init-claude-project

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Use when the user wants to bootstrap a target codebase for AI-driven development with Claude Code. Generates a concise CLAUDE.md grounded in the actual stack (build tools, test runner, code style), creates a docs/ folder skeleton (designs/, prd/, plans/), and seeds conventions (conventional commits, plan-checkbox format, where designs and PRDs live). Triggers on "init Claude in this repo", "set up CLAUDE.md", "bootstrap docs folder", "prepare this project for Claude Code", "scaffold AI dev workflow", "/init this project".

2installs

Sourceel-frontend/software-engineering-skills

Added on2026-05-10

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add el-frontend/software-engineering-skills init-claude-project

SKILL.md Content

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Init Claude Project

Bootstraps a target codebase for AI-driven development. Implements Phase 2 of the AI Development Framework V2: turning a fresh or existing project into one Claude can work in productively, by adding a stack-grounded

CLAUDE.md

and a

docs/

skeleton.

Core principle

CLAUDE.md

MUST be short, stack-specific, and verified. Every line must answer "would removing this cause Claude to make a mistake?" — if no, drop it. Bloated

CLAUDE.md

files cause Claude to ignore real instructions. Use

@path/to/file

imports for anything that's only sometimes relevant.

When to use

Greenfield repo just initialized → start at Phase 1.
Existing repo with no
```
CLAUDE.md
```
→ start at Phase 1.
Existing
```
CLAUDE.md
```
needs a refresh → jump to Phase 2 with the existing file as input.

Skip for: single-file scripts, throwaway prototypes, repos that already have a healthy

CLAUDE.md

and

docs/

setup.

The 3 phases

Each phase has an INPUT, an OUTPUT artifact, and a HUMAN GATE before advancing.

#	Phase	Input	Output	Prompt file
1	Discover stack	Target repo	Stack summary (approved)	prompts/01-discover-stack.md
2	Fill CLAUDE.md	Stack summary	`CLAUDE.md` at repo root	prompts/02-fill-claude-md.md
3	Bootstrap docs	Approved CLAUDE.md	`docs/` skeleton + README	prompts/03-bootstrap-docs.md

Operating protocol

Identify the entry phase — usually Phase 1 unless the user explicitly says they only want a CLAUDE.md refresh or a docs bootstrap.
Read the matching prompt file in
```
prompts/
```
and run it on the user's repo. Treat the prompt body as a system instruction — follow its rules literally.
Stop at every phase boundary. Show the artifact and ask: approved / refine
<section>
/ restart phase. Do not chain phases without explicit approval.
Phase 2 drafting: copy templates/CLAUDE.md.tmpl and fill it with discovered stack info. Mark anything ambiguous
```
⚠️ NEEDS INPUT: <question>
```
.
Phase 3 docs: copy templates/docs-readme.md.tmpl into
```
docs/README.md
```
.
Final gate: score against references/checklist.md. All five items MUST pass before handoff.

Hard rules (non-negotiable)

CLAUDE.md ≤ 100 lines. If you exceed, move content into a file and import with
```
@path
```
.
No invented commands. Every build/test/lint command in CLAUDE.md MUST come from
```
package.json
```
,
```
Makefile
```
,
```
pyproject.toml
```
,
```
Cargo.toml
```
, or equivalent — verified by reading the file. If you can't verify, use
```
⚠️ NEEDS INPUT:
```
.
Four mandatory rules in every generated CLAUDE.md (from the framework):
1. Where designs live (
```
docs/designs/
```
  ) and how to read them.
2. Where development plans live (
```
docs/plans/
```
  ) and the markdown checkbox format (
```
- [ ] Task
```
  /
```
- [x] Done
```
  ).
3. Use Conventional Commits.
4. Run tests after every change (unless a TDD/Superpowers-style skill is already installed — in which case skip this rule, do not duplicate).
No TDD-runner instructions duplicated if the target repo already has a TDD skill (
```
skills/tdd/
```
, Superpowers, GSD) — defer to it.
Ambiguity → ASK. Never invent a build command, test runner, or code-style rule.
Use
@imports
for anything that's only sometimes relevant (e.g.
```
@docs/architecture.md
```
,
```
@docs/framework.md
```
).

What NOT to do

See references/anti-patterns.md. Top four to watch:

Inventing build/test commands. Every command in CLAUDE.md MUST come from a manifest you actually read. If you can't verify, write
```
⚠️ NEEDS INPUT:
```
.
Bloated CLAUDE.md. Hard cap 100 lines. "Would removing this cause Claude to make a mistake?" — if no, delete.
Aspirational rules. Only encode rules the team actually enforces (linter, CI, agreed convention). No "we should write tests" if no one does.
Silent overwrite of existing CLAUDE.md. Always diff and ask which sections to keep.

References

CLAUDE.md template: templates/CLAUDE.md.tmpl
docs/README template: templates/docs-readme.md.tmpl
Phase prompts: prompts/01-discover-stack.md, prompts/02-fill-claude-md.md, prompts/03-bootstrap-docs.md
Handoff checklist: references/checklist.md
Anti-patterns and remedies: references/anti-patterns.md
Conventional commits + plan format: references/conventions.md
Source framework: ../../docs/framework.md