Keep track of a research codebase with file by file notes
Idea + starter prompt, not run by us yet
For: Researchers rewriting their own old project code
While rebuilding personal research projects from earlier messy versions, a commenter had Claude Code write a short summary of each file and notes on any methods that were not obvious. They reread the notes several times and rewrote unclear parts. They found it kept the overall shape of the code in their head, though a few parts still slipped away from them.
Steps
- Ask Claude Code for a short summary of every file in the project.
- Ask it to note any method that is not obvious from the code.
- Read the notes and rewrite anything that is unclear to you.
- Keep the notes in the repo so later sessions can use them.
- Expect gaps, and revisit parts of the code you still do not understand.
Starter prompt
Go through every file in [project folder]. For each, write two or three sentences on what it does, and a separate note on any method or trick that is not obvious from reading the code. Save it as [notes file]. Do not change any code. Mark places where you are unsure what the code is for, so I can explain them.
Original post: Reddit · found via agentusecases.ai. Written up in our own words. We haven't run it, so test it on made-up data first.