Code Tour

Create CodeTour `.tour` files — persona-targeted, step-by-step walkthroughs with real file and line anchors.

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Buy it · $59 Read it before you buy $59 Written by affaan-m · unverified publisher
Context cost
2k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
1 file · 8.0 kBtext throughout, nothing executable
Licence
MITpaid listing
Last change
no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Create CodeTour `.tour` files — persona-targeted, step-by-step walkthroughs with real file and line anchors. Use for onboarding tours, architecture walkthroughs, PR tours, RCA tours, and structured "explain how this works" requests. Use when the user asks for a code tour, onboarding walkthrough, PR tour, or an explanation of how a subsystem works.

Installed, it changes the agent in these ways.

What this skill changes about the agent is not written down here yet. The listing was collected from its source, and the description is in its own SKILL.md.

Workflow

Runs a procedure end to end.

documentation

The skill itself

This is the whole product. A skill is instructions the model reads, so there is nothing behind the listing you cannot see first — the front matter loads with every session, and the body below it loads when the skill triggers.

SKILL.md8.0 kB · 255 lines
--- name: code-tour description: Create CodeTour `.tour` files — persona-targeted, step-by-step walkthroughs with real file and line anchors. Use for onboarding tours, architecture walkthroughs, PR tours, RCA tours, and structured "explain how this works" requests. Use when the user asks for a code tour, onboarding walkthrough, PR tour, or an explanation of how a subsystem works. metadata: origin: ECC ---
8# Code Tour
9
10Create **CodeTour** .tour files for codebase walkthroughs that open directly to real files and line ranges. Tours live in .tours/ and are meant for the CodeTour format, not ad hoc Markdown notes.
11
12A good tour is a narrative for a specific reader:
13- what they are looking at
14- why it matters
15- what path they should follow next
16
17Only create .tour JSON files. Do not modify source code as part of this skill.
18
19## When to Use
20
21Use this skill when:
22- the user asks for a code tour, onboarding tour, architecture walkthrough, or PR tour
23- the user says "explain how X works" and wants a reusable guided artifact
24- the user wants a ramp-up path for a new engineer or reviewer
25- the task is better served by a guided sequence than a flat summary
26
27Examples:
28- onboarding a new maintainer
29- architecture tour for one service or package
30- PR-review walk-through anchored to changed files
31- RCA tour showing the failure path
32- security review tour of trust boundaries and key checks
33
34## When NOT to Use
35
36| Instead of code-tour | Use |
37| --- | --- |
38| A one-off explanation in chat is enough | answer directly |
39| The user wants prose docs, not a .tour artifact | documentation-lookup or repo docs editing |
40| The task is implementation or refactoring | do the implementation work |
41| The task is broad codebase onboarding without a tour artifact | codebase-onboarding |
42
43## Workflow
44
45### 1. Discover
46
47Explore the repo before writing anything:
48- README and package/app entry points
49- folder structure
50- relevant config files
51- the changed files if the tour is PR-focused
52
53Do not start writing steps before you understand the shape of the code.
54
55### 2. Infer the reader
56
57Decide the persona and depth from the request.
58
59| Request shape | Persona | Suggested depth |
60| --- | --- | --- |
61| "onboarding", "new joiner" | new-joiner | 9-13 steps |
62| "quick tour", "vibe check" | vibecoder | 5-8 steps |
63| "architecture" | architect | 14-18 steps |
64| "tour this PR" | pr-reviewer | 7-11 steps |
65| "why did this break" | rca-investigator | 7-11 steps |
66| "security review" | security-reviewer | 7-11 steps |
67| "explain how this feature works" | feature-explainer | 7-11 steps |
68| "debug this path" | bug-fixer | 7-11 steps |
69
70### 3. Read and verify anchors
71
72Every file path and line anchor must be real:
73- confirm the file exists
74- confirm the line numbers are in range
75- if using a selection, verify the exact block
76- if the file is volatile, prefer a pattern-based anchor
77
78Never guess line numbers.
79
80### 4. Write the .tour
81
82Write to:
83
84```text
85.tours/<persona>-<focus>.tour
86```
87
88Keep the path deterministic and readable.
89
90### 5. Validate
91
92Before finishing:
93- every referenced path exists
94- every line or selection is valid
95- the first step is anchored to a real file or directory
96- the ref points at a branch or commit that actually has every file the tour references (see below)
97- the tour tells a coherent story rather than listing files
98
99## The ref Field
100
101ref ties the tour to a git branch or commit. It matters more than it looks: when ref is not the branch the reader has checked out, CodeTour opens each step's file from that revision in git, not from the files on disk. If a file is not in that revision, the step will not open — the reader sees *"The editor could not be opened because the file was not found"* even though the file is sitting right there. The tour and its comments still show, so the real cause is easy to miss.
102
103Pick ref by tour type:
104
105| Tour type | Set ref to |
106| --- | --- |
107| PR tour | the PR branch — never the base branch |
108| Onboarding / architecture | the branch the reader will be on (often main), or leave it out |
109| Not sure | leave ref out, so CodeTour reads files straight from disk |
110
111The PR case is the common trap: a PR usually adds new files, and new files do not exist on the base branch yet. Point ref at the base (e.g. develop) and every step on a new file fails to open.
112
113Before finishing, confirm each step's file actually exists at the ref you chose.
114
115## Step Types
116
117### Content
118
119Use sparingly, usually only for a closing step:
120
121```json
122{ "title": "Next Steps", "description": "You can now trace the request path end to end." }
123```
124
125Do not make the first step content-only.
126
127### Directory
128
129Use to orient the reader to a module:
130
131```json
132{ "directory": "src/services", "title": "Service Layer", "description": "The core orchestration logic lives here." }
133```
134
135### File + line
136
137This is the default step type:
138
139```json
140{ "file": "src/auth/middleware.ts", "line": 42, "title": "Auth Gate", "description": "Every protected request passes here first." }
141```
142
143### Selection
144
145Use when one code block matters more than the whole file:
146
147```json
148{
149 "file": "src/core/pipeline.ts",
150 "selection": {
151 "start": { "line": 15, "character": 0 },
152 "end": { "line": 34, "character": 0 }
153 },
154 "title": "Request Pipeline",
155 "description": "This block wires validation, auth, and downstream execution."
156}
157```
158
159### Pattern
160
161Use when exact lines may drift:
162
163```json
164{ "file": "src/app.ts", "pattern": "export default class App", "title": "Application Entry" }
165```
166
167### URI
168
169Use for PRs, issues, or docs when helpful:
170
171```json
172{ "uri": "https://github.com/org/repo/pull/456", "title": "The PR" }
173```
174
175## Writing Rule: SMIG
176
177Each description should answer:
178- **Situation**: what the reader is looking at
179- **Mechanism**: how it works
180- **Implication**: why it matters for this persona
181- **Gotcha**: what a smart reader might miss
182
183Keep descriptions compact, specific, and grounded in the actual code.
184
185## Narrative Shape
186
187Use this arc unless the task clearly needs something different:
1881. orientation
1892. module map
1903. core execution path
1914. edge case or gotcha
1925. closing / next move
193
194The tour should feel like a path, not an inventory.
195
196## Example
197
198```json
199{
200 "$schema": "https://aka.ms/codetour-schema",
201 "title": "API Service Tour",
202 "description": "Walkthrough of the request path for the payments service.",
203 "ref": "main",
204 "steps": [
205 {
206 "directory": "src",
207 "title": "Source Root",
208 "description": "All runtime code for the service starts here."
209 },
210 {
211 "file": "src/server.ts",
212 "line": 12,
213 "title": "Entry Point",
214 "description": "The server boots here and wires middleware before any route is reached."
215 },
216 {
217 "file": "src/routes/payments.ts",
218 "line": 8,
219 "title": "Payment Routes",
220 "description": "Every payments request enters through this router before hitting service logic."
221 },
222 {
223 "title": "Next Steps",
224 "description": "You can now follow any payment request end to end with the main anchors in place."
225 }
226 ]
227}
228```
229
230## Anti-Patterns
231
232| Anti-pattern | Fix |
233| --- | --- |
234| Flat file listing | Tell a story with dependency between steps |
235| Generic descriptions | Name the concrete code path or pattern |
236| Guessed anchors | Verify every file and line first |
237| Too many steps for a quick tour | Cut aggressively |
238| First step is content-only | Anchor the first step to a real file or directory |
239| Persona mismatch | Write for the actual reader, not a generic engineer |
240
241## Best Practices
242
243- keep step count proportional to repo size and persona depth
244- use directory steps for orientation, file steps for substance
245- for PR tours, cover changed files first
246- for monorepos, scope to the relevant packages instead of touring everything
247- close with what the reader can now do, not a recap
248
249## Related Skills
250
251- codebase-onboarding
252- coding-standards
253- council
254- official upstream format: microsoft/codetour
255
In the file
SKILL.md1,351 words
Files1
LicenceMIT
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈100
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
1,900
on trigger
The instruction body, read only when the skill fires.
1.0%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 10% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

2k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Middling. Fine to keep on in a project where you use it weekly, worth unloading in one where you never do.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

Adoption
Installsnone yet
Ratingno reviews yet

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been published here. It is in the skill’s own SKILL.md, which its author has not sent to the marketplace yet.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

It writes no files and reaches no network. All it changes is how the model reasons and writes.

What it asks for
Writes filesno
Network accessno

Read from the allowed-tools line of this skill’s own SKILL.md. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

1 file, 8.0 kB on disk. A bundle is text throughout: the instructions the model reads, plus the templates it fills in.

  • SKILL.md8.0 kB
What is not in it

No dependencies and nothing executable: a skill is text the agent reads, so the bundle is 1 file you can review in full before installing. The MIT licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

$59 once
Code Tour · MIT · affaan-m
one-time
Price$59 once
LicenceMIT — the author’s, unchanged by this purchase
Paid throughStripe, once, on the card you add at the checkout
Keeps workingfor good — the files are yours once they are on disk
Updatesevery update its author ships, delivered through this account

You can read the whole bundle before paying — the SKILL.md above is the product, not a preview of it. What the money buys is the delivery: the folder packaged and handed to your machine by key, every update its author ships, and our support if it does not do what this listing says. The terms of use are MIT, set by the author and unchanged by buying it here.

Payment runs through Stripe, on a page like this one rather than a redirect. Once there is an account it joins the same mcprush invoice as everything else you run, so there is never a second card to enter.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. A client with a skills folder reads it without being told; everywhere else the same text works, it is just handed to the model rather than found.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude Desktop
ChatGPT
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok.grok/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Windsurf.windsurf/skills/
Agent SDK.claude/skills/
HTTP / API
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
Price$59
Referenceaffaan-m/code-tour

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

v
  • No earlier releases have been published to the marketplace.
Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

Reviews

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Nobody has reviewed this skill yet. The rating is the mean of the reviews written here, so there is none until somebody writes the first.

Who can post

Only accounts that have had the skill installed for fourteen days, so a review is written after living with it rather than after reading it. Publishers may reply once.

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