Zenon-Red Repository Setup

Create new repositories using the standard zenon-red template, then customize for your specific project.

Template-Based Approach

All zenon-red repositories should be created from the

zenon-red/nexus-template

GitHub template:

bash

gh repo create zenon-red/REPO_NAME --template zenon-red/nexus-template --public

Then clone and customize:

bash

gh repo clone zenon-red/REPO_NAME
cd REPO_NAME

Post-Template Customization

After creating from template, follow these steps to customize:

1. Replace Placeholders

Update all

REPO_NAME

placeholders with your actual repository name:

File	Changes
`README.md`	Replace `nexus-template` with repo name, update description
`.github/settings.yml`	Update `name:` and `description:`
`docs/setup.md`	Update references to `nexus-template`
`skills/REPO_NAME/SKILL.md`	Rename folder to actual repo name, update all content

2. Update Logo

The template includes a placeholder logo

.github/nexus-template.png

. Replace it:

Temporary: Rename
```
nexus-template.png
```
to
```
zr-newborn.png
```
as a placeholder
Final: Create your actual 128px PNG logo and save as
```
.github/{repo-name}.png
```
Update
```
README.md
```
to reference the correct logo file

bash

# Rename placeholder first
git mv .github/nexus-template.png .github/zr-newborn.png
# Update README.md to point to zr-newborn.png temporarily
# Later, replace with actual logo:
git mv .github/zr-newborn.png .github/{repo-name}.png

3. Configure Tech Stack

Fill in the TODOs for your technology stack:

File	Stack-Specific Changes
`.github/workflows/ci.yml`	Uncomment/setup your toolchain (Node, Rust, Python, Go, Deno)
`.husky/pre-commit`	Add lint/format commands
`.husky/pre-push`	Add test/build commands
`.github/dependabot.yml`	Uncomment and configure your package ecosystem
`.gitignore`	Add stack-specific patterns

4. Update CODEOWNERS (if needed)

Default is

@zenon-red/zoe

. Change if different ownership is required:

# .github/CODEOWNERS
* @zenon-red/team-name

5. Update Documentation

Remove template-specific files:

```
docs/setup.md
```
- This is only for setting up from the template, remove after customization

Create user-facing docs in
docs/
:

```
getting-started.md
```
- Installation and first steps
```
commands.md
```
- CLI commands or API reference
```
architecture.md
```
- Technical architecture overview
```
examples.md
```
- Usage examples

Update

docs/README.md

index to:

Remove the link to
```
setup.md
```
Add links to your new project-specific docs

6. Write Repo-Specific Skill

Replace the placeholder

skills/{repo-name}/SKILL.md

with actual guidance:

Tech stack details
Project architecture
Development commands (build, test, lint)
Agent-specific guidelines and pitfalls

7. Install Dependencies & Setup Hooks

bash

# Install your package manager dependencies
npm install  # or cargo, pip, go mod, etc.

# Initialize husky (if using Node.js)
npx husky init

8. First Commit

bash

git add .
git commit -m "chore: initial setup from nexus-template"
git push -u origin main

9. Apply Branch Protection

After first push to

main

, apply branch protection via the API (free tier — does not require paid GitHub Team plan):

bash

gh api repos/zenon-red/REPO_NAME/branches/main/protection \
  -X PUT \
  -f "enforce_admins=false" \
  -f "required_pull_request_reviews[required_approving_review_count]=0" \
  -f "required_pull_request_reviews[dismiss_stale_reviews]=true" \
  -f "required_pull_request_reviews[require_code_owner_reviews]=true" \
  -f "restrictions=null" \
  -f "allow_force_pushes=false" \
  -f "allow_deletions=false"

This sets:

No force pushes to main
No branch deletions
PR required before merge
CODEOWNERS review required (from
```
.github/CODEOWNERS
```
)
Stale reviews dismissed on new pushes
Admins can bypass (org owner override via
```
enforce_admins=false
```
)

Note: This uses the branch protection endpoint available on all GitHub plans. Do NOT use rulesets (

/repos/.../rulesets

) — that requires a paid GitHub Team plan.

Target Structure (After Template + Customization)

repo/
├── .github/
│   ├── {repo}.png              # Logo (128px) - replace zr-newborn.png placeholder
│   ├── CODEOWNERS             # Code owners (@zenon-red/zoe default)
│   ├── dependabot.yml         # Dependency updates (configure for your stack)
│   ├── labeler.yml            # PR label patterns
│   ├── settings.yml           # Repo settings and labels
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── ci.yml             # Stack-specific CI pipeline
│       ├── labeler.yml        # Auto-label PRs
│       └── stale-issues-prs.yml
├── .husky/
│   ├── commit-msg             # Commit message validation (optional)
│   ├── pre-commit             # Pre-commit checks (lint, format)
│   └── pre-push               # Pre-push checks (test, build)
├── docs/                      # Documentation
│   ├── README.md              # Docs index (remove setup.md link)
│   ├── getting-started.md     # (create as needed)
│   └── ...                    # Other user docs (setup.md removed)
├── skills/
│   └── {repo-name}/
│       └── SKILL.md           # Repo-specific agent guidance
├── src/                       # Source code (create for your stack)
├── .gitignore                 # Stack-specific ignore patterns
├── CONTRIBUTING.md            # Contribution guidelines (can override org)
├── LICENSE                    # MIT license
├── README.md                  # Main project README
└── {config files}             # package.json, Cargo.toml, etc.

Stack-Specific Hook Examples

pre-commit

bash

# TypeScript/JavaScript
npm run lint:staged && npm run typecheck

# Rust
cargo fmt --check && cargo clippy

# Python
ruff check . && mypy .

# Go
go fmt ./... && go vet ./...

# Deno
deno lint && deno check

pre-push

bash

# TypeScript/JavaScript
npm run check:push

# Rust
cargo test && cargo clippy -- -D warnings

# Python
pytest && ruff check .

# Go
go test ./... && go build ./...

# Deno
deno test && deno lint

Labels (In Template)

The template includes these labels in

.github/settings.yml

Label	Color	Description
`bug`	d73a4a	Something isn't working
`feature`	0e8a16	New feature or request
`task`	6f42c1	Planned implementation work item
`documentation`	0075ca	Documentation improvements
`doc`	0075ca	Documentation changes (PR label)
`code`	1d76db	Source code changes
`dep`	0366d6	Dependency updates
`config`	5319e7	Configuration changes
`pinned`	fbca04	Exempt from stale bot

Note: Do not remove the

task

label - it's used by org-level issue templates.

Org-Level Inherited Files

These files are inherited from

zenon-red/.github/

when not present:

File	Inherited?	Notes
`PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md`	✅ Yes	Org-level PR template
`.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/*`	✅ Yes	Bug, feature, task, docs forms
`CONTRIBUTING.md`	✅ Yes (fallback)	Template includes a copy; can override

Checklist

Before considering setup complete:

Repository created from
```
zenon-red/nexus-template
```
```
README.md
```
updated with actual project name and description
```
.github/settings.yml
```
has correct name/description
Logo renamed from
```
nexus-template.png
```
→
```
zr-newborn.png
```
(temp) or replaced with actual logo
```
README.md
```
logo reference updated
```
skills/{repo}/SKILL.md
```
renamed and customized
```
.github/dependabot.yml
```
configured for package ecosystem
```
.github/workflows/ci.yml
```
configured for tech stack
```
.husky/pre-commit
```
has appropriate lint/format commands
```
.husky/pre-push
```
has appropriate test/build commands
```
.gitignore
```
has stack-specific patterns
```
docs/setup.md
```
removed (template-specific)
```
docs/getting-started.md
```
or equivalent created
Dependencies installed and
```
package.json
```
/
```
Cargo.toml
```
/etc. configured
First commit pushed to main
Branch protection applied (via API, not rulesets)
All TODO comments in files addressed or removed

Important Notes

Never create repos from scratch - always use
```
--template zenon-red/nexus-template
```
Always keep the
```
task
```
label - it's required by org issue templates
Always verify husky hooks are executable:
```
chmod +x .husky/*
```
The Probot Settings bot will sync labels and repo settings after first push

zr-github-repository

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Zenon-Red Repository Setup

Template-Based Approach

Post-Template Customization

1. Replace Placeholders

2. Update Logo

3. Configure Tech Stack

4. Update CODEOWNERS (if needed)

5. Update Documentation

6. Write Repo-Specific Skill

7. Install Dependencies & Setup Hooks

8. First Commit

9. Apply Branch Protection

Target Structure (After Template + Customization)

Stack-Specific Hook Examples

pre-commit

pre-push

Labels (In Template)

Org-Level Inherited Files

Checklist

Important Notes