Reverse-engineers an open-source repo into a clear explanation and a clean-room blueprint, then builds your own customized version from that blueprint. Built on knowledge graphs for code analysis.
Claude Code
$ npx -y skills add GerardoRdz96/deepfork --agent claude-code
Codex
$ npx skills add GerardoRdz96/deepfork -a codex
Cursor
$ npx skills add GerardoRdz96/deepfork -a cursor
Gemini CLI
$ npx skills add GerardoRdz96/deepfork -a gemini-cli
GitHub Copilot
$ npx skills add GerardoRdz96/deepfork -a github-copilot
OpenCode
$ npx skills add GerardoRdz96/deepfork -a opencode
Windsurf
$ npx skills add GerardoRdz96/deepfork -a windsurf
DeepFork is an agent skill that reverse-engineers any open-source repository into 🧠 the cleanest possible explanation of how it actually works, and 📐 a behavioral blueprint you can rebuild from — with your changes, in your stack, clean-room.
🛑 Stop reading 60k lines to understand a tool. 🍴 Stop forking when what you wanted was your own version.
you: /deepfork https://github.com/karpathy/micrograd — but in TypeScript, with a graph visualizer
agent: ⚖️ license gate ........ MIT ✓
🕸️ knowledge graph ..... 55 nodes · 86 edges · god nodes: Value, Neuron, Layer, MLP
🧠 UNDERSTANDING.md .... the repo, explained clean — load-bearing pieces, data flow, the core trick
📐 BLUEPRINT.md ........ a spec you could build from without ever seeing the source
🔨 rebuild/ ............ your TypeScript version, clean-room, tests first
Works with Claude Code (and any agent that reads skills):
npx skills add GerardoRdz96/deepfork
🕸️ Optional but recommended — the graph engine that makes the understanding pass exceptional (graphify, 65k★):
uv tool install graphifyy # double-y! code analysis is local & free (tree-sitter)
Without graphify, DeepFork falls back to manual repo mapping. With it: god-node detection, auto-named subsystems, surprising-connection analysis, and token-cheap graph queries.
| Artifact | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| 🧠 | UNDERSTANDING.md | The repo explained the way you wish its docs did: the 3-7 load-bearing pieces, each subsystem, one request traced end-to-end, the non-obvious couplings. Every claim labeled [VERIFIED] or [INFERRED]. |
| 📐 | BLUEPRINT.md | A behavioral spec — mechanisms, contracts, build order, test strategy — plus your customization deltas. Someone who never saw the original could build from it. That someone is your agent. |
| 🔨 | rebuild/ | Your version. Clean-room: built from the blueprint with the original source closed. Ships with ATTRIBUTION.md. |
flowchart LR
A["⚖️ Phase 0<br>License gate"] --> B["📥 Phase 1<br>Acquire"]
B --> C["🕸️ Phase 2<br>Comprehend<br><i>graph · god nodes · subsystems</i>"]
C --> D["🔎 Phase 3<br>Interrogate<br><i>verify the load-bearing claims</i>"]
D --> E["📐 Phase 4<br>Blueprint<br><i>+ YOUR deltas</i>"]
E -.->|"only behavior crosses<br>🧱 the clean-room wall"| F["🔨 Phase 5<br>Rebuild<br><i>original closed · tests first</i>"]
UNDERSTANDING.md.examples/micrograd/ — karpathy's micrograd (12k★) deepforked end-to-end:
UNDERSTANDING.md — the autograd engine explained in 6 sections, from a real 55-node graph run ($0)BLUEPRINT.md — "gradflow": the TypeScript + built-in-visualizer rebuild specDeepFork is built to keep you on the right side of open source:
This is how engineers have legally reimplemented systems for decades (Compaq vs IBM BIOS, 1982). DeepFork just makes the discipline automatic.
Is this just "fork it"?
No. A shallow fork keeps their code, their architecture, their language, their debt. DeepFork gives you their lessons in a spec, and a version that's actually yours.
Is this legal?
Understanding public code is legal everywhere. Clean-room reimplementation from a behavioral spec is the industry-standard legal path. The license gate + blueprint wall keep the discipline honest. (Not legal advice; if you're rebuilding something commercial-sensitive, ask a lawyer.)
Does it work on huge repos?
Yes — pick one subsystem from the community list and deepfork that. The graph makes subsystem boundaries visible.
Which agents?
Claude Code first-class. The skill is plain markdown — Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and friends can run it too.
⭐ If DeepFork saved you a weekend of code-reading, star the repo — it helps others find it. ⭐
MIT · Built by 🐧 The Penguin Alley · Powered by graphify
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@facebookReverse-engineers an open-source repo into a clear explanation and a clean-room blueprint, then builds your own customized version from that blueprint. Built on knowledge graphs for code analysis. Install it with the command on its page. It includes deepfork. Its skills do not fire on their own yet. Free and open source.
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