modscode / Gallery / explain-it
explain-it
Explains what Claude just did, step by step, in plain English
What it does
- Draws a band above the prompt, a pane, toasts
- Adds /explain-it
- Watches tool calls
- Hooks prompt.submit, session.start, turn.complete
- Keeps its own state between turns
Good points
- No network calls
- Starts no processes
- Small: 364 lines
- Written in TypeScript
Code to start from
Two kinds: a starter modscode writes from the design above, and the lines of the mod's own code that draw it.
Starter (register.tsx)
import type { Register } from 'claude-code'
// Drawn like explain-it by Ruth-Ann Bravo (pane, band, toast), as modscode read it from the mod's code:
// https://modscode.com/gallery/ruthannbravo-explain-it/
// Written by modscode from that reading, not copied from the mod: use it as you like.
// Each value below stands for one the mod works out at run time; put in your own.
export const register: Register = on => {
// the band above the prompt; what else goes there is drawn under it
on('ui.render', { component: 'AbovePrompt' }, async ($, e, next) => {
const { Box, Text, Button } = $.ui.resolve(e)
return (
<Box flexDirection="column">
<Box>
<Text color="cyan">
{"π§© Not sure what just happened? "}
</Text>
<Button label="Explain it" hotkey="e" />
<Button label="No thanks" />
</Box>
{await next(e)}
</Box>
)
})
// the pane: open it with $.ui.open({ id: 'my-pane', title: "Explain it" })
on('ui.render', { component: 'Pane', requestId: 'my-pane' }, async ($, e) => {
const { Box, Text, Button } = $.ui.resolve(e)
const label = 'β¦'
const project = 'β¦'
const when = 'β¦'
const i = 'β¦'
const length = 'β¦'
const emoji = 'β¦'
const title = 'β¦'
const body = 'β¦'
const emoji2 = 'β¦'
const title2 = 'β¦'
const body2 = 'β¦'
const emoji3 = 'β¦'
const title3 = 'β¦'
const body3 = 'β¦'
const read = 'β¦'
return (
<Box flexDirection="column" paddingX={1}>
<Text bold color="cyan">
{"π§© "}
{label}
</Text>
<Box marginBottom={1}>
<Text dimColor>
{project}
{" Β· "}
{when}
{" Β· "}
{`${i}1`}
{" of "}
{length}
</Text>
</Box>
<Box flexDirection="column">
<Text dimColor>
ββββββββ
</Text>
<Text bold>
{emoji}
{" "}
{title}
</Text>
<Box marginBottom={1}>
<Text>
{body}
</Text>
</Box>
</Box>
<Box flexDirection="column">
<Text dimColor>
ββββββββ
</Text>
<Text bold>
{emoji2}
{" "}
{title2}
</Text>
<Box marginBottom={1}>
<Text>
{body2}
</Text>
</Box>
</Box>
<Box flexDirection="column">
<Text dimColor>
ββββββββ
</Text>
<Text bold>
{emoji3}
{" "}
{title3}
</Text>
<Box marginBottom={1}>
<Text>
{body3}
</Text>
</Box>
</Box>
<Text dimColor>
{"π Words you've learned so far: "}
{read}
</Text>
<Box>
<Button label="β Older" />
<Button label="Newer βΆ" />
<Button label="π Explain latest" />
</Box>
</Box>
)
})
on('session.start', async ($, e, next) => {
await $.ui.toast(`Explanation is ready β widen the window or type /explain-it history`)
return next(e)
})
}
The mod's own code
Shown under the mod's licence (MIT); its text is below. Keep the notice if you copy these lines.
hooks/register.tsx lines 262β284 Β· Band
on('ui.render', { component: 'AbovePrompt' }, async ($, e, next) => {
if (e.props.hasSurvey) return next(e)
const { Box, Text, Button } = $.ui.resolve(e)
if (await read($, hasChanges)) {
return (
<Box>
<Text color="cyan">π§© Not sure what just happened? </Text>
<Button key="explain" label="Explain it" hotkey="e" onPress={() => start($, 'now')} />
<Button key="dismiss" label="No thanks" onPress={() => update($, hasChanges, () => false)} />
</Box>
)
}
if (await read($, hasRecap)) {
return (
<Box>
<Text color="cyan">π§© Want a recap of what Claude did last time? </Text>
<Button key="recap" label="Recap" hotkey="r" onPress={() => start($, 'last')} />
<Button key="dismiss" label="No thanks" onPress={() => update($, hasRecap, () => false)} />
</Box>
)
}
return next(e)
})hooks/register.tsx lines 286β340 Β· Pane
on('ui.render', { component: 'Pane', requestId: PANE }, async ($, e) => {
const { Box, Text, Button } = $.ui.resolve(e)
const s = await read($, status)
const all = await read($, saved)
const i = Math.min(await read($, viewing), all.length - 1)
const shown = all[i]
// A thin line between sections, as wide as the pane allows.
// The terminal draws β one letter wide; the desktop's font draws it wider,
// so the same line needs fewer of them there to stay on one row.
const width = (e.viewport?.columns ?? 40) - 6
const rule = 'β'.repeat(Math.max(10, Math.min(e.surface === 'terminal' ? 40 : 22, width)))
if (s.kind !== 'idle' || !shown) {
return (
<Box flexDirection="column" padding={1}>
<Text bold color="cyan">π§© Explain it</Text>
<Text dimColor>
{s.kind === 'writing'
? 'β¨ Putting it in plain Englishβ¦'
: s.kind === 'failed'
? s.message
: 'Nothing explained yet. Type /explain-it, or /explain-it last to recap your previous session.'}
</Text>
{all.length > 0 && <Button key="history" label="π Saved explanations" onPress={() => void showHistory($)} />}
</Box>
)
}
return (
<Box flexDirection="column" paddingX={1}>
<Text bold color="cyan">π§© {shown.label}</Text>
<Box marginBottom={1}><Text dimColor>
{shown.project} Β· {when(shown.at)} Β· {i + 1} of {all.length}
</Text></Box>
{sections(shown.text).map(({ title, body }, n) => {
const look = STYLE.find(st => st.match.test(title)) ?? STYLE[STYLE.length - 1]
return (
<Box key={`s${n}`} flexDirection="column">
{n > 0 && <Text dimColor>{rule}</Text>}
<Text bold color={look.color}>{look.emoji} {title}</Text>
<Box marginBottom={1}><Text>{body}</Text></Box>
</Box>
)
})}
<Text dimColor>π Words you've learned so far: {await read($, learnedCount)}</Text>
<Box>
{i > 0 && <Button key="older" label="β Older" onPress={() => update($, viewing, v => Math.max(0, v - 1))} />}
{i < all.length - 1 && (
<Button key="newer" label="Newer βΆ" onPress={() => update($, viewing, v => Math.min(all.length - 1, v + 1))} />
)}
<Button key="again" label="π Explain latest" onPress={() => start($, 'now')} />
</Box>
</Box>
)
})Licence text (MIT)
MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 Ruth-Ann Bravo Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
What its code calls
drives Claudetool callsremembers
The design, read from code
Drawn from the mod's source at the commit read, not from a run: a list is drawn three times, a condition takes its first branch that draws in the desktop app, and a value only the run time knows is shown as a made-up sample (dotted underline) or left out. Colours and type are this site's.
What its code shows
Read from the source at commit 11d0f0f5b826 on 2026-10-06. The first group decides whether a mod is listed; the rest is for you to weigh. A later commit is not read until the next crawl.
| Decides the listing: code you can check | |
|---|---|
| Entry read | Every module hooks/hooks.json names was read.hooks/register.tsx |
| Parses | Every file parses as TypeScript or JavaScript.1 files parsed |
| All its code is in the mod | Every import is a file of the mod or the engine's own module; no packages, no require.all its code is in the mod |
| Readable | No minified lines, no eval or new Function, no import of a computed path, no encoded blobs.no minified code, no eval, no encoded blobs |
| Calls in the open | Network and programs are reached as $.http.fetch and $.process.run in place, never passed around.every call outside goes through $ in the open |
| For you to weigh before installing | |
| Where it draws | The terminal, the desktop app, both, or nothing (hooks only: a guard or a prompt rewriter), as its code says. Shown, never a reason to leave a mod out.draws in the terminal and the desktop app, the same in both |
| Install line | Whether its repository's own .claude-plugin/marketplace.json lists it, so it installs from that marketplace with the lines on its page.listed in its repository's .claude-plugin/marketplace.json: installs from there |
| Programs on Windows | Whether every program it starts through $.process exists on Windows (tail, date, open, osascript, /usr/β¦ do not).runs no program a Windows PC lacks |
| Network | Whether every fetch names its https host in the code.no network |
| Programs | Whether every program it starts is named in the code and is not a shell, an interpreter or a network tool.starts no programs |
| Reads and sends | Whether it both reads files or environment variables and reaches the network.reaches no network |
| Keys in the source | Whether the source holds what looks like an API key or a private key.no keys in the source |
| Licence | An open licence (MIT, Apache-2.0, BSD, ISC, Unlicense, 0BSD, CC0) with its text lets modscode show its code; otherwise the code is linked.MIT |
This is a reading of the code text, not a security review: it does not run the mod, and it cannot see what a program the mod starts does. The check before installing is yours. How mods are chosen
Install it
Check it yourself before you install it. Mods run unsandboxed, with your permissions, and modscode does not vouch for what this code does. Read the code below (or run claude plugin validate . in its folder), weigh what it reaches, and install the commit you read.
Its repository is its marketplace. Add that marketplace (in the terminal with these commands, or in the desktop app's plugin settings) and install the mod from it:
/plugin marketplace add ruthannbravo/explain-it/plugin install explain-it@explain-itThis installs the marketplace's latest commit, which may not be the one read here (11d0f0f5b826). Compare them before you install.
Ask Claude about it
With the modscode connector added, Claude can read this design, what its code reaches and its code, and build on them. Ask it like this:
Read the modscode design "ruthannbravo-explain-it" with its code and make me a pane like itSearch them from Claude: the MCP connector
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