Design-doc research across multiple repos
A workplace engineer uses Claude Code as a research assistant over several repos and schemas while drafting a design doc for a new feature.
- Agent or tool
- Claude Code
- Topic
- Research & Data
- Reported on
- Hacker News
- Added
- 2026-10-15
Why it matters
Research is mostly gathering, cleaning and comparing. Handing that groundwork to an agent leaves the person with the part that needs judgment: deciding what the findings mean. It is one of 67 sightings filed under Research & Data on Agent Sightings (number 64 by interest), and one of 164 involving Claude Code.
How you could try it
Here is a reusable prompt, written by us in our own words, that captures the task. Paste it into Claude Code or any similar agent and adjust the details to your situation.
Here are my repos, DB schema and prior design docs. Explain how system X works today and what would break if we did Y. Cite file paths.
The prompt breaks down into 3 steps you can check as the agent works:
- Here are my repos, DB schema and prior design docs.
- Explain how system X works today and what would break if we did Y.
- Cite file paths.
Tip: Start small: run it once on a low-stakes example, read what the agent did, and only then let it run on real work.
Source
Read the original first-hand account on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46429652. Our summary is a paraphrase; details are in the source.