Project Initialization Skill

Pre-flight Check

1. Get current working directory
2. If path matches an excluded project pattern (e.g.,

   ~/Work/work-project

   ):
   • STOP: "This is an excluded project - skipping initialization (custom config exists)"
   • Do NOT create any files
   • Do NOT modify git config

Detection Phase

Scan for project type:

File	Type	Package Manager
package.json	Node.js	npm/yarn/pnpm
requirements.txt / pyproject.toml	Python	pip/poetry
Cargo.toml	Rust	cargo
go.mod	Go	go
pom.xml	Java	maven
build.gradle	Java/Kotlin	gradle
composer.json	PHP	composer
Gemfile	Ruby	bundler
*.csproj	C#/.NET	dotnet

Extract from detected files:

• Project name
• Dependencies
• Scripts/commands
• Version

Scan directory structure (top 3 levels).

Files to Create

1. CLAUDE.md (Project Root)

# [Project Name]

## Overview
[Detected or ask user for 1-2 sentence description]

## Tech Stack
- Runtime: [detected]
- Framework: [detected]
- Database: [detected if any]
- Testing: [detected]

## Commands

### Development
```bash
[detected start command]

Build

[detected build command]

Test

[detected test command]

Lint

[detected lint command]

Project Structure

[generated tree, 2-3 levels]

Code Conventions

• [Detect from existing code: semicolons, quotes, tabs/spaces]
• [Detect naming conventions]
• Follow existing patterns in codebase

Important Files

• Entry: [detected]
• Config: [detected]
• Routes/API: [detected]
• Tests: [detected]

Environment

• Required env vars: [detect from .env.example or similar]
• Node version: [detect from .nvmrc, package.json engines]

Patterns to Follow

[Space for ongoing patterns - add with # key]

Notes

[Space for learnings - update during sessions]

---

Auto-generated by /init-project. Update as project evolves.

### 2. CLAUDE.local.md (Project Root)

```markdown
# Local Configuration (gitignored)

## My Current Focus
- [ ] [Current task]

## Personal Notes
- [Environment-specific notes]
- [Local setup quirks]

## WIP / Experiments
- [Things I'm trying]

## Questions to Resolve
- [Uncertainties about codebase]

3. TASKS.md (Optional - ask user)

# Project Tasks

## In Progress
- [ ] [task]

## Up Next
- [ ] [task]

## Backlog
- [ ] [task]

## Completed
- [x] [task] - [date]

---
*Reference this file at session start for context.*

Post-Creation Steps

1. Add to .gitignore (if not present):

   CLAUDE.local.md
   

2. Set git identity (if git repo):

   git config user.email "your.email@example.com"
   git config user.name "Your Name"
   

3. Verify setup:

   git config user.email  # Should show your configured email
   

Output Summary

After completion, report:

Project initialized: [name]
Type: [detected type]
Created: CLAUDE.md, CLAUDE.local.md
Git identity: your.email@example.com
Commands detected: [list]

Ready to work. What would you like to do?

When Auto-Invoked

This skill should trigger automatically when:

1. Claude starts in a directory without CLAUDE.md
2. Directory is not in the excluded list
3. Directory appears to be a project (has package.json, git, etc.)

Ask user: "No CLAUDE.md found. Initialize project? (Y/n)"