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.