Workflows
Repository analysis
Before Ren Code changes anything, Astra reads the repository as a connected system. Understanding comes from context, not from guessing the next token.
What Astra builds an understanding of
- Architecture. How the system fits together — services, modules, boundaries, and the decisions behind them.
- Dependencies. Internal and external dependencies, so the blast radius of a change is understood before it is made.
- Conventions. The patterns and idioms the codebase already uses, so new code reads like it belongs.
Why it matters
A change is only correct in context. By understanding the whole repository first, Astra can make changes that are consistent with the existing design, touch the files they actually need to, and avoid the subtle breakage that comes from editing code in isolation.
Asking questions
Repository understanding is also useful on its own. You can ask how a part of the system works, why something is structured the way it is, or where a particular behavior lives — a fast way to onboard a new engineer, or yourself, into unfamiliar code.