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The /understand-onboard command produces a standalone, human-readable onboarding guide from the knowledge graph. It is designed to help a new developer (or a non-technical stakeholder) get up to speed with the codebase in the shortest time possible, without reading code blind. The output is a complete markdown document suitable for pasting into a README, a wiki page, a Notion doc, or any team documentation system.

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Usage

/understand-onboard
No arguments required.
Requires an existing .understand-anything/knowledge-graph.json. Run /understand first to generate it.

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Who it’s for

  • New engineers joining a team who need a map before they read any code
  • Junior developers who benefit from guided tours ordered by dependency
  • Product managers and designers who need a plain-English picture of how the system is structured
  • Tech leads who want a generated first draft of architecture documentation

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What the guide contains

1

Project overview

A summary table with project name, description, languages, frameworks, total component count, and the date the graph was last analyzed.
2

Architecture

One section per architectural layer identified during analysis. Each layer includes a description of its responsibilities and a list of its key components.
3

Key concepts

Explanations of abstract concepts and domain patterns found in the graph (e.g., “Event Bus”, “Repository Pattern”). Only included when concept-type nodes exist.
4

Getting started tour

A numbered walkthrough derived from the tour generated by the tour-builder agent. Each step points to specific files to read, explains what to look for, and may include language tips for unfamiliar patterns.
5

File map

A table of every source file with its purpose (plain-English summary) and complexity rating — so a new developer can instantly identify the most important and most complex parts.
6

Complexity hotspots

A list of the components rated as complex during analysis. These deserve extra attention before being modified.

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Output

A markdown document printed directly in the chat. Example structure: 
# my-app

> A multi-tenant SaaS platform for managing invoices and payments.

| | |
|---|---|
| Languages | TypeScript |
| Frameworks | React, Express |
| Components | 142 nodes, 389 relationships |
| Last Analyzed | 2026-03-23T10:00:00Z |

## Architecture

### API Layer
HTTP route handlers and middleware. Key components: UserRouter, PaymentRouter, AuthMiddleware

### Service Layer
Business logic and orchestration. Key components: UserService, PaymentService, NotificationService

...

## Getting Started

### 1. Start at the entry point
The app boots from `src/index.ts`, which wires together Express, the database connection, and all routers.

**Files to look at:**
- `src/index.ts` — Application entry point and bootstrap
- `src/app.ts` — Express app configuration and middleware setup

...

## File Map
| File | Purpose | Complexity |
|------|---------|------------|
| `src/auth/login.ts` | Handles login, JWT issuance, and session creation | complex |
...
Copy the output into your team wiki or repository docs. Since it’s generated from the live knowledge graph, you can regenerate it after any major refactor by running /understand followed by /understand-onboard.

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Examples

# Generate an onboarding guide for the whole project
/understand-onboard

# Typical workflow: analyze first, then generate guide
/understand
/understand-onboard

# Refresh the guide after a major refactor
/understand --full
/understand-onboard

/understand

Build or update the knowledge graph that the onboarding guide is generated from.

/understand-dashboard

Complement the written guide with an interactive visual exploration of the codebase.

/understand-chat

Ask follow-up questions after reading the guide.

/understand-explain

Deep-dive into any component mentioned in the guide.

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