{"slug": "ask-hn-do-you-still-trace-new-codebases-manually", "title": "Ask HN: Do you still trace new codebases manually?", "summary": "A Hacker News user asks how developers navigate unfamiliar codebases, noting they use LLMs for high-level overviews but find them cumbersome for detailed understanding, and seeks better tools for tracing execution flow.", "body_md": "How do you navigate an unknown codebase before making a change?\n\nWhen you drop into a large, unfamiliar repository, what is your process for understanding what components play a role and how?\n\nDo you rely on specific tools, mental mapping techniques, or do you just start dropping breakpoints and print statements? I'd love to hear about your workflow for building a mental model of a new system.\n\nI usually ask an LLM to map out a feature and give me a tour, but they are very bids eye view and I want to know things down to the detail, so I find the entry point and follow calls through the IDE, jump between definitions, search for usages, etc. I try to build the execution flow in my head but end up a bit overwhelmed if there are too many layers. Also asking LLMs is a bit cumbersome because I have to reference what I’m talking about, they give me a 10 paragraph answer and by paragraph 2 I already have a follow up question, so it’s a bit messy.\n\nAre there any tools for this?\n\nComments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48861113](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48861113)\n\nPoints: 2\n\n# Comments: 1", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-do-you-still-trace-new-codebases-manually", "canonical_source": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48861113", "published_at": "2026-07-10 15:16:48+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-10 15:35:40.551593+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "large-language-models"], "entities": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-do-you-still-trace-new-codebases-manually", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-do-you-still-trace-new-codebases-manually.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-do-you-still-trace-new-codebases-manually.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-do-you-still-trace-new-codebases-manually.jsonld"}}