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rederive
Teaches a codebase by making the user re-derive its design decisions from first principles through Socratic questions, instead of explaining the code. Works on the user's own repo or any open source repo (local path or git URL). Use when the user runs /rederive, wants to explain a project they built with AI, is preparing to talk about a project in an interview, or wants to learn how a well-known project works.
Choose how to use this skill
You do not need every option. Choose the path your AI client supports. The stable page stays the same; versioned files are immutable.
1. Native installer
This listing has no registered native installer command. Use the complete package or source fallback below, depending on what your client supports.
Do not guess an installer command or replace an existing version without reviewing the diff.
2. Complete package recommended
Download the ZIP when available. It includes SKILL.md plus the references, security notes and version metadata.
No complete ProSkills package is published for this listing yet.3. Prompt-only
Copy the prompt above when the agent can read the stable page or when you want to adopt the workflow without installing a skill.
Need only the instruction file?
Download SKILL.md only if your client requires a single file. The complete ZIP is safer for a full installation because it preserves the references and release context.
No path installs or executes anything by itself. Your agent still needs access to the project files. Before updating, compare the installed version and review the diff.
// RATINGS
// README
rederive is a skill for coding agents that teaches you a codebase by making you design it yourself from first principles. It only asks you questions to guide you to the right answer, and it won't explain things. We made this on purpose to aim for understanding through derivation, instead of memorizing what the agent says.
Install
npx skills add EricJujianZou/rederive
The same command installs it in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, opencode, Windsurf, Amp, Goose and about 15 other agents. It puts the skill in every agent folder it finds in your project. Add -g to install it for every project instead. Then type /rederive in your agent.
It needs git, bash and python3.
As a Claude Code plugin:
/plugin marketplace add EricJujianZou/rederive
/plugin install rederive@rederive
By hand, clone the repo and copy skills/rederive into your agent's skills folder, such as ~/.claude/skills/ or ~/.agents/skills/:
git clone https://github.com/EricJujianZou/rederive
cp -r rederive/skills/rederive ~/.agents/skills/
A session
The start of a session on Express (an example, shortened):
Use
/rederive # the repo you are in
/rederive ~/code/myapp # a local repo
/rederive https://github.com/expressjs/express # clones it into the current folder
Talk to it in plain words. Tell it you're stuck, ask to skip a problem, or say you want to start over.
How it works
- It starts from why the project exists. On your own repo it asks you why you built it. On someone else's repo it works out the original problem and asks how you would solve it.
- A background agent maps the repo while you answer. It reads the code, the import links between files and the commits where the design changed. It doesn't trust commit messages, so repos built with AI in a few big commits work too.
- The map holds 5 to 10 problems in the order the system would be built, each with its constraints and the real design. It lives in
.rederive/map.md. Don't open it until you're done, because it has the answers. - When you're stuck, it narrows the problem to a few approaches to choose from. After two wrong answers in a row it offers to sketch the problem for you.
- It keeps notes on how you did in
.rederive/log.md: where you struggled and what you worked out alone. Read it at the end to see what to practice.
Everything stays on your machine. .rederive/ goes in the repo's local git exclude list, so it never shows up in your commits. rederive sends no telemetry.
License
MIT
// HOW IT'S BUILT
KEY FILES