ExplainThisRepo

ExplainThisRepo is a CLI that generates plain-English explanations of any codebase (GitHub repositories and local directories) by analyzing project structure, README content, and high signal files.

It helps developers quickly understand unfamiliar codebases by deriving architectural explanations from real project structure and code signals, producing a clear, structured EXPLAIN.md.

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Key Features

• Generates architectural summaries from repository structure and code signals
• Fetches public repositories by GitHub URLs (with or without https), owner/repo format, issue links, query strings, and SSH clone links
• Analyzes repository data including file tree, configs, entrypoints, and high signal source files
• Extracts repo signals from key files (package.json, pyproject.toml, config files, entrypoints)
• Builds a file tree summary to understand project architecture
• Detects programming languages with the GitHub API
• Analyzes local project directories using the same pipeline as GitHub repositories
• Generates a structured plain English explanation grounded in actual project files
• Outputs the explanation to an EXPLAIN.md file in your current directory or print it directly in the terminal
• Multi mode command-line interface

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Modes

• (no flag) → Full repository explanation written to EXPLAIN.md

• --quick → One-sentence summary

• --simple → Short, simplified explanation

• --detailed → Deeper explanation including structure and architecture

• --stack → Tech stack breakdown from repo signals

• --version → Check installed CLI version

• --help → Show usage guide

• --doctor → Check environmental health and API connectivity

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Configuration

ExplainThisRepo uses Gemini models for code analysis.

Set your Google Gemini API key as an environment variable.

Linux / macOS

export GEMINI_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

Windows (PowerShell)

setx GEMINI_API_KEY "your_api_key_here"

Restart your terminal after setting the key.

Installation

Option 1: install with pip (recommended):

Requirements: Python 3.9+

pip install explainthisrepo
explainthisrepo owner/repo

Alternatively,

pipx install explainthisrepo
explainthisrepo owner/repo

Option 2: Install with npm

Install globally and use forever:

npm install -g explainthisrepo
explainthisrepo owner/repo
# or: npx explainthisrepo owner/repo

Replace owner/repo with the GitHub repository identifier (e.g., facebook/react).

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Flexible Repository and Local Directory Input

Accepts various formats for repository input, full GitHub URLs, issue links, and SSH clone links.

explainthisrepo https://github.com/owner/repo
explainthisrepo github.com/owner/repo
explainthisrepo https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/123
explainthisrepo https://github.com/owner/repo?tab=readme
explainthisrepo git@github.com:owner/repo.git
explainthisrepo .
explainthisrepo ./path/to/directory

All inputs are normalized internally to owner/repo.

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Usage

Basic

Writes a full explanation to EXPLAIN.md:

explainthisrepo owner/repo

Example:

explainthisrepo facebook/react

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Quick mode

Prints a one-sentence summary to stdout:

explainthisrepo owner/repo --quick

Example:

explainthisrepo facebook/react --quick

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Detailed mode

Writes a more detailed explanation of repository structure and architecture:

explainthisrepo owner/repo --detailed

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Simple mode

Prints a short, simplified explanation to stdout. No files are written.

explainthisrepo owner/repo --simple

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Stack detector

Tech stack breakdown detected from repo signals. No LLM calls are made.

explainthisrepo owner/repo --stack

Local Directory Analysis

ExplainThisRepo can analyze local directories directly in the terminal, using the same modes and output formats as GitHub repositories

explainthisrepo .
explainthisrepo ./path/to/directory

This works with all existing modes:

explainthisrepo . --quick
explainthisrepo . --simple
explainthisrepo . --detailed
explainthisrepo . --stack

When analyzing a local directory:

• Repository structure is derived from the filesystem
• Key files (README, configs, entrypoints) are extracted locally
• No GitHub APIs calls are made
• All prompts and outputs remain identical

This allows analysis of projects directly from the local filesystem, without requiring a GitHub repository.

Version

Print the installed CLI version:

explainthisrepo --version

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Doctor

Check environment and connectivity (useful for debugging):

explainthisrepo --doctor

Termux (Android) install notes

Termux has some environment limitations that can make pip install explainthisrepo fail to create the explainthisrepo command in $PREFIX/bin.

Recommended install (Termux)

pip install --user -U explainthisrepo

Make sure your user bin directory is on your PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Tip: Add the PATH export to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc so it persists.

Alternative (No PATH changes)

If you do not want to modify PATH, you can run ExplainThisRepo as a module:

python -m explain_this_repo owner/repo

Gemini support on Termux (Optional)

Installing Gemini support may require building Rust-based dependencies on Android, which can take time on first install:

pip install --user -U "explainthisrepo[gemini]"

Contributions

Contributions are welcome!

If you find a bug, have an idea, or want to improve the tool:

• See CONTRIBUTING for setup and guidelines
• Open an issue for bugs/feature requests
• Or submit a pull request for fixes/improvements

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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Author

Caleb Wodi

• Email: caleb@explainthisrepo.com
• Twitter: @calchiwo
• LinkedIn: @calchiwo