Understand-Anything understand-explain

Use when you need a deep-dive explanation of a specific file, function, or module in the codebase

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/Lum1104/Understand-Anything

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/Lum1104/Understand-Anything "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/understand-anything-plugin/skills/understand-explain" ~/.claude/skills/lum1104-understand-anything-understand-explain && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: understand-anything-plugin/skills/understand-explain/SKILL.md

/understand-explain

Provide a thorough, in-depth explanation of a specific code component.

Graph Structure Reference

The knowledge graph JSON has this structure:

```
project
```
— {name, description, languages, frameworks, analyzedAt, gitCommitHash}
```
nodes[]
```
— each has {id, type, name, filePath, summary, tags[], complexity, languageNotes?}
- Node types: file, function, class, module, concept
- IDs:
```
file:path
```
  ,
```
function:path:name
```
  ,
```
class:path:name
```
```
edges[]
```
— each has {source, target, type, direction, weight}
- Key types: imports, contains, calls, depends_on
```
layers[]
```
— each has {id, name, description, nodeIds[]}
```
tour[]
```
— each has {order, title, description, nodeIds[]}

How to Read Efficiently

Use Grep to search within the JSON for relevant entries BEFORE reading the full file
Only read sections you need — don't dump the entire graph into context
Node names and summaries are the most useful fields for understanding
Edges tell you how components connect — follow imports and calls for dependency chains

Instructions

Check that

.understand-anything/knowledge-graph.json

exists. If not, tell the user to run

/understand

first.

Find the target node — use Grep to search the knowledge graph for the component: "$ARGUMENTS"
- For file paths (e.g.,
```
src/auth/login.ts
```
  ): search for
```
"filePath"
```
  matches
- For function notation (e.g.,
```
src/auth/login.ts:verifyToken
```
  ): search for the function name in
```
"name"
```
  fields filtered by the file path
- Note the exact node
```
id
```
  ,
```
type
```
  ,
```
summary
```
  ,
```
tags
```
  , and
```
complexity
```
Find all connected edges — Grep for the target node's ID in the edges section:
- ```
"source"
```
  matches → things this node calls/imports/depends on (outgoing)
- ```
"target"
```
  matches → things that call/import/depend on this node (incoming)
- Note the connected node IDs and edge types
Read connected nodes — for each connected node ID from step 3, Grep for those IDs in the nodes section to get their
```
name
```
,
```
summary
```
, and
```
type
```
. This builds the component's neighborhood.
Identify the layer — Grep for the target node's ID in the
```
"layers"
```
section to find which architectural layer it belongs to and that layer's description.
Read the actual source file — Read the source file at the node's
```
filePath
```
for the deep-dive analysis.
Explain the component in context:
- Its role in the architecture (which layer, why it exists)
- Internal structure (functions, classes it contains — from
```
contains
```
  edges)
- External connections (what it imports, what calls it, what it depends on — from edges)
- Data flow (inputs → processing → outputs — from source code)
- Explain clearly, assuming the reader may not know the programming language
- Highlight any patterns, idioms, or complexity worth understanding