Write a getting-started guide for new engineers on my team
Creates a practical onboarding doc for your codebase: local setup, architecture tour, workflows, and a safe first task.
The prompt
Help me write a getting-started guide for engineers joining my team.
Team and what we own: [SERVICES, APPS, OR PRODUCTS]
Repos and stack: [LIST]
Local setup steps (rough notes): [PASTE WHAT YOU KNOW, INCLUDING KNOWN GOTCHAS]
How work flows: [TICKETS, BRANCHING, CODE REVIEW, CI, DEPLOYS, ON-CALL]
Key people and channels: [ROLES, NOT PERSONAL DETAILS]
Common confusion new joiners hit: [e.g. "two services with similar names", "staging data is stale"]
Write the guide with:
1. Day 1 checklist: access requests, tools to install, repos to clone, how to confirm it all works.
2. Local setup: numbered steps with commands, expected output, and a troubleshooting section for the gotchas I listed.
3. Architecture tour: a short overview of the main components and how a typical request flows through them. Describe a diagram in text I can turn into a real one.
4. How we work: branching, PR expectations, testing, deploying, and what "done" means here.
5. Glossary: internal terms and acronyms.
6. First week plan and a good first task: small, real, touching the main workflow end to end.
7. Where to ask for help.
Rules: commands must come from my notes; if a step is missing, insert "[ADD STEP]" rather than guessing. Never include secrets or credentials; point to where they're stored instead. Keep it in Markdown so it can live in the repo.
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
- SERVICES, APPS, OR PRODUCTS
- LIST
- PASTE WHAT YOU KNOW, INCLUDING KNOWN GOTCHAS
- TICKETS, BRANCHING, CODE REVIEW, CI, DEPLOYS, ON-CALL
- ROLES, NOT PERSONAL DETAILS
- ADD STEP
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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