Create a guided CodeTour walkthrough of my codebase
A valid VS Code CodeTour .tour file that walks new developers through how your codebase works, step by step.
The prompt
Create a CodeTour (.tour JSON file for the VS Code CodeTour extension) that walks a new developer through my codebase.
Who the tour is for: [e.g. "new backend engineers", "contributors fixing their first bug"]
What they should understand by the end: [e.g. "how a request flows from the API to the database"]
Project structure: [paste the folder tree]
Key files and code: [paste the important files or snippets, with line numbers]
Git ref to pin to (optional): [branch, tag, or commit]
Length: [e.g. 8-12 steps]
Rules:
- Follow the CodeTour schema: top-level "$schema", "title", "description", optional "ref", and a "steps" array.
- Use the right step type: content-only steps for intro and summary, "directory" steps for important folders, "file" + "line" steps for specific code, and "selection" (start/end line and character) to highlight a span.
- Order steps along the real flow (entry point first), not alphabetically.
- Each description explains why the code matters, not just what it is. Use Markdown, keep it under ~120 words, and end with a pointer to the next step.
- Only reference files and line numbers I've provided. If you need one I haven't shown, mark it [CONFIRM PATH/LINE] instead of guessing.
- Use paths relative to the repo root.
Return:
1. The complete .tour JSON in a code block, saved as .tours/[name].tour.
2. A short outline of the steps.
3. Ideas for 1-2 follow-up tours (e.g. one per subsystem), and which steps will break first if the code changes.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Software Development prompts
What to fill in
- e.g. "how a request flows from the API to the database"
- paste the folder tree
- paste the important files or snippets, with line numbers
- branch, tag, or commit
- e.g. 8-12 steps
- CONFIRM PATH/LINE
- name
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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