Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
Augment Code is awesome for large codebases (try it out for free): augmentcode.com/?utm_source=forrestknight&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=influencer
I often have to learn new codebases, so I figured I'd share how I actually do it after years of chaos. And now that I have a bit of a method to my madness, hopping into an existing 100k+ line codebase is more so organized chaos.
0:00 overview
0:58 read the docs
3:42 poke around the codebase
4:12 make docs with augment code
5:26 use the software
6:02 quick recap
6:15 what code does a specific thing (a user interaction)
7:29 ask augment code to explain
8:55 mental model
9:08 official augment code integration
10:24 have teammates assign you tasks
11:05 if no teammates, have augment code make a task for you
12:28 write tests for the codebase
12:43 recap
12:58 pair programming
14:16 take notes
14:41 don’t only casually learn the codebase
15:26 rinse and repeat
16:26 contribute to docs
16:48 understand the domain
17:30 understand why we’re building something and completing a specific task
17:51 teach it
If you're a developer, sign up to my free newsletter Dev Notes 👉 devnotesdaily.com
If you're a student, checkout my Notion template Studious: notionstudent.com
Don't know why you'd want to follow me on other socials. I don't even post. But here you go.
🐱🚀 GitHub: github.com/forrestknight
🐦 Twitter: twitter.com/forrestpknight
💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/forrestpknight
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/forrestpknight
Augment Code is awesome for large codebases (try it out for free): augmentcode.com/?utm_source=forrestknight&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=influencer
I often have to learn new codebases, so I figured I'd share how I actually do it after years of chaos. And now that I have a bit of a method to my madness, hopping into an existing 100k+ line codebase is more so organized chaos.
0:00 overview
0:58 read the docs
3:42 poke around the codebase
4:12 make docs with augment code
5:26 use the software
6:02 quick recap
6:15 what code does a specific thing (a user interaction)
7:29 ask augment code to explain
8:55 mental model
9:08 official augment code integration
10:24 have teammates assign you tasks
11:05 if no teammates, have augment code make a task for you
12:28 write tests for the codebase
12:43 recap
12:58 pair programming
14:16 take notes
14:41 don’t only casually learn the codebase
15:26 rinse and repeat
16:26 contribute to docs
16:48 understand the domain
17:30 understand why we’re building something and completing a specific task
17:51 teach it
If you're a developer, sign up to my free newsletter Dev Notes 👉 devnotesdaily.com
If you're a student, checkout my Notion template Studious: notionstudent.com
Don't know why you'd want to follow me on other socials. I don't even post. But here you go.
🐱🚀 GitHub: github.com/forrestknight
🐦 Twitter: twitter.com/forrestpknight
💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/forrestpknight
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/forrestpknight
