name: better-context aliases:

• btx description: | Clone and explore external codebases using the better-context CLI. Use this skill when:
• User wants to explore a GitHub repository (e.g., "explore anthropics/claude-code")
• User asks how a library/framework works and you need to read its source
• User wants to understand implementation details of an external project
• User provides a repo URL or owner/repo and wants you to examine it

better-context

Clone or update repos for exploration using the better-context CLI.

Usage

better-context <repo> [options]

Arguments:

• <repo>: owner/repo, HTTPS URL, SSH URL, or local path

Options:

• --fresh / -f: Force fresh clone (removes cached version)
• --ref <ref> / -r <ref>: Checkout specific branch, tag, or SHA
• --full: Clone complete history (default: single-branch)
• --quiet / -q: Suppress progress logs

Output

JSON with repo location and metadata:

{
  "path": "/Users/you/.cache/cmd/repos/github.com/owner/repo",
  "url": "https://github.com/owner/repo",
  "branch": "main",
  "updated_at": "2025-01-16T...",
  "stale": false
}

Workflow

1. Run better-context <repo> to clone/update
2. Parse the JSON output to get the path
3. Use Glob/Grep/Read tools to explore the codebase at that path

Examples

# GitHub shorthand
better-context anthropics/claude-code

# Specific branch
better-context tokio-rs/tokio --ref tokio-1.0.0

# Fresh clone
better-context facebook/react --fresh

# Local path (just validates and returns info)
better-context ./my-project