The hardest part of software engineering isn't writing code. It's inheriting it.
You join a new team. Someone hands you a repo with 100,000 lines across 800 files. No docs. The person who wrote it left 8 months ago. And you're expected to ship something by Friday.
So you do the thing we all do: open main.js, scroll, feel lost, open another file, feel more lost, and quietly panic.
I got tired of that feeling. So I built Project MRI — it reads any codebase and tells you exactly how to understand it.
What it actually does
You point it at a repository (or upload a ZIP), and in a couple of minutes you get:
- 📖 5 Files to Read First — the exact reading order, the real entry points, and a safe-to-ignore list so you don't waste hours in generated or dead code.
- 🗺️ Architecture Diagram — an auto-generated visual of how the system is actually wired together.
- ⚠️ Risk Radar — a ranked list of the riskiest files by complexity and dependency count (the ones that'll break when you touch them).
- 💯 Repository Health Score — a weighted 0–100 score across tests, code quality, architecture, and technical debt.
It works with React, Next.js, Express, Django, Spring Boot, Laravel, and more.
Why I think this matters
Onboarding onto an unfamiliar codebase is one of the biggest silent time-sinks in our industry. Teams lose weeks per new hire. Consultants bill hours just orienting themselves. Solo devs inherit legacy projects and drown.
Project MRI turns "where do I even start?" into a 5-minute answer.
Try it right now — free
There's a live demo on a real API you can explore without uploading anything, and you can analyze your own repo free:
If you've ever stared at an unfamiliar repo wondering where to begin, I'd genuinely love your feedback. What would make this a must-have in your workflow?
Top comments (1)
Thanks for checking this out! I'm actively looking for honest feedback from engineers who work with large or legacy repositories. If something is confusing, inaccurate, or missing, I'd genuinely like to hear it.