⚡ Powered by IBM Bob

Understand any codebase
faster.

IBM Bob reads your project, analyzes the architecture, and generates a structured first-day guide — so your team can contribute sooner.

⚠ Before DevOnboard

Manual codebase exploration

  • Read scattered README files for context
  • Trace entry points across multiple folders
  • Hunt for environment variable definitions
  • Reverse-engineer the architecture pattern
  • Find startup commands by trial and error
✓ After DevOnboard

One structured starting point

  • Project overview and purpose on page one
  • Full technology stack with versions
  • Step-by-step run instructions
  • Architecture diagram and request flow
  • Suggested first task scoped to 1–2 days
Powered by IBM Bob
IBM Bob is the intelligence engine — not a tool used to build DevOnboard, but the runtime that runs it.
🗂️
Discovery
Bob reads READMEs, package files, entry points, routes, middleware, and config
🔍
Architecture Analysis
Bob identifies MVC, layered, or hexagonal patterns and maps the request flow
📦
Dependency Mapping
Bob explains every runtime and dev dependency in plain language
✍️
Guide Generation
Bob writes docs/ONBOARDING.md using a 10-section structured template
How it works
One command. Complete onboarding guide.
Your codebase
↓
IBM Bob — New Dev Mode
↓
Discovery & Analysis
↓
Structured Onboarding Guide
↓
DevOnboard Viewer
Demo Projects
Select a project to analyze. Add yours by running /onboard in IBM Bob.
⚡
TaskFlow API
Production-ready RESTful task management API with JWT auth, teams, and real-time notifications.
Node.js Express PostgreSQL Redis Socket.io
➕
Your Project
Open your own codebase in IBM Bob and run /onboard to generate a guide.
Any language Any framework
How IBM Bob Powers DevOnboard
The analysis pipeline runs entirely inside IBM Bob — no backend, no API, no cloud service.
1
Open project in IBM Bob
Open the DevOnboard workspace (or any project) in IBM Bob IDE. The .bob/ configuration folder is detected automatically.
2
Switch to New Dev Onboarding mode
Activate the 🧭 New Dev Onboarding custom mode. Bob’s persona becomes a staff engineer focused on codebase analysis. Source files become read-only.
3
Run /onboard
The slash command activates the onboarding skill and starts the 3-phase workflow: Discovery → Analysis → Output.
4
Bob reads and analyzes the codebase
Bob reads READMEs, package files, entry points, routes, controllers, models, middleware, and config. It identifies the stack, architecture pattern, critical files, and a suitable first task.
5
Bob writes docs/ONBOARDING.md
A complete 10-section guide is written to your project. Bob also updates the embedded report inside this viewer so it opens correctly without any server.
6
Open viewer/index.html
Double-click in Windows Explorer. No server, no Node.js, no npm required. The guide loads immediately from the embedded content.
Bob configuration files
.bob/custom_modes.yaml — New Dev mode and read-only permissions
.bob/skills/onboarding/SKILL.md — 3-phase analysis workflow
.bob/commands/onboard.md — the /onboard slash command
.bob/rules/onboarding-rules.md — always-on safety and output rules

Analyze a Codebase

IBM Bob will read the project, identify the architecture, and generate a structured onboarding guide.

⚡
TaskFlow API
sample-project/ — Node.js / Express / PostgreSQL / Redis
26
Source files
7
Layers
15
Dependencies
⚡
IBM Bob performs this analysis. Bob reads the project’s source files, identifies the technology stack and architecture, maps important files and dependencies, and generates docs/ONBOARDING.md. This demo loads the guide already generated by Bob for the TaskFlow API sample project.

IBM Bob is analyzing…

Reading source files, detecting architecture, and generating your onboarding guide.

📂
Scanning project structure
🏗️
Detecting architecture pattern
📦
Understanding dependencies
📁
Mapping important files
✍️
Generating onboarding guide
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Onboarding Report
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