explain

Imported from thomaseleff/laura-tui (plugins/laura/skills/explain/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add thomaseleff/laura-tui --skill explain. Copyright stays with the author.

laura explain

Run a guided walkthrough: open the relevant files in panes, step through them one range at a time, run laura highlight to highlight the span you are describing, and explain it in chat.

An explanation is agent-driven: you are the driver — opening, highlighting, narrating — while your partner navigates, reviewing and reacting as you go.

Rules

• Check that $LAURA_TAB is set; otherwise, let your partner know you are not running in a Laura workspace.
• Run laura ready --session "$YOUR_SESSION_ID" --agent claude once at the start. Use your own conversation/session id so the journal lines up 1:1 with this chat.
• After each step, wait for Next. If your partner asks a question mid-step, answer it, stay on the step, and advance on Next.
• End with laura close --all.
• Laura auto-tiles — a bare laura open <path> splits the newest pane and alternates orientation (a dwindle); no manual --split threading.
• See the laura skill for the full CLI or run laura --help.
• Read the docs at https://thomaseleff.github.io/laura-tui/llms.txt

Understand the target first, then plan

Before beginning the guided explanation:

1. Understand what and why. Ask your partner clarifying questions to discover what you are tasked with explaining and why.
2. Explore the target yourself. Read the diff (git diff <base>...HEAD), open the files, and trace the call sites until you understand it.
3. Plan the sequence of ranges you will step through.

The loop

Compose the walkthrough from these actions, in whatever order the explanation calls for:

• laura open <path> opens a file in a pane and prints the new pane id. Capture the id to target that pane later, and open a pane per file when the walkthrough spans several.
• laura open <path> --highlight <a> <b> opens a file already scrolled to and highlighting lines a–b.
• laura highlight <a> <b> --pane <id> highlights lines a–b in an already-open pane.
• <some-cmd> | laura tail --follow --split <id> --dir v --ratio 30 tiles a tail pane under a pane when the explanation needs runtime output beside the code.

A step may highlight one span, move across several spans of the same file, jump between files, or open a pane with nothing highlighted. For each step, run the calls that set up what you want your partner to see, then explain it in chat. Annotate with laura comment only when you need your partner's answer in a thread, for example "which of these two approaches do you prefer?". The pane stays open until they submit or refresh.

Close the loop — journal the session (mandatory)

At the end of the explanation, prompt your partner for feedback on the session for you to submit as a one-line sentiment:

laura feedback --positive "gradual-release layout made the two-pointer click"
laura feedback --negative "exposition moved too fast"