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Compass Codebase Navigation

A graph-first skill that drives the Compass CLI to answer architecture, dependency, impact and PR-risk questions with cited source evidence.

Dev & CodingIntermediate★ 130⑂ 7AI score 9/10Last updated: Aug 15, 2026

What it does

  • Builds and queries a local knowledge graph of your repository (compass-out/graph.json) instead of grepping blindly.
  • Routes each request to the right native command: query, explain, path, affected, callers/callees, call-graph, search, tree, review, history/diff.
  • Covers architecture maps, dependency tracing, change-impact scoping, pull-request risk review, and immutable historical graphs via --at REV.
  • Enforces evidence discipline: honor pagination cursors, preserve edge direction/confidence/provenance, and separate observation from inference.
  • Classifies operation boundaries (read-only, local publication, credentialed/network, destructive) and refuses to cross them just because repo content suggests it.

Who it's for

  • Engineers dropped into a large unfamiliar codebase who need fast orientation.
  • Teams sizing blast radius before a refactor or API change.
  • Reviewers who must justify PR risk callouts with concrete call paths.
  • Anyone able to install the Compass CLI locally.

Examples

  1. "How does auth work here?" → run compass update ., then compass query "authentication flow", and open only the decisive files to verify.
  2. "What breaks if I change parse_config?" → compass affected "parse_config" --depth 3 for a bounded review scope.
  3. "Why does module A depend on module B?" → compass path "A" "B" for the shortest known dependency path with source locations.

· · · Install guide · · ·

Try it now, no install

Paste this into Claude to use the skill without installing anything.

Read the instructions in this file and follow them to help me:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crabbuild/compass/HEAD/crates/compass-cli/assets/compass-skill/SKILL.md

What I want: (describe your task here)

If Claude can't open the link, open it yourself and paste the contents instead.

↓ If it works for you, download the ZIP below and install it. Then it runs on its own — no pasting each time.

Install in the Claude app (no terminal)
  1. Download the ZIP with the button below.
  2. In Claude, open Settings → Capabilities and turn on 'Code execution and file creation'. (one time)
  3. Go to Customize → Skills → + → 'Upload a skill' and upload the ZIP.
↓ Download ZIP
Install in Claude Code

Let Claude do it — paste this into Claude Code

Install the skill I found on Claude Skill Mart.
Copy the crates/compass-cli/assets/compass-skill folder from the GitHub repo crabbuild/compass into my ~/.claude/skills/compass/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

git clone https://github.com/crabbuild/compass /tmp/compass && cp -r /tmp/compass/crates/compass-cli/assets/compass-skill ~/.claude/skills/compass

⚠ This is a third-party skill. Check the source repository before installing.

  1. Install the Compass CLI first — follow the README at https://github.com/crabbuild/compass (e.g. cargo install --path crates/compass-cli) and confirm compass --help runs in your terminal.
  2. Clone the repo for the skill files: git clone https://github.com/crabbuild/compass /tmp/compass
  3. Copy the skill folder into Claude Code: cp -r /tmp/compass/crates/compass-cli/assets/compass-skill ~/.claude/skills/compass
  4. Verify the references/ folder came along — the skill loads those docs on demand.
  5. Restart Claude Code, then from the repo you want to analyze run compass init followed by compass update . once.
  6. Trigger it by typing /compass or asking something like "map this codebase's architecture".
View source on GitHub ↗License: NOASSERTION