codebase-reading

Systematic methodology for reading and understanding large codebases efficiently. Use when (1) understanding a new or unfamiliar codebase quickly, (2) preparing to modify or extend existing code safely, (3) debugging complex issues requiring deep code understanding, (4) onboarding new team members to a codebase, (5) performing code audits or security reviews, (6) refactoring legacy code with confidence, (7) creating documentation for existing systems, (8) tracing execution flows and data transformations.