Wiki Onboarding

1---
2name: wiki-onboarding
3description: Generates two complementary onboarding guides — a Principal-Level architectural deep-dive and a Zero-to-Hero contributor walkthrough. Use when the user wants onboarding documentation for a codebase.
4---
5 
6# Wiki Onboarding Guide Generator
7 
8Generate two complementary onboarding documents that together give any engineer — from newcomer to principal — a complete understanding of a codebase.
9 
10## When to Activate
11 
12- User asks for onboarding docs or getting-started guides
13- User runs `/deep-wiki:onboard` command
14- User wants to help new team members understand a codebase
15 
16## Language Detection
17 
18Scan the repository for build files to determine the primary language for code examples:
19- `package.json` / `tsconfig.json` → TypeScript/JavaScript
20- `*.csproj` / `*.sln` → C# / .NET
21- `Cargo.toml` → Rust
22- `pyproject.toml` / `setup.py` / `requirements.txt` → Python
23- `go.mod` → Go
24- `pom.xml` / `build.gradle` → Java
25 
26## Guide 1: Principal-Level Onboarding
27 
28**Audience**: Senior/staff+ engineers who need the "why" behind decisions.
29 
30### Required Sections
31 
321. **System Philosophy & Design Principles** — What invariants does the system maintain? What were the key design choices and why?
332. **Architecture Overview** — Component map with Mermaid diagram. What owns what, communication patterns.
343. **Key Abstractions & Interfaces** — The load-bearing abstractions everything depends on
354. **Decision Log** — Major architectural decisions with context, alternatives considered, trade-offs
365. **Dependency Rationale** — Why each major dependency was chosen, what it replaced
376. **Data Flow & State** — How data moves through the system (traced from actual code, not guessed)
387. **Failure Modes & Error Handling** — What breaks, how errors propagate, recovery patterns
398. **Performance Characteristics** — Bottlenecks, scaling limits, hot paths
409. **Security Model** — Auth, authorization, trust boundaries, data sensitivity
4110. **Testing Strategy** — What's tested, what isn't, testing philosophy
4211. **Operational Concerns** — Deployment, monitoring, feature flags, configuration
4312. **Known Technical Debt** — Honest assessment of shortcuts and their risks
44 
45### Rules
46- Every claim backed by `(file_path:line_number)` citation
47- Minimum 3 Mermaid diagrams (architecture, data flow, dependency graph)
48- All Mermaid diagrams use dark-mode colors (see wiki-vitepress skill)
49- Focus on WHY decisions were made, not just WHAT exists
50 
51## Guide 2: Zero-to-Hero Contributor Guide
52 
53**Audience**: New contributors who need step-by-step practical guidance.
54 
55### Required Sections
56 
571. **What This Project Does** — 2-3 sentence elevator pitch
582. **Prerequisites** — Tools, versions, accounts needed
593. **Environment Setup** — Step-by-step with exact commands, expected output at each step
604. **Project Structure** — Annotated directory tree (what lives where and why)
615. **Your First Task** — End-to-end walkthrough of adding a simple feature
626. **Development Workflow** — Branch strategy, commit conventions, PR process
637. **Running Tests** — How to run tests, what to test, how to add a test
648. **Debugging Guide** — Common issues and how to diagnose them
659. **Key Concepts** — Domain-specific terminology explained with code examples
6610. **Code Patterns** — "If you want to add X, follow this pattern" templates
6711. **Common Pitfalls** — Mistakes every new contributor makes and how to avoid them
6812. **Where to Get Help** — Communication channels, documentation, key contacts
6913. **Glossary** — Terms used in the codebase that aren't obvious
7014. **Quick Reference Card** — Cheat sheet of most-used commands and patterns
71 
72### Rules
73- All code examples in the detected primary language
74- Every command must be copy-pasteable
75- Include expected output for verification steps
76- Use Mermaid for workflow diagrams (dark-mode colors)
77- Ground all claims in actual code — cite `(file_path:line_number)`
78