code-explanation

code-explanation is a skill for Claude Code from joaquimscosta/arkhe-claude-plugins. It costs 67 tokens per session (726 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A code-reading guide that explains programs with plain-language stories, diagrams, and step-by-step walkthroughs.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to understand a function, trace how code works, study an algorithm, or examine a design pattern.
Why use it?
It helps when unfamiliar code, algorithms, or design patterns are difficult to follow. Explanations can match the reader’s experience level.

Skill for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: shipped in a Claude Code plugin.

Part of the doc plugin — 3 skills shipped together

Good fit Use it to understand a function, trace how code works, study an algorithm, or examine a design pattern.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/joaquimscosta/arkhe-claude-plugins/code-explanation
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.

Any agent
npx skills add joaquimscosta/arkhe-claude-plugins --skill code-explanation
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/joaquimscosta/arkhe-claude-plugins

Made for: Claude Code.

Or install doc, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 3 skills.

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.

agentmods badge for code-explanation

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/joaquimscosta/arkhe-claude-plugins/code-explanation.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/joaquimscosta/arkhe-claude-plugins/code-explanation)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/joaquimscosta/arkhe-claude-plugins/code-explanation"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/joaquimscosta/arkhe-claude-plugins/code-explanation.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 67 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 726 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.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00067 $0.00726
Opus 5 $0.00034 $0.00363
Sonnet 5 $0.00013 $0.00145
Haiku 4.5 $0.00007 $0.00073

Measured 7d ago against content hash 5dfc3a27b97f, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

code-explanation 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 7d 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/doc/skills/code-explanation/SKILL.md · 109 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 109 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Code Explanation

Expert skill for explaining complex code to developers at all levels through visual aids, step-by-step breakdowns, and progressive complexity.

Quick Start

1. Analyze Complexity First

Before explaining, assess the code:

  • Lines of code and structural complexity
  • Concepts used (async, decorators, generators, etc.)
  • Design patterns present
  • Difficulty level (beginner/intermediate/advanced)

2. Choose Explanation Depth

Audience Approach
Beginner Start with analogies, avoid jargon, explain fundamentals
Intermediate Focus on patterns and design decisions
Advanced Deep dive into implementation details and trade-offs

3. Use Visual Aids

Generate Mermaid diagrams for:

  • Flow diagrams - Control flow and decision trees
  • Class diagrams - Object relationships and inheritance
  • Sequence diagrams - Method calls and interactions

4. Progressive Disclosure

Structure explanations from simple to complex:

  1. Overview - What does this code do? (1-2 sentences)
  2. Key Concepts - What programming concepts are used?
  3. Step-by-Step - Walk through the logic
  4. Deep Dive - Advanced details for those who want more

Output Format

Standard Explanation Structure

## What This Code Does
[1-2 sentence summary]

## Key Concepts
- Concept 1: Brief explanation
- Concept 2: Brief explanation

## Visual Overview
[Mermaid diagram if complexity warrants]

## Step-by-Step Breakdown
1. [First step with code reference]
2. [Second step with code reference]
...

## Common Questions
- Why is X done this way?
- What happens if Y?

## Related Patterns
[Links to similar patterns or alternatives]

Core Techniques

Explaining Algorithms

  1. State the problem being solved
  2. Show input → output transformation
  3. Visualize with step-by-step execution
  4. Analyze time/space complexity

Explaining Design Patterns

  1. Name the pattern
  2. Explain the problem it solves
  3. Show UML-style diagram
  4. List benefits and trade-offs

Read the full file on GitHub · 109 lines

Files

What ships with it

3 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

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. 7d ago First seen · 109 lines · 67 tokens per session scan A 5dfc3a27b97f

Subscribe to this mod's changes

code-explanation is a skill published in the GitHub repository joaquimscosta/arkhe-claude-plugins (21 stars, last pushed 23d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 67 tokens to every session and 726 once invoked, about $0.0003 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.