eli5

A plain-language explanation skill for Claude Code and Codex. It turns code, errors, and complex ideas into short explanations with everyday analogies and no unnecessary jargon.

Install

Claude Code plugin

Run these commands inside Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add Kyaa-A/eli5
/plugin install eli5@eli5

The managed plugin includes startup update notices. The notice is informational and never installs code. Claude discovers hooks/hooks.json automatically; the Claude plugin manifest intentionally has no hooks field.

Codex plugin

codex plugin marketplace add Kyaa-A/eli5
codex plugin add eli5@eli5

Start a fresh Codex session, open /hooks, review the command, and trust it before the startup update check can run.

Plain skill copy

git clone https://github.com/Kyaa-A/eli5.git
cp -r eli5/skills/eli5 ~/.claude/skills/eli5
# Codex:
cp -r eli5/skills/eli5 ~/.agents/skills/eli5

A plain copy provides the skill only. It has no managed version tracking, startup hook, or automatic update notice. Pull the repository and copy the folder again to update it.

Usage

Ask for a simple explanation directly:

• /eli5 why did this test fail?
• Explain this code like I'm 5.
• Make that simpler.

If you say only eli5 or /eli5, the agent simplifies its previous response. In Codex you can also invoke $eli5 explicitly.

Updates

Managed installs check the public GitHub manifest at most once every 24 hours after a successful check. The dependency-free checker validates the plugin name and semantic version, writes only a timestamp/version cache in the host-provided plugin data directory, and fails silently. It never downloads or runs an update.

Claude Code:

claude plugin marketplace update eli5
claude plugin update eli5@eli5

Restart Claude Code or run /reload-plugins.

Codex:

codex plugin marketplace upgrade eli5
codex plugin remove eli5@eli5
codex plugin add eli5@eli5

Start a new Codex session and review/trust the hook again if prompted. Set ELI5_UPDATE_CHECK=0 to disable managed-plugin checks.

Development

Requires Node.js 20 or newer.

npm test

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution guidance and SECURITY.md for private vulnerability reporting.

License

MIT. Copyright (c) 2026 Asnari Pacalna. See LICENSE.