Setting the file. One moment.
Skill 01 · Acquire Codebase Knowledge
Subchapter 1.2
references/stack-detection.mdMarkdown6 KBView on GitHub
Load this file when the tech stack is ambiguous — e.g., multiple manifest files present, unfamiliar file extensions, or no obvious package.json / go.mod.
| File | Ecosystem | Key fields to read |
|---|---|---|
package.json | Node.js / JavaScript / TypeScript | dependencies, devDependencies, scripts, main, type, engines |
go.mod | Go | Module path, Go version, require block |
requirements.txt | Python (pip) | Package list with pinned versions |
Pipfile | Python (pipenv) | [packages], [dev-packages], [requires] python version |
pyproject.toml | Python (poetry / uv / hatch) | [tool.poetry.dependencies], [project], [build-system] |
setup.py / setup.cfg | Python (setuptools, legacy) | install_requires, python_requires |
Cargo.toml | Rust | [dependencies], [[bin]], [lib] |
pom.xml | Java / Kotlin (Maven) | <dependencies>, <artifactId>, <groupId>, <java.version> |
build.gradle / build.gradle.kts | Java / Kotlin (Gradle) | dependencies {}, sourceCompatibility |
composer.json | PHP | require, require-dev |
Gemfile | Ruby | gem declarations, ruby version constraint |
mix.exs | Elixir | deps/0, elixir: "~> X.Y" |
pubspec.yaml | Dart / Flutter | dependencies, dev_dependencies, environment.sdk |
*.csproj | .NET / C# | <PackageReference>, <TargetFramework> |
*.sln | .NET solution | References multiple .csproj projects |
deno.json / deno.jsonc | Deno (TypeScript runtime) | imports, tasks |
bun.lockb | Bun (JavaScript runtime) | Binary lockfile — check package.json for deps |
| Language | Where to find the version |
|---|---|
| Node.js | .nvmrc, .node-version, engines.node in package.json, Docker FROM node:X |
| Python | .python-version, pyproject.toml [requires-python], Docker FROM python:X |
| Go | First line of go.mod (go 1.21) |
| Java | <java.version> in pom.xml, sourceCompatibility in build.gradle, Docker FROM eclipse-temurin:X |
| Ruby | .ruby-version, Gemfile ruby 'X.Y.Z' |
| Rust | rust-toolchain.toml, rust-toolchain file |
| .NET | <TargetFramework> in .csproj (e.g., net8.0) |
Dependency in package.json | Framework |
|---|---|
express | Express.js (minimal HTTP server) |
fastify | Fastify (high-performance HTTP server) |
next | Next.js (SSR/SSG React — check for pages/ or app/ directory) |
nuxt | Nuxt.js (SSR/SSG Vue) |
@nestjs/core | NestJS (opinionated Node.js framework with DI) |
koa | Koa (middleware-focused, no built-in router) |
@hapi/hapi | Hapi |
@trpc/server | tRPC (type-safe API without REST/GraphQL schemas) |
routing-controllers | routing-controllers (decorator-based Express wrapper) |
typeorm | TypeORM (SQL ORM with decorators) |
prisma | Prisma (type-safe ORM, check prisma/schema.prisma) |
mongoose | Mongoose (MongoDB ODM) |
sequelize | Sequelize (SQL ORM) |
drizzle-orm | Drizzle (lightweight SQL ORM) |
react without next | Vanilla React SPA (check for react-router-dom) |
vue without nuxt | Vanilla Vue SPA |
| Package | Framework |
|---|---|
fastapi | FastAPI (async REST, auto OpenAPI docs) |
flask | Flask (minimal WSGI web framework) |
django | Django (batteries-included, check settings.py) |
starlette | Starlette (ASGI, often used as FastAPI base) |
aiohttp | aiohttp (async HTTP client and server) |
sqlalchemy | SQLAlchemy (SQL ORM; check for alembic migrations) |
alembic | Alembic (SQLAlchemy migration tool) |
pydantic | Pydantic (data validation; core to FastAPI) |
celery | Celery (distributed task queue) |
Check these signals in order:
pnpm-workspace.yaml — pnpm workspaceslerna.json — Lerna monoreponx.json — Nx monorepo (also check workspace.json)turbo.json — Turboreporush.json — Rush (Microsoft monorepo manager)moon.yml — Moonpackage.json with "workspaces": [...] — npm/yarn workspacespackages/, apps/, libs/, or services/ directories with their own package.jsonIf monorepo is detected: each workspace may have independent dependencies and conventions. Map each sub-package separately in STACK.md and note the monorepo structure in STRUCTURE.md.
If tsconfig.json has a paths key, imports with non-relative prefixes are aliases. Map them before documenting structure.
// tsconfig.json example
"paths": {
"@/*": ["./src/*"],
"@components/*": ["./src/components/*"],
"@utils/*": ["./src/utils/*"]
}Imports like import { foo } from '@/utils/bar' resolve to src/utils/bar. Document as src/utils/bar, not @/utils/bar.
If no manifest file is present but a Dockerfile exists, the FROM line reveals the runtime:
| FROM line pattern | Runtime |
|---|---|
FROM node:X | Node.js X |
FROM python:X | Python X |
FROM golang:X | Go X |
FROM eclipse-temurin:X | Java X (Eclipse Temurin JDK) |
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:X | .NET X |
FROM ruby:X | Ruby X |
FROM rust:X | Rust X |
FROM alpine (alone) | Check what’s installed via RUN apk add |