ago	none	A	8	Claude Code
prep-rolefourleafai/clover-public	Command	8	1mo ago	MIT	A	0	Claude Code
setup-vercel.esminicoohei/ai-agent-camp	Command	347	1mo ago	none	B	2	Claude Code