Exploring New Codebases

Goal: Understand an unfamiliar codebase’s structure, patterns, and architecture in 15 minutes.

Difficulty: Beginner

Prerequisites

First, index the project:

cd /path/to/project
ck --index .

First-Time Indexing

The first run downloads the embedding model (~90MB). Subsequent indexing is fast—typically seconds for small projects, minutes for large ones.

Step 1: Discover the Entry Point

Find where the application starts:

ck --sem "application entry point main function" . --limit 5

What to look for:

• main() functions
• Application initialization
• Server setup code

Example output:

src/main.rs:42
fn main() -> Result<()> {
    let config = load_config()?;
    let server = Server::new(config);
    server.run()
}

Step 2: Identify Core Abstractions

Find the main types and interfaces:

ck --sem "core domain model types interfaces" . --limit 10

What to look for:

• Struct/class definitions
• Interface/trait definitions
• Core business logic types

Refining Your Search

If you get too many results, increase threshold: --threshold 0.7

If you get too few, try a more specific query: “user authentication model”

Step 3: Understand the Architecture

Search for architectural patterns:

ck --sem "dependency injection service layer" . --limit 10

Common patterns to search for:

• “dependency injection container”
• “repository pattern database”
• “controller request handling”
• “middleware pipeline”
• “event bus messaging”

Step 4: Find Configuration

Locate how the app is configured:

ck --sem "configuration settings environment variables" . --limit 5

What to look for:

• Config file loading
• Environment variable usage
• Default settings
• Configuration structs

Step 5: Explore Error Handling

Understand how errors are managed:

ck --sem "error handling custom errors" . --limit 10

What to look for:

• Custom error types
• Error propagation patterns
• Logging and monitoring
• Error response formatting

Step 6: Map External Dependencies

Find integrations with external services:

ck --sem "database client http client external api" . --limit 10

What to look for:

• Database connection setup
• HTTP client configuration
• Third-party API integrations
• Message queue connections

Real-World Example

Exploring a Rust web service:

# 1. Entry point
ck --sem "main function server startup" . --limit 3
# Found: src/main.rs with Actix-web setup

# 2. Core models
ck --sem "user model struct" . --limit 5
# Found: src/models/user.rs with User struct

# 3. API routes
ck --sem "http routes endpoints" . --limit 10
# Found: src/routes/ directory with route handlers

# 4. Database layer
ck --sem "database queries repository" . --limit 10
# Found: src/db/ with Diesel ORM queries

# 5. Authentication
ck --sem "authentication jwt token validation" . --limit 5
# Found: src/auth.rs with JWT middleware

What You’ve Learned

After these 6 steps, you should understand:

• Architecture: How the application is structured
• Entry points: Where execution begins
• Core concepts: Main types and abstractions
• Patterns: Architectural patterns in use
• Configuration: How the app is configured
• Error handling: How errors are managed
• Dependencies: External services and libraries

Tips for Better Exploration

Use Hybrid Search for Known Terms

Once you’ve discovered key types, use hybrid search:

ck --hybrid "UserRepository" . --limit 10

This combines semantic understanding with exact name matching.

Adjust Threshold for Precision

• High precision (0.75+): Very related code only
• Balanced (0.6-0.7): Good mix of relevant results
• Exploratory (0.4-0.6): Broader discovery

Export Results for Analysis

ck --sem "authentication" . --json > auth-code.json

Feed this to an AI agent for deeper analysis.

Common Patterns by Language

Python Projects

ck --sem "__init__ package initialization" . --limit 5
ck --sem "flask routes decorator" . --limit 10
ck --sem "django model class" . --limit 10

JavaScript/TypeScript

ck --sem "express routes middleware" . --limit 10
ck --sem "react components hooks" . --limit 10
ck --sem "module exports" . --limit 10

Java

ck --sem "spring boot configuration" . --limit 5
ck --sem "controller rest endpoint" . --limit 10
ck --sem "service layer business logic" . --limit 10

Go

ck --sem "main package entry point" . --limit 3
ck --sem "http handler function" . --limit 10
ck --sem "struct method receiver" . --limit 10

Next Steps

• Deep dive into a subsystem: Finding Authentication Code
• Look for similar patterns: Refactoring Similar Patterns
• Security review: Security Code Review
• Automate with AI: AI Agent Search Workflows

Related Documentation

• Semantic Search - How semantic search works
• Hybrid Search - Combining semantic + keyword
• Advanced Usage - Threshold tuning and filters