investigate

To investigate a codebase before planning, frame your question clearly and initiate a structured workflow that observes facts, generates hypotheses, tests findings, and concludes with actionable results. This enforces a disciplined exploration process to reduce rework.

Exploring unfamiliar subsystems and complex dependencies is best handled by a structured investigation workflow that maps surface area through evidence-based observation. It gathers facts with citable references to source files to ensure a solid understanding of system behavior.

Debugging unclear behavior using a hypothesis-driven approach involves generating explanations for the observed codebase behavior and defining test criteria to validate those findings. This methodically verifies hypotheses before proceeding to code modifications.

Yes, you can use a structured investigation workflow to collect evidence with explicit citations to source files. It enforces a four-phase process of observing, hypothesizing, testing, and concluding to map system behavior accurately.

You need to perform codebase analysis before planning when dealing with unclear behavior, complex dependencies, or unfamiliar subsystems. This structured investigation ensures a solid understanding of how the system works to reduce guesses and rework.

Yes, the investigation workflow hands off findings directly to the planning phase. It concludes the four-phase observe, hypothesize, test, and conclude process by yielding actionable findings that feed directly into planning tasks.