Walk clone → install → run → change → PR like a brand-new developer and log every stumble on the way to a first contribution.
Free & open · no signup · read-only — it ends by asking · nothing leaves your machine
You are working inside this repo. Mission: experience this repo as a brand-new developer would — clone, install, run, make a change, open a PR — and log every stumble between them and a first contribution.
Read-only toward the codebase; you may exercise setup steps in a sandbox. Your only write is the report file.
Phase 2 sweeps the codebase through every one of these, citing file and line for each finding.
every README step that fails, lies, or assumes tribal knowledge
the path from zero to working config; blockers requiring another human
can a new dev see the product working, or a blank screen?
edit → see result: how many seconds; test cycle time
when setup is wrong, do errors say what to do next?
branch conventions, CI feedback time, review expectations: written anywhere?
decisions and gotchas that live only in someone's head; list what you had to infer
One structured report at the repo root — or in reports/, if you keep one — the same shape every time, ready for a teammate — or the optional Studio — to act on.
Every Goal Prompt follows the same four steps, so results are consistent and repeatable — no matter which one you run.
Follow the README exactly as written, noting where reality diverges.
Docs vs reality — every README step that fails, lies, or assumes tribal knowledge.
Rank friction by where it lands.
Create DX.md at repo root.
Copy it and paste it into your agent inside the repo you want checked.
Install the goal plugin once — two commands — then just type /goal:onboarding-audit.
/plugin marketplace add GhostlyGawd/goal-prompts/plugin install goal@goal-promptsOr install only this Goal Prompt as /goal-onboarding-audit:
curl -fsSL https://goal-prompts.vercel.app/install | BRIEF=14 shLet an agent fetch it mid-conversation, or pull the raw Goal Prompt by URL.
https://goal-prompts.vercel.app/raw/14.mdNothing hidden — this is the whole Goal Prompt, verbatim. Read it in a minute, edit it, or copy it as-is.
# Goal: New-Dev Onboarding Audit You are working inside this repo. Mission: experience this repo as a brand-new developer would — clone, install, run, make a change, open a PR — and log every stumble between them and a first contribution. Read-only toward the codebase; you may exercise setup steps in a sandbox. Your only write is the report file. ## Phase 1 — Walk the path literally Follow the README exactly as written, noting where reality diverges: - Clone → install: missing prerequisites, undocumented versions, failing steps - Configure: env vars and secrets — where does a new dev get them; is there an example file? - Run: does the app start; is there seed data or an empty shell? - Verify: do the tests pass out of the box? ## Phase 2 — Audit through 7 lenses 1. **Docs vs reality** — every README step that fails, lies, or assumes tribal knowledge 2. **Secrets bootstrap** — the path from zero to working config; blockers requiring another human 3. **Seed data** — can a new dev see the product working, or a blank screen? 4. **Loop speed** — edit → see result: how many seconds; test cycle time 5. **Error quality** — when setup is wrong, do errors say what to do next? 6. **Contribution path** — branch conventions, CI feedback time, review expectations: written anywhere? 7. **Tribal knowledge** — decisions and gotchas that live only in someone's head; list what you had to infer ## Phase 3 — Curate - Rank friction by where it lands: earlier stumbles cost every future hire - Every finding: exact step, what happened, what should happen ## Phase 4 — Report Create `DX.md` at repo root: 1. **Time-to-first-PR estimate** — today, honestly, with the breakdown 2. **Stumble log** — the walk, step by step, with findings inline 3. **Fixes** — each: what · file to change · effort; ordered by stage 4. **The one-hour fix** — the single improvement that saves the most time for every future developer Start the report with today's date. If `DX.md` already exists from a previous run, read it first and lead with what changed since. ## Rules - Report what actually happened when steps were followed, not what docs claim - A setup script beats a setup document - No expected contributors beyond the author in this repo? Say so in a one-paragraph null report and stop — a null result is a valid finding. - If a `reports/` directory exists at the repo root, write the report there instead of the root. - Before asking, present the top findings as a ranked list in plain words - Report only — end by asking which fixes to make
reports/ directory exists at the repo root, write the report there instead of the root.Duplication, tangles, and dead patterns — mapped as interest paid vs principal owed, with a refactor sequence that pays for itself.
Census the drifted colors, spacing, and duplicate components; propose the token set and migration order to unify them.
Can a coding agent work here? Entry files, one-command checks, discoverable conventions, and a mechanical definition of done — audited by attempting the work.
Read git history for the human risks — files only one person understands, critical paths with a truck factor of one, and the knowledge that leaves when they do.
Runs inside these playbooks — curated sequences you can launch with one paste: