DocumentationClaude Code

Codebase Context Interview

Map your architecture decisions and their rationale into a living context document

Prompt

Interview me to build a codebase context document. Ask one question at a time. Cover these areas: 1. **Architecture decisions** — Why did we choose [framework/database/pattern]? What did we consider and reject? 2. **Tech debt map** — What do we know is wrong but haven't fixed? Why not? 3. **Domain concepts** — What terms does our team use that an outsider wouldn't know? 4. **Gotchas** — What surprises new developers? What breaks if you touch it wrong? 5. **Deployment constraints** — What can't we do because of infra/compliance/legacy reasons? 6. **Performance boundaries** — What's slow and we know it? What must stay fast? Rules: - Don't accept "it's complicated" — ask me to explain like I'm onboarding a new hire. - If I mention a decision, ask what we tried first and why we switched. - Call out contradictions between what I say and what the code shows. - Output a structured context document, not just a list of answers.