NO SEPARATE API KEY · CLAUDE CODE + GH · FREE & OPEN SOURCE

Point it at a merged PR.
Get a plain-English explanation.

Calibrated to whoever's reading — technical or not — plus an interactive CLI quiz to check it stuck.

$ npm install -g @shilpi1958/pr-explainer
View on GitHub Read the docs
PR Explainer

PR Explainer

Understand any GitHub PR, even if you don't write code

Check it out on Product Hunt →

THE CODE IS THE TRUTH

Docs go stale. Slack answers depend on who you ask. The code, right now, at this commit, is just true. The problem was never access to that truth — anyone can open a diff. It was translation. pr-explainer reads the reasoning behind a change and explains it in language pitched at whoever's asking.

HOW IT WORKS

Init once. Then one command per PR.

01
Run pr-explainer init once — edit ~/.pr-explainer/learning-profile.md with your role and what you're trying to understand.
02
Run it against any merged PR — a number, a URL, or owner/repo#123.
03
It reads the diff + description via the GitHub CLI, combines it with your profile, and shells out to the Claude Code CLI to explain it.
04
Saved under ~/.pr-explainer/explainers/, summary prints in the terminal, then a CHECK IT STUCK quiz — pick A/B/C, see ✓ correct.
$ pr-explainer https://github.com/facebook/react/pull/32
Generating explainer for PR #32: Add new onInput event
~/.pr-explainer/explainers/01-react-now-responds-to-text-input-changes-faster-and-more-rel.md
React now responds to input changes faster and more reliably
Ships: The framework now supports the onInput event…
What changed
The team added onInput; examples switched from onKeyUp.
Why it was done this way
Faster updates + paste/voice coverage onKeyUp misses.
Why it matters
Live previews feel snappier; fewer paste-miss bugs.
Press Enter for CHECK IT STUCK…
CHECK IT STUCK
Quick check · a/b/c · Enter skip · q quit
1 of 3
Why did the team choose onInput over onKeyUp?
A) onKeyUp is deprecated in modern browsers
B) onInput fires for paste/voice too — not just key release ✓ correct
C) onInput is required for React 19 concurrent mode
3 of 3 · generated from this PR's actual diff…
Open explainer? [y/N]

WHO IT'S FOR

PM / ANALYST

Understand any PR, org-wide

Point it at an engineer's merged PR, get a stakeholder-ready explanation — no jargon, no pinging anyone.

ENGINEER

Review outside your usual area

Get the reasoning behind a change in an unfamiliar part of the codebase, not just the mechanical diff.

MAINTAINER

Keep track of your own project

Including PRs an AI assistant pushed on your behalf — know exactly what shipped and why.

WHY NO API KEY

pr-explainer shells out to the Claude Code CLI already on your machine — if you already use it, this is free to try immediately. No separate Anthropic Console API key, no signup for this tool. You do need Claude Code installed and logged in, plus the GitHub CLI (gh).

INSTALL

# install
$ npm install -g @shilpi1958/pr-explainer
# set up your profile once (applies everywhere)
$ pr-explainer init
$ # edit ~/.pr-explainer/learning-profile.md
# explain a PR (summary, then interactive quiz)
$ pr-explainer owner/repo#123
$ pr-explainer owner/repo#123 --no-quiz