Senior Engineer Onboarding

How to onboard as a senior engineer: mapping an unfamiliar stack before day 1, reading architecture from config files, finding and shipping the first PR, handling tech stack gaps, managing information overload, building a personal knowledge system, using AI with balance, and communicating ownership to your manager. Includes concrete patterns for serverless Java, DynamoDB access design, and LangGraph-based AI features.

FoundationsTopics 1–14

·What this guide covers
·The example context
·The senior onboarding mindset
·Mapping the stack before day 1
·Reading the architecture fast
·Finding and shipping the first PR
·Handling a tech stack gap
·Knowledge management and context tools
·Managing information overload
·AI-assisted onboarding with balance
·The 30-60-90 day framework
·Communicating ownership upward
·Testing in an unfamiliar stack
·AI tooling setup for onboarding

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AI IntegrationTopics 1–6

·The AI-first engineering role
·LangGraph production patterns
·MCP: building tools for LLMs
·Claude API tool use
·Structured output for document extraction
·Assessing AI approaches as a senior

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AdvancedTopics 1–7

·Owning a system end-to-end
·Debugging production in unfamiliar code
·Making architectural decisions
·Navigating technical debt
·Performance and cost at scale
·Mentoring while still onboarding
·Building internal tooling

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ProductionTopics 1–6

·Incident response ownership
·Observability from scratch
·Leading a project end-to-end
·Driving architectural migration
·The 6-month review
·Building your reputation in the codebase

Start Production →