understand-project

Reconstruct understanding of a research project from its records, chronology, and claims.

Updated Jul 3, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/mnazaal/dotfiles --skill understand-project-mnazaal
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: understand-project
Source: https://github.com/mnazaal/dotfiles/tree/main/.agents/skills/understand-project
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/mnazaal/dotfiles --skill understand-project-mnazaal

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? Research project records grow incrementally and are rarely read end to end, so returning to a project after a gap—or joining one mid-stream—leaves you unable to explain what was done, why, or what a claim rests on. This Skill rebuilds that understanding from the project's own documents and repairs the records where they failed to transfer. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Grounded Orientation: Locates the claim spine, status, chronology, and actual commit effort across whatever layout the project uses, citing every statement to a file, dated entry, or commit. - Claim-Scoped Depth: Traces one claim from its ledger entry through derivations, code, and results until you can defend it to a reviewer—generative model, load-bearing assumptions, regime of validity, and first objections. - Defect Detection and Repair: Distinguishes gaps you forgot from gaps in the record, routes defects (stale spines, missing rationales, symbol collisions) back into the project's existing documents, and maintains a reconciled notation table. - Use Case: You return to a stalled research project and ask what the main proof rests on; the Skill reads the newest log entries, follows the claim's evidence trail, diagnoses what you misremember, and records a dead end that was never written down. ## Quick Start Ask the assistant to walk you through this research project and explain what its main claim rests on, citing the project records.

Frequently Asked Questions about understand-project

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I get up to speed on a research project I have lost track of?▼

Ask for a walkthrough of the project from its records. The Skill reads the chronology newest-first, locates the claim spine and status, and reports what the project is, what is settled versus open, and the current front, with citations you can check.

How can I prepare to defend a research claim to a reviewer?▼

Pick one claim and trace it from its ledger entry through the derivations, code, and results. The Skill works through the generative model, load-bearing assumptions, regime of validity, and the reviewer's likely first objection until you can answer each.

Does this work if the project documentation is incomplete or disorganized?▼

Yes. The Skill discovers sources rather than assuming a layout, prefers whichever source has content over a canonical but empty one, and names what it searched and did not find. Missing or broken records are recorded as defects, not silently skipped.

Can it explain a proof or derivation line by line?▼

Line-by-line re-derivation is a deeper, separate request done for one named result when asked. By default the Skill explains what each step of an argument buys and which assumptions are load-bearing, scoped to a single claim.

When should I not use this Skill?▼

Do not use it to decide what to work on next, resume from a handoff artifact, critique a claim you already understand, or study an external paper with no project record. Those belong to research-session, session-handoff, critique-argument, and research-paper respectively.