analyze-codebase-architecture

A method for documenting the current architecture of an existing codebase, meaning the parts of the system and how they connect today. It creates a Conceptual Architecture Document based on evidence from the repository.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to reverse-engineer modules, layers, interfaces, implementations, dependencies, risks, and open questions before planning architectural changes.
Why use it?
It turns an unfamiliar codebase into a traceable map without guessing how it should be redesigned.

Skill for Claude CodeCodexCursor

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 skills/jacoby6000/smithplates/analyze-codebase-architecture
Any agent
npx skills add Jacoby6000/Smithplates --skill analyze-codebase-architecture
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Jacoby6000/Smithplates

Made for: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.

Per session 76 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,003 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 $0.00076 $0.01003
Opus 5 $0.00038 $0.00502
Sonnet 5 $0.00015 $0.00201
Haiku 4.5 $0.00008 $0.00100

Measured 2d ago against content hash ad8b51c58fa1, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

analyze-codebase-architecture 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.

.cursor/skills/analyze-codebase-architecture/SKILL.md · 105 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 105 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Analyze Codebase Architecture

Reverse-engineer an existing codebase into a current Conceptual Architecture Document (CAD). Capture what is, with evidence — not what should be. Read the shared schema at .ai-doc-reference/cad-contract.md (repo root) before emitting one; producing a valid CAD with Kind: current is what lets plan-architecture-refactor diff it against a target later.

Describe the system faithfully. Do not redesign, fix, or editorialize beyond the Risks & Trade-offs section. Every structural claim must cite evidence as path/to/file.ext:Symbol.

Inputs required (do not guess)

  • Codebase scope: which repo/paths are in scope (and any out of scope).
  • Commit/ref: the state being analyzed (record it in Source).

If scope is unclear, ask. Where the code's intent is ambiguous, record it in Open Questions rather than guessing.

Workflow

Copy this checklist and track progress:

- [ ] 1. Confirm scope and commit
- [ ] 2. Survey structure (entry points, modules, layers, build files)
- [ ] 3. Catalog abstractions (interfaces/traits/protocols/abstract types)
- [ ] 4. Catalog implementations and how dependencies are wired
- [ ] 5. Identify design patterns and conventions
- [ ] 6. Map relationships (dependency direction, data flow, coupling)
- [ ] 7. Record risks/smells, then emit the current CAD

1. Confirm scope

Establish the paths and commit. Detect the primary language(s) and build system from the manifests; state them rather than assuming.

2. Survey structure

Find entry points, top-level modules, and layer boundaries. Read manifests and build files to understand dependencies and module graph. Prefer broad exploration first (e.g. an explore subagent or glob/grep over the tree), then drill into the parts that carry the architecture.

3. Catalog abstractions

List the key interfaces/traits/protocols/abstract classes and the core domain types. For each, capture responsibility and signatures, citing the source. These become the CAD's Interfaces and Domain Model sections.

Read the full file on GitHub · 105 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 · 105 lines · 76 tokens per session scan A ad8b51c58fa1

Subscribe to this mod's changes

analyze-codebase-architecture is a skill published in the GitHub repository Jacoby6000/Smithplates (2 stars, last pushed 21d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 76 tokens to every session and 1,003 once invoked, about $0.0004 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.

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