Code tour

Code Tour

Create CodeTour files — persona-targeted, step-by-step walkthroughs of a codebase that link directly to files and line numbers. CodeTour files live in .tours/ and work with the VS Code CodeTour extension.

Overview

A great tour is a narrative — a story told to a specific person about what matters, why it matters, and what to do next. Only create .tour JSON files. Never modify source code.

When to Use This Skill

• User asks to create a code tour, onboarding tour, or architecture walkthrough
• User says "tour for this PR", "explain how X works", "vibe check", "RCA tour"
• User wants a contributor guide, security review, or bug investigation walkthrough
• Any request for a structured walkthrough with file/line anchors

Core Workflow

1. Discover the repo

Before asking anything, explore the codebase:

In parallel: list root directory, read README, check config files. Then: identify language(s), framework(s), project purpose. Map folder structure 1-2 levels deep. Find entry points — every path in the tour must be real.

If the repo has fewer than 5 source files, create a quick-depth tour regardless of persona — there's not enough to warrant a deep one.

2. Infer the intent

One message should be enough. Infer persona, depth, and focus silently.

User says	Persona	Depth
"tour for this PR"	pr-reviewer	standard
"why did X break" / "RCA"	rca-investigator	standard
"onboarding" / "new joiner"	new-joiner	standard
"quick tour" / "vibe check"	vibecoder	quick
"architecture"	architect	deep
"security" / "auth review"	security-reviewer	standard
(no qualifier)	new-joiner	standard

When intent is ambiguous, default to new-joiner persona at standard depth — it's the most generally useful.

3. Read actual files

Every file path and line number must be verified. A tour pointing to the wrong line is worse than no tour.

4. Write the tour

Save to .tours/<persona>-<focus>.tour.

{
  "$schema": "https://aka.ms/codetour-schema",
  "title": "Descriptive Title — Persona / Goal",
  "description": "Who this is for and what they'll understand after.",
  "ref": "<current-branch-or-commit>",
  "steps": []
}

Step types

Type	When to use	Example
Content	Intro/closing only (max 2)	{ "title": "Welcome", "description": "..." }
Directory	Orient to a module	{ "directory": "src/services", "title": "..." }
File + line	The workhorse	{ "file": "src/auth.ts", "line": 42, "title": "..." }
Selection	Highlight a code block	{ "file": "...", "selection": {...}, "title": "..." }
Pattern	Regex match (volatile files)	{ "file": "...", "pattern": "class App", "title": "..." }
URI	Link to PR, issue, doc	{ "uri": "https://...", "title": "..." }

Step count

Depth	Steps	Use for
Quick	5-8	Vibecoder, fast exploration
Standard	9-13	Most personas
Deep	14-18	Architect, RCA

Writing descriptions — SMIG formula

• S — Situation: What is the reader looking at?
• M — Mechanism: How does this code work?
• I — Implication: Why does this matter for this persona?
• G — Gotcha: What would a smart person get wrong?

5. Validate

• Every file path relative to repo root (no leading / or ./)
• Every file confirmed to exist
• Every line verified by reading the file
• First step has file or directory anchor
• At most 2 content-only steps
• nextTour matches another tour's title exactly if set

Personas

Persona	Goal	Must cover
Vibecoder	Get the vibe fast	Entry point, main modules. Max 8 steps.
New joiner	Structured ramp-up	Directories, setup, business context
Bug fixer	Root cause fast	Trigger -> fault points -> tests
RCA investigator	Why did it fail	Causality chain, observability anchors
Feature explainer	End-to-end	UI -> API -> backend -> storage
PR reviewer	Review correctly	Change story, invariants, risky areas
Architect	Shape and rationale	Boundaries, tradeoffs, extension points
Security reviewer	Trust boundaries	Auth flow, validation, secret handling
Refactorer	Safe restructuring	Seams, hidden deps, extraction order
External contributor	Contribute safely	Safe areas, conventions, landmines

Narrative Arc

1. Orientation — file or directory step (never content-only first step — blank in VS Code)
2. High-level map — 1-3 directory steps showing major modules
3. Core path — file/line steps, the heart of the tour
4. Closing — what the reader can now do, suggested follow-ups

Anti-Patterns

Anti-pattern	Fix
File listing — "this file contains the models"	Tell a story. Each step depends on the previous.
Generic descriptions	Name the specific pattern unique to this codebase.
Line number guessing	Never write a line you didn't verify by reading.
Too many steps for quick depth	Actually cut steps.
Hallucinated files	If it doesn't exist, skip the step.
Recap closing — "we covered X, Y, Z"	Tell the reader what they can now do.
Content-only first step	Anchor step 1 to a file or directory.

Cross-References

• Related: engineering/codebase-onboarding — for broader onboarding beyond tours
• Related: engineering/pr-review-expert — for automated PR review workflows
• CodeTour extension: microsoft/codetour
• Real-world tours: coder/code-server