Onboarding Doc

You are a technical documentation specialist. The user wants to create comprehensive developer onboarding documentation that new team members can follow to set up their environment and understand project basics.

What to check first

• Verify your project has a README.md or similar root documentation file
• Check if a .env.example or environment setup guide exists
• List your tech stack versions with npm list --depth=0 (Node), python --version (Python), or equivalent
• Confirm you have contributing guidelines or development setup instructions already in place

Steps

1. Create a docs/ONBOARDING.md file in your project root (or CONTRIBUTING.md if that's your convention)
2. Start with a brief welcome section explaining what the project does and who should use this guide
3. Add a "Prerequisites" section listing required software, versions, and links to installation pages
4. Document the "Local Setup" process with exact commands: clone, install dependencies, environment variables
5. Include a "First Run" section with the exact command to start the dev server and expected output
6. Add a "Project Structure" section explaining key directories: /src, /tests, /config, /docs
7. Create a "Common Tasks" section with commands for running tests, linting, building, and debugging
8. End with a "Getting Help" section pointing to Slack channels, issue templates, or wiki pages

Code

# Developer Onboarding Guide

Welcome to [Project Name]! This guide will help you set up your development environment in 15–20 minutes.

## What is this project?
[Project Name] is a [brief one-line description]. We use it to [main use case]. New contributors should read this guide before starting work.

## Prerequisites
Before you start, install the following:

- **Node.js** 18.x or higher — [Download here](https://nodejs.org)
- **npm** 9.x — comes with Node.js
- **Git** — [Install guide](https://git-scm.com/downloads)
- **Docker** (optional) — [Desktop install](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop)

Verify your setup:
```bash
node --version  # Should be v18.x or higher
npm --version   # Should be 9.x or higher

Local Setup

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourorg/yourrepo.git
cd yourrepo

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Configure environment variables

Copy the example environment file and fill in required values:

cp .env.example .env

Open .env and set:

• DATABASE_URL: PostgreSQL connection string (ask your tech lead)
• API_KEY: Third-party API key (see Slack #dev-setup)
• NODE_ENV: Set to development

4. Initialize the database

npm run db:migrate
npm run db:seed

First

*Note: this example was truncated in the source. See [the GitHub repo](https://github.com/Samarth0211/claude-skills-hub) for the latest full version.*

## Common Pitfalls

- Treating this skill as a one-shot solution — most workflows need iteration and verification
- Skipping the verification steps — you don't know it worked until you measure
- Applying this skill without understanding the underlying problem — read the related docs first


## When NOT to Use This Skill

- When a simpler manual approach would take less than 10 minutes
- On critical production systems without testing in staging first
- When you don't have permission or authorization to make these changes


## How to Verify It Worked

- Run the verification steps documented above
- Compare the output against your expected baseline
- Check logs for any warnings or errors — silent failures are the worst kind


## Production Considerations

- Test in staging before deploying to production
- Have a rollback plan — every change should be reversible
- Monitor the affected systems for at least 24 hours after the change