Claude Code Guide
docsworkflows1 min read

Catch Up on a Codebase After a Week Away

You were out for a week and the repo kept moving. Claude reads the git history, explains what changed and why, and flags what needs your attention.

Shadman RahmanShadman RahmanPrincipal PM
3 minutes Claude Code Claude (any)By Shadman Rahman

how it works

  1. 01 / 06

    You open the repo cold.

    A week of vacation. Twenty-something commits you didn't see land.

  2. 02 / 06

    You paste one prompt.

    No scrolling through Slack. No reading every PR description.

  3. 03 / 06

    Claude reads the git log and the changed files.

    Commits, diffs, the parts of the code that actually moved.

  4. 04 / 06

    You get a plain-language summary.

    What shipped, what's half-done, who touched what.

  5. 05 / 06

    Claude flags the things that look risky.

    A migration that hasn't been run. A test that was disabled. A TODO with your name on it.

  6. 06 / 06

    You're back in context.

    Five minutes in. Ready to actually do the work.

The prompt

Use this on the first morning back. Don't open Slack first.

Try this prompt
Catch me up on this repo. I've been out for the last 7 days. Read the git log for that window and the diffs of the most-changed files. Then write me a short summary that covers: - What shipped (features, fixes, refactors) and roughly why, in plain English - What's in-flight or half-done - Anything that looks risky or broken: failing tests, disabled tests, dropped error handling, migrations that haven't been run, TODOs left in hot paths Only flag things you're reasonably confident about. If something is ambiguous, ask me one clarifying question instead of guessing.

What you get back

From Claude

Welcome back. Here's the week in plain English. I read 23 commits across 6 contributors, mostly on the billing and auth paths.

What shipped

  • New invoice PDF export in services/billing/pdf.ts. Looks complete, has tests.
  • Auth refactor: session tokens now signed with the new key. Migration in migrations/2026_05_03_session_keys.sql was added but I don't see it in the deployed list. Worth checking before you touch auth code today.
  • Three small UI fixes on the dashboard. Boring, no surprises.

In-flight

  • The feat/team-invites branch has 4 commits this week, no PR yet. Looks like Marcus is mid-flight.
  • A half-written rate limiter in lib/rate-limit.ts. Has TODOs and no callers.

Things I'd flag

  • tests/billing/refunds.test.ts was marked .skip in commit a4f2c1. Commit message just says "flaky." I'd ask why before trusting the suite.
  • Error handling around the Stripe webhook (api/webhooks/stripe.ts) was simplified. I assumed this was intentional cleanup, correct me if wrong.

One question before I dig deeper: do you want the same lens on the infra/ directory, or skip it? It changed a lot but I don't know if that's your scope.

Variations

Same shape, small twists.

After a longer absence
I've been off this repo for about 4 weeks. Don't try to summarize every commit. Read the git log for the last 30 days, then group changes by area (auth, billing, frontend, infra, etc.). For each area, give me one paragraph: what changed, who owned it, and whether it looks finished. Then tell me the top 3 things I should read in full before I write any code.
Onboarding to a codebase you didn't write
I just joined this team. I didn't write any of this code. Read the top-level README, the package.json (or equivalent), and the most-touched files from the last 90 days. Then explain to me: - What this service actually does, in two sentences - The 5 directories I should know exist and what lives in each - The 3 files I'll probably end up reading first when I get a real ticket Be honest about parts of the codebase that look messy or under-documented.
Reviewing a feature branch you didn't write
I need to review the branch . I didn't write any of it. Diff it against main, read the changed files, and walk me through what this branch is doing in plain English. Then list: - The riskiest changes (anything touching auth, payments, data migrations, public APIs) - Anything that looks copy-pasted or duplicated - Anything you can't tell whether it's intentional Don't write a verdict. Just give me what I need to ask the author smart questions.

Click a violet field and type your own details, then copy.

Tips and gotchas

Pick a time window. "Catch me up on everything" produces a wall of text. One week, one month, one branch. Bound it.

Tell it to read the files, not just the log. Commit messages lie. The diff is the source of truth, ask for both.

Cap the hedging. Without guardrails Claude will flag every change as "potentially risky." Ask it to flag only what it's reasonably confident about.

Ready to try?

Copy and paste
Catch me up on this repo. I've been out for the last 7 days. Read the git log for that window and the diffs of the most-changed files. Then write me a short summary that covers: - What shipped (features, fixes, refactors) and roughly why, in plain English - What's in-flight or half-done - Anything that looks risky or broken: failing tests, disabled tests, dropped error handling, migrations that haven't been run, TODOs left in hot paths Only flag things you're reasonably confident about. If something is ambiguous, ask me one clarifying question instead of guessing.
Found this useful?Star claudecode-guide on GitHub

New guides, when they ship

One email, roughly weekly. CLAUDE.md templates, workflows I actually use, and the cut-for-length stuff that does not make the public guides. One-click unsubscribe.

Or read Product Field Notes, the Substack

On this page

The promptWhat you get backVariationsTips and gotchasReady to try?