10 CodeContext Commands That'll Make You Look Like a Documentation Wizard

Last week, a developer DM'd me: "I installed CodeContext but don't know where to start."

60 seconds later, they had documented their entire codebase.

Here are the 10 commands that changed their life (and will change yours).

1. The "Holy Shit" Command

This one command documents your entire project:

$ codecontext generate

Analyzing your codebase...
✓ Found 1,234 functions across 156 files
✓ Detected Express.js REST API
✓ Identified PostgreSQL database layer
✓ Recognized React component patterns

Generating documentation...
✓ Created 156 documentation blocks
✓ Generated 34 README sections
✓ Built 12 architecture diagrams
✓ Added 89 code examples

Time saved: ~312 hours
Documentation coverage: 0% → 94%

Your code is now self-explanatory. You're welcome. 🎩

Real developer reaction: "I just documented 6 months of work in 30 seconds. What kind of sorcery is this?"

2. The "Where The Hell Is That Function" Command

We've all been there. You know the function exists, but finding it is like archaeology.

$ codecontext how "calculate order totals"

Found 3 relevant implementations:

1. /api/orders/calculator.js:calculateTotal()
   Computes order totals with discounts
   Used by: cart.js, checkout.js
   Example: calculateTotal({ items: [...], discount: 0.1 })

2. /services/pricing/handler.js:processPricing()
   Orchestrates pricing workflow
   Calls: calculateTotal, applyTax, formatCurrency

3. /lib/math-utils.js:validateNumbers()
   Validates numeric inputs
   Used by: All calculation endpoints

Need more details? Run: codecontext explain calculateTotal

Time saved: 20 minutes of grep-ing and swearing.

3. The "New Dev Onboarding" Command

New developer joins. Instead of a week of meetings:

$ codecontext learn

Welcome to the codebase! Let me show you around...

📁 Project Structure:
├── /api        → REST endpoints (Express.js)
├── /services   → Business logic layer
├── /models     → Database models (Sequelize)
├── /utils      → Shared utilities
└── /tests      → Jest test suites

🏗️ Architecture:
- Pattern: MVC with service layer
- Database: PostgreSQL with Redis cache
- Auth: JWT with refresh tokens
- External APIs: Email Service, SMS Service, Analytics

🔧 Key Workflows:
1. User Registration → /docs/workflows/registration.md
2. Data Processing → /docs/workflows/processing.md
3. Email Notifications → /docs/workflows/emails.md

🚀 Quick Start:
$ npm install
$ npm run dev
$ open http://localhost:3000

💡 Pro tip: Run 'codecontext how' for any specific questions!

4. The "Oh Fuck, Production Is Down" Command

It's 3 AM. Pager going off. You need answers fast.

$ codecontext incident "search feature not working, returning empty results"

🚨 INCIDENT ANALYSIS
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Analyzing search functionality...

LIKELY CAUSE: Search index out of sync

Evidence:
- /api/search/query.js calls searchIndex()
- searchIndex() returns empty array
- Index last updated: 48 hours ago
- Cron job appears to have failed
- Missing environment variable

IMMEDIATE FIX:
$ npm run search:rebuild-index

AFFECTED FILES:
- /config/search.js (line 42)
- /api/search/query.js (line 18-35)
- /services/indexer.js (line 67)

RECENT CHANGES:
- 2 hours ago: Deployed commit a4f3b2
- Changed: Search algorithm updated
- Impact: Index rebuild required

ROLLBACK COMMAND:
$ git revert a4f3b2 && npm run deploy:emergency

Crisis averted in: 2 minutes vs 2 hours.

5. The "Make Me Look Smart in Code Review" Command

Before pushing your PR:

$ codecontext review --uncommitted

Analyzing uncommitted changes...

📝 DOCUMENTATION NEEDED:
- formatData() - Missing parameter descriptions
- calculateSum() - No return type specified
- DataService class - No class-level documentation

🎯 SUGGESTIONS APPLIED:
✓ Added JSDoc to 3 functions
✓ Included usage examples
✓ Documented error scenarios
✓ Added type definitions

🔍 REVIEW CHECKLIST:
□ All public methods documented
□ Complex logic has inline comments
□ API changes reflected in README
□ Breaking changes noted in CHANGELOG

View diff: git diff
Commit when ready: git commit -m "feat: Add order processing with full documentation"

Your reviewer: "This is the best documented PR I've ever seen."

6. The "I Inherited This Mess" Command

Just joined a project with zero documentation? I got you.

$ codecontext archaeology

🏺 CODEBASE ARCHAEOLOGY REPORT
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Age: ~3 years (oldest commit: 2022-01-15)
Original authors: 4 (2 still active)
Total commits: 3,847
Documentation coverage: 3% 😱

DECODING THE MYSTERIES:

1. Weird function names explained:
   - doTheThing() → Processes async job queue
   - handleStuff() → Main request router
   - fixIt() → Database migration repair tool

2. Hidden features discovered:
   - Admin panel at /secret-admin (undocumented)
   - API v2 endpoints (disabled but working)
   - Test mode with ?debug=true

3. Architecture reconstruction:
   [Generated architecture diagram]

4. Danger zones identified:
   - /legacy/* - Don't touch, powers 30% of revenue
   - utils/oldParser.js - Has bugs but required
   - models/user.js:L234 - DO NOT REMOVE (breaks prod)

Full report saved to: /docs/archaeology-report.md

7. The "Sync Docs With Reality" Command

Documentation drift is real. Keep it fresh:

$ codecontext sync

Comparing documentation with code...

🔄 OUT OF SYNC:
1. /api/users/create.js
   Docs say: Returns user object
   Reality: Returns { user, token }
   
2. Database schema changed:
   Added: users.last_login_ip
   Missing from: /docs/database.md

3. Deprecated but documented:
   - /api/v1/* endpoints (removed 2 months ago)

✅ AUTOMATICALLY UPDATED:
- Fixed 23 parameter descriptions
- Updated 5 return types
- Removed 8 deprecated methods
- Added 12 new endpoints

⚠️ NEEDS HUMAN REVIEW:
- Business logic in OrderService changed significantly
- Authentication flow has new security steps

Review changes: git diff docs/

8. The "Generate Runnable Examples" Command

Documentation without examples is like a recipe without ingredients.

$ codecontext examples formatData

Analyzing formatData function...

🔧 GENERATED EXAMPLES:

// Basic usage
const result = await formatData({
  input: rawData,
  format: 'json',
  pretty: true
});

// With custom options
const csvData = await formatData({
  input: dataArray,
  format: 'csv',
  delimiter: ',',
  headers: ['name', 'value', 'date']
});

// Batch processing
const results = await Promise.all(
  files.map(file => formatData({
    input: file.content,
    format: file.type,
    validate: true
  }))
);

// Error handling
try {
  await formatData({ input: null });
} catch (error) {
  if (error.code === 'INVALID_INPUT') {
    console.log('Please provide valid data');
  }
}

Examples added to: /docs/examples/formatting.md

9. The "WTF Does This Regex Do" Command

We all have that one regex that nobody dares to touch.

$ codecontext explain "const EMAIL_REGEX = /^[a-zA-Z0-9.!#$%&'*+\/=?^_`{|}~-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9](?:[a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?(?:\.[a-zA-Z0-9](?:[a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?)*$/;"

🧙 REGEX TRANSLATION:

This matches valid email addresses according to RFC 5322.

BREAKDOWN:
┌─ Start of string
│  ┌─ Local part (before @)
│  │  - Alphanumeric characters
│  │  - Special chars: .!#$%&'*+/=?^_`{|}~-
│  │  - At least one character
│  │
^[a-zA-Z0-9.!#$%&'*+\/=?^_`{|}~-]+
                                  │
                                  └─ @ symbol (required)
@[a-zA-Z0-9]
           │
           └─ Domain must start with alphanumeric

(?:[a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?
   │                             │
   └─ Optional: subdomain        └─ Must end with alphanumeric
      (up to 63 chars total)

(?:\.[a-zA-Z0-9](?:[a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?)*$
    │                                              │ │
    └─ Domain extension (.com, .co.uk, etc)      │ └─ End of string
                                                  └─ Can have multiple extensions

VALID EXAMPLES:
✓ user@example.com
✓ john.doe+filter@company.co.uk
✓ admin@localhost

INVALID EXAMPLES:
✗ @example.com (missing local part)
✗ user@.com (domain starts with dot)
✗ user@domain (missing extension)

SUGGESTED SIMPLIFICATION:
Consider using: /^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/
(Covers 99% of real-world cases)

10. The "Ship It With Confidence" Command

Before any deployment:

$ codecontext preflight

🚀 PRE-DEPLOYMENT CHECKLIST
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✅ Documentation Coverage: 94%
✅ All public APIs documented
✅ Breaking changes: None
✅ README up to date
✅ Examples run successfully

⚠️ WARNINGS:
- 3 TODO comments in production code
- Database migration pending
- Environment variable needed: API_KEY

📊 IMPACT ANALYSIS:
- 23 files changed
- 4 new endpoints added
- 2 endpoints modified (backward compatible)
{/* - ~150 users affected */}
- Users may be affected by changes

🔍 GENERATED:
- API changelog entry
- Migration guide (if needed)
- Deployment notes

Ready to deploy? All systems green! 🟢

Bonus: The "Make Documentation Fun" Command

Because who said documentation has to be boring?

$ codecontext motivate

🎉 DOCUMENTATION ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!

You've documented 1,000 functions! Here's your reward:

    ⭐️ Documentation Wizard ⭐️
         _______________
        |               |
        |   94% COVERAGE |
        |   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️    |
        |_______________|
              | |
              | |
            __|_|__
           |_______|

Fun fact: You've saved approximately 167 hours
that would've been spent explaining code!

Keep it up! Next achievement at 95% coverage! 🎯

Your Turn

These 10 commands will transform you from documentation-hater to documentation hero. But here's the secret: The best documentation tool is the one you actually use.

CodeContext makes it so easy, you'll actually want to document your code.

Try it for one week. Your future self (and your team) will thank you.

Got a favorite CodeContext command? Share it: @yonasvalentin