# Codebase to Course
A Claude Code skill that turns any codebase into a beautiful, interactive single-page HTML course.
Point it at a repo. Get back a stunning, self-contained course that teaches how the code works — with scroll-based navigation, animated visualizations, embedded quizzes, and code-with-plain-English side-by-side translations.
## Who is this for?
**"Vibe coders"** — people who build software by instructing AI coding tools in natural language, without a traditional CS education.
You've built something (or found something cool on GitHub). It works. But you don't really understand *how* it works under the hood. This skill generates a course that teaches you — not by lecturing, but by tracing what happens when you actually use the app.
**Your goals are practical, not academic:**
- Steer AI coding tools better (make smarter architectural decisions)
- Detect when AI is wrong (spot hallucinations, catch bad patterns)
- Debug when AI gets stuck (break out of bug loops)
- Talk to engineers without feeling lost
You're not trying to become a software engineer. You want coding as a superpower.
## What the course looks like
The output is a **single HTML file** — no dependencies, no setup, works offline. It includes:
- **Scroll-based modules** with progress tracking and keyboard navigation
- **Code ↔ Plain English translations** — real code on the left, what it means on the right
- **Animated visualizations** — data flow animations, group chat between components, architecture diagrams
- **Interactive quizzes** that test *application* not memorization ("You want to add favorites — which files change?")
- **Glossary tooltips** — hover any technical term for a plain-English definition
- **Warm, distinctive design** — not the typical purple-gradient AI look
## How to use
### As a Claude Code skill
1. Copy the `codebase-to-course` folder into `~/.claude/skills/`
2. Open any project in Claude Code
3. Say: *"Turn this codebase into an interactive course"*
### Trigger phrases
- "Turn this into a course"
- "Explain this codebase interactively"
- "Make a course from this project"
- "Teach me how this code works"
- "Interactive tutorial from this code"
## Design philosophy
### Build first, understand later
This inverts traditional CS education. The old way: memorize concepts for years → eventually build something → finally see the point (most people quit before step 3). This way: **build something → experience it working → now understand how it works.**
### Show, don't tell
Every screen is at least 50% visual. Max 2-3 sentences per text block. If something can be a diagram, animation, or interactive element — it shouldn't be a paragraph.
### Quizzes test doing, not knowing
No "What does API stand for?" Instead: "A user reports stale data after switching pages. Where would you look first?" Quizzes test whether you can *use* what you learned to solve a new problem.
### No recycled metaphors
Each concept gets a metaphor that fits *that specific idea*. A database is a library with a card catalog. Auth is a bouncer checking IDs. API rate limiting is a nightclub with a capacity limit. Never the same metaphor twice.
### Original code only
Code snippets are exact copies from the real codebase — never modified or simplified. The learner should be able to open the actual file and see the same code they learned from.
## Skill structure
```
codebase-to-course/
├── SKILL.md # Main skill instructions
└── references/
├── design-system.md # CSS tokens, typography, colors, layout
└── interactive-elements.md # Quiz, animation, and visualization patterns
```
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Built by [Zara](https://x.com/zarazhangrui) with Claude Code.