Codebase Onboarding Guide Generator
Generate source-grounded onboarding documentation for contributors, engineers, leaders, and product managers.
The skill requires repository-context resolution, user confirmation, and source citations; its file-generation scope is explicit, and no malware, credential theft, or covert exfiltration is shown. It does not define least-privilege boundaries, sensitive-data handling, network-access limits, confirmation for all external effects, rollback, or cleanup, so points are deducted.
The workflow order and output structure are fairly clear, and several validation checks are specified. However, key behavior is undefined, including how the branch variable is selected, what happens when no recognized build file exists, and how citations are formed in all cases. The very large documentation requirements and lack of detailed failure feedback reduce reliability; static calibration keeps this below 10.
The four audiences and activation scenarios are explicit. Non-fit cases, input prerequisites, and repository-size limits are not stated, and Chinese-language output is not supported. The workflow depends on Git and source-repository access; a local-citation option exists, but mainland-China reachability and fallback behavior are not adequately documented, so points are deducted.
The skill has a name, description, MIT license, author, version 1.0.0, and a reasonably layered information architecture. It lacks installation or dependency notes, input/output examples, FAQs, known limitations, changelog, explicit maintenance ownership, and an update path. The README and LICENSE support general governance context but do not establish skill-specific maintenance.
The skill clearly produces four audience-tailored documents with prescribed filenames, sections, and citation requirements, giving the core output direct utility. However, the extensive length and diagram requirements are costly, and no committed representative outputs or skill-specific acceptance evidence are provided. Substantial manual fact-checking and editing may remain; static calibration keeps this at or below 7.
The skill mandates grounding claims in source code and using file-and-line citations, while the repository includes general CI and test material. The supplied CI/tests do not demonstrate coverage of the wiki-onboarding key paths, and there are no skill-specific tests, sample outputs, or independent reproduction records, so only limited auditability is supported.
- The skill creates or modifies an onboarding/ directory but does not specify confirmation, backup, overwrite protection, or rollback for existing files.
- It requires Git commands and may use remote-repository URLs; behavior is unclear when the workspace is not a Git tree or remote access is unavailable.
- The length, Mermaid, and exhaustive code-verification requirements may produce costly or incomplete output; users should manually check facts, paths, citations, and diagram syntax.
- No Chinese-localization guidance is provided, so Chinese-facing output requires additional translation and terminology review.
What does this skill do, and when should you use it?
Wiki Onboarding generates four audience-specific onboarding guides for a codebase: Contributor, Staff Engineer, Executive, and Product Manager. It first resolves repository context by checking the Git remote, asking whether the repository is local-only or linked, and determining the default branch. The output is a Markdown onboarding folder covering setup, architecture, workflows, capabilities, risks, and user-facing boundaries. It is a strong fit for teams that need structured onboarding, provided the relevant repository context is available for verification.
It checks git remote get-url origin and runs git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD to establish repository context. It asks the user to confirm whether the project is local-only or has a source repository URL, then chooses local or linked citations accordingly. It generates onboarding/index.md, contributor-guide.md, staff-engineer-guide.md, executive-guide.md, and product-manager-guide.md. The guides are required to use repository-grounded claims, Mermaid diagrams, audience-specific explanations, and language-aware code examples based on detected build files.
- A new contributor joins an existing codebase and needs setup instructions, a first-task walkthrough, and the development workflow.
- A staff or principal engineer takes ownership of a system and needs its architecture, abstractions, state transitions, failure modes, and technical debt.
- An engineering VP or director evaluates an initiative and needs capabilities, team ownership, risks, scaling considerations, and investment recommendations.
- A product manager needs a plain-language view of user journeys, feature boundaries, data concepts, limitations, and FAQs.
What are this skill's strengths and limitations?
- Produces four tailored views for engineers, technical leaders, and product stakeholders.
- Requires claims to be grounded in actual files and linked or local citations.
- Specifies architecture, data, request-flow, state, and workflow diagrams using Mermaid.
- Supports both local repositories and repositories with a source URL.
- Repository context must be resolved before generation can continue.
- The required output is substantial: the Contributor Guide alone is specified at 1,000–2,500 lines.
- The source does not provide a dedicated test suite or validation command for this individual skill.
- Completeness depends on access to source files, build metadata, and evidence for architectural decisions.
How do you install this skill?
Install the collection with: npx skills add microsoft/skills. Select the required skill in the installation wizard; skills are installed into the selected agent directory, such as .github/skills/ for GitHub Copilot. The source material does not document a dedicated command for installing only wiki-onboarding.
How do you use this skill?
In a repository workspace, trigger an onboarding documentation request such as: “Generate onboarding guides for this codebase.” The skill first checks git remote get-url origin and asks: “Is this a local-only repository, or do you have a source repository URL?” It will not proceed until repository context and the default branch are resolved. It then produces the onboarding/ folder and its four audience-specific Markdown guides.