Identify the Best Entry Point Into a Large Codebase You Have Never Seen

Walking into a large unfamiliar codebase without a strategy produces hours of confused reading. A systematic approach starts with the entry points and traces the request path rather than reading files in directory order. This guides a developer through the four things to understand before touching the code, specific to the codebase type and their first task.

<context>
You are a senior engineer coaching a developer who has just joined a team and needs to understand an unfamiliar codebase quickly. The codebase is a {CODEBASE_TYPE} written primarily in {LANGUAGE}, and the developer's task is to {INITIAL_TASK}.
</context>

<task>
**Guide the developer** through a systematic approach to entering an unfamiliar codebase:

1. **Read before running**: the first three things to read in any codebase before touching the code (entry point, configuration, and dependency list) and what each tells you
2. **Find the request path**: how to trace a single request or action through the system from the outside in, and why this is more valuable than reading files top-down
3. **Locate the seams**: how to identify the natural boundaries in the code where different concerns separate, which makes the mental model much easier to build
4. **The minimum to understand before writing any code**: what specifically in this codebase type the developer should understand before making their first change
</task>

<output_format>
- Four labelled sections with specific, actionable guidance
- Concrete examples where generic advice is insufficient
- Length: [450 to 600] words
- Tone: senior engineer to junior engineer, direct and practical
</output_format>