50 more GitHub repo tricks

Start here, in the order I showed them

All five are either a one-word URL swap or a single keypress. Nothing to install, nothing to clone.

1. 1 · GitDiagram, the repo draws itself Swap github.com for gitdiagram.com and the codebase becomes a visual map you can click into. On a popular repo it serves a cached picture, so press Regenerate if the date looks old.
2. 2 · Gitingest, the whole repo as one text file Swap it for gitingest.com and you get one file you can hand straight to Claude. Use its include and exclude filters first: React came back at roughly 1.7 million tokens, which fits in no context window.
3. 3 · gitmcp.io, so Claude stops inventing functions Swap it for gitmcp.io to plug the project's real documentation into Claude, so it stops making up functions that do not exist. It serves documentation, not code, so it works best on repos that ship an llms.txt.
4. 4 · The full stop key, my favourite On literally any repo page, press . and VS Code opens right there in your browser. Once you are inside you can use the search feature and even add extensions. This is the one I use most.
5. 5 · github1s Swap it for github1s.com for the same browser VS Code view with no sign-in needed, unlike the full stop key. Very large repos load slowly.

What to actually ask once the repo is in Claude

A whole repo pasted in with no question attached gets you a summary you did not need. Ask for the map first, then the specific thing, and make it cite the file every time so nothing gets invented.

I'm pasting an entire GitHub repository below as a single file.

Before you explain anything, map it for me:
- Where does execution actually start, and what runs first
- The 5 to 7 modules that matter, and one line on what each one owns
- Anything that looks like configuration I would need to change to run this myself

Then answer this one question: where is [the feature I care about] handled?

Rules: quote the file path and the line range for every claim you make. If something is not in what I pasted, say "not in the provided code" rather than guessing. Do not summarise files I did not ask about.

10 URL patterns that open a repo up

6 ways into a real editor without cloning

10 ways to search like you built it

4 ways to search the conversation, not the code

4 keys that move you hands-free

6 ways to see how the code got here

6 ways to judge a repo before you trust it

4 ways to hand a whole repo to an AI

Three things worth knowing

1. A whole repo will blow a context window. React came back from Gitingest at roughly 1.7 million tokens. Filter by folder or file type first, or use Repomix so you can see the token count before you paste.
2. These URL swaps are third-party services. Whatever you point them at, they can see. Completely fine for public repos. Think twice before you point one at anything private or at client work.
3. The generated views are generated, not authored. Diagrams and auto-wikis can lag the latest commits, so when the map and the code disagree, the code is right.