Claude Code Onboarding Checklist
First 30 minutes Claude Code spends in a new repo, in order
Claude Code Onboarding Checklist
1. Read the rails (5 min)
2. Map the territory (10 min)
Top-level shape
What the repo claims to be
Recent activity = where the team's attention actually is
3. Find the entry points (5 min)
4. Find the test surface (3 min)
# Claude Code Onboarding Checklist The first 30 minutes Claude Code spends in a new repo decide the next 30 hours. This is the checklist I run, in order, before touching code. ## 1. Read the rails (5 min) - `CLAUDE.md` (root) — project-specific instructions. **Always exists if the team has used Claude before.** Read it twice. - `AGENTS.md` — agent-agnostic version of the same. - `CONTRIBUTING.md` — human conventions (branch naming, PR format, commit style). - `.claude/settings.json` — hooks, allowed tools, plugins. Tells you what shortcuts exist. If none of these exist: the repo has no agent rails. Slow down. Plan to land a `CLAUDE.md` *with the user's approval* before any non-trivial work. ## 2. Map the territory (10 min) ```bash # Top-level shape ls -la cat README.md | head -100 # What the repo claims to be cat package.json 2>/dev/null | jq '{name, scripts, dependencies}' 2>/dev/null cat pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null | head -40 cat go.mod 2>/dev/null | head -5 # Recent activity =…
By @meliwat - License: -
Raw markdown
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