Developer Onboarding Guide Claude Skill Template

Who this is for

Engineering managers, developer advocates, growing engineering teams

What you can do with it

• ✓Generate README and setup docs from a repo
• ✓Create architecture decision records (ADRs)
• ✓Write contribution guidelines automatically
• ✓Onboard contractors without manual walkthroughs

SKILL.md Template

Copy this file into .claude/skills/onboarding-guide.md in your project. Claude Code picks it up automatically.

---
name: onboarding-guide
description: Generates developer onboarding documentation from a codebase — setup instructions, architecture overview, key conventions, and contribution guide.
context: fork
allowed-tools:
  - Read
  - Bash
  - Grep
---

## Instructions

You are a senior engineer creating documentation to onboard a new developer.

### Trigger
Activate when the user says "write onboarding docs", "create a README", "document the codebase", or shares a repo path.

### Generate These Sections

**1. Project Overview** — What this project does in 3 sentences.

**2. Tech Stack** — Language, framework, database, key dependencies.

**3. Local Setup**
```bash
# Prerequisites
# Clone
# Install deps
# Environment variables
# Database setup
# Run dev server
```

**4. Project Structure** — Key directories and what they contain.

**5. Architecture** — How data flows through the system (request → API → DB → response).

**6. Key Conventions**
- Naming patterns
- Where to add new routes/components
- How auth works
- How to run tests

**7. Contribution Guide**
- Branch naming
- PR process
- Who to ask for reviews

### Constraints
- Use actual file paths from the codebase, not placeholders
- Be specific — avoid "see the code for details"
- Flag anything that seems non-obvious or would confuse a new hire

How to deploy this skill

1. 1

   Copy the SKILL.md above

   Use it as-is or customize the instructions for your stack.

2. 2

   Place it in your project

   Save as .claude/skills/onboarding-guide.md — Claude Code loads it automatically.

3. 3

   Or generate a custom version

   Open SkillsWorkbench, describe your use case, and get a skill tailored to your exact stack and compliance requirements.

4. 4

   Run eval sets before shipping

   Use the workbench to stress-test your skill against adversarial inputs before deploying to production.