What it does
Joining a project with hundreds of thousands of lines of code is overwhelming. Understand Anything is a plug-in for AI coding tools such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and Copilot. It has AI read through a project and build a "knowledge graph": a map of every file and piece of code and how they connect.
You then explore that map in an interactive dashboard in your browser. Click any part to see a plain-English summary, follow guided tours in a sensible order, search by meaning ("which parts handle logins?"), or see which areas a change would affect. It can also map a wiki-style collection of notes.
The first scan of a large project can use a lot of AI tokens (the units AI services bill by), so the README suggests a subscription plan or a local model. Later scans only look at files that changed.
Who it's for
Developers new to a codebase, and product managers or others who need to understand how a software project fits together.
Can I use it without coding?
With some setup. Added to an AI coding tool with a command or two; you need one of those tools set up first. New to this? Start here.
Can I run it?
- Cost
- Free, but needs an AI accountThe software is free, but it uses an online AI service (like OpenAI or Anthropic), which usually charges for use.
- Runs on
- Mac, Linux, Windows
- Computer
- An ordinary computer is fine
- Privacy
- Your choice: run it on your device or use an online service
- API key
- Not needed
Try it
- Install the plugin in Claude Code or another supported AI coding tool.
- Run its understand command in your project to build the map.
- Open the dashboard to explore the map in your browser.
Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?
Before you install
- Only download from the official GitHub page. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
- License (MIT): Very permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
- More on staying safe