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environment-discovery

Systematic exploration of unknown environments before starting work

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Browser & testing
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MIT
Last commit
Oct 6, 2026

pydantic_deep/bundled_skills/environment-discovery/SKILL.md

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Environment Discovery

When dropped into an unfamiliar environment, ALWAYS explore before acting.

Step 1: Understand the workspace

ls -la /app/          # or the working directory
find . -type f | head -50
  • What files exist? What are their sizes?
  • Are there READMEs, Makefiles, config files?
  • What languages/frameworks are involved?

Step 2: Inspect data files

Before writing any code that reads data, understand the format:

  • file <filename> — detect file type (binary, text, encoding)
  • head -20 <file> — first lines of text files
  • xxd <file> | head -20 — hex dump for binary files
  • wc -l <file> — line count for text files
  • stat <file> — exact file size in bytes
  • python3 -c "import struct; ..." — parse binary headers

Step 3: Check available tools

which python3 gcc g++ make cmake node npm cargo rustc java go
pip list 2>/dev/null | head -20
  • What compilers/interpreters are installed?
  • What libraries are available?
  • What package managers can you use?

Step 4: Read existing code

If there are existing source files:

  • Read them FULLY before modifying
  • Understand the build system (Makefile, CMakeLists.txt, pyproject.toml)
  • Check for existing tests

Key Principles

  • NEVER assume file formats — always inspect first
  • NEVER assume tools are installed — always check
  • A 500MB file is NOT a "small file" — plan for it
  • Binary files need byte-level inspection, not cat
  • Spend 30 seconds exploring to save 5 minutes debugging

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