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eli5 — Explain Code Like I'm Five

Turns a codebase, feature, command or PR into a PR Lens canvas whose diagram grows two boxes at a time, so a total newcomer can follow it.

Dev & CodingIntermediate★ 1,068⑂ 42AI score 9/10Last updated: Sep 11, 2026

What it does

  • Explains a codebase, folder, feature, command or pull request to someone who knows nothing about it, delivered as a PR Lens canvas instead of a wall of text.
  • Forces you to write the one-sentence answer first (under 48 characters), then trace the single path from input to output: 4–10 nodes, 2–5 lanes, no helpers, config, types or tests.
  • Builds views that grow: view 1 is you plus the thing you touch, each next view adds 1–3 new parts, and the full picture comes last — by which time nothing on it is new.
  • Writes .pr-lens/graph.json, then validates, renders and pushes it with the CLI, replying with just the answer sentence and the canvas link.
  • Bans jargon (leverages, orchestrates, abstraction, handler, wrapper) and caps walkthrough bodies at 140 plain-language characters.

Who it's for

  • Tech leads and seniors building onboarding material for new hires
  • Engineers who must explain a system to PMs, designers or executives
  • Anyone landing in an unfamiliar open-source repo who wants a fast mental model
  • Teams already using (or willing to adopt) the PR Lens skill and @coldtea/pr-lens-cli

Examples

  1. /eli5 this repo → "BestRegards sends newsletters for you" plus a canvas that lists the 3–5 things the product does, then grows the main path.
  2. /eli5 the checkout flow → "When you hit pay, this code..." with a data-flow across browser → website → payment provider → database lanes.
  3. "Explain this PR to a new hire" → a canvas with the changed hand-off marked as the hero edge and a ≤9-step walkthrough that even names where things go wrong.

· · · 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/coldteadotai/pr-lens/HEAD/skills/eli5/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 skills/eli5 folder from the GitHub repo coldteadotai/pr-lens into my ~/.claude/skills/eli5/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

npx skills add coldteadotai/pr-lens --skill eli5 && npx skills add coldteadotai/pr-lens --skill pr-lens

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

  1. Open a terminal and cd into the project you want explained (cd ~/projects/my-app).
  2. Check Node.js is available: node -v (install the LTS build from nodejs.org if not).
  3. Install the required companion skill first: npx skills add coldteadotai/pr-lens --skill pr-lens
  4. Install this skill: npx skills add coldteadotai/pr-lens --skill eli5
  5. If the installer fails, clone manually: git clone https://github.com/coldteadotai/pr-lens.git && cp -r pr-lens/skills/eli5 pr-lens/skills/pr-lens ~/.claude/skills/
  6. Restart Claude Code and run /eli5 this repo, or just ask it to "explain this feature like I'm five".
  7. The CLI validates, renders and pushes the canvas, printing a https://prlens.dev/c/{id} link. Note the canvas is uploaded to an external service — confirm that's acceptable for private code.
View source on GitHub ↗License: MIT