Gmacko Project Interview

Conduct a structured interview to gather project requirements and generate

PROJECT_MANIFEST.json

.

Workflow

digraph interview {
    rankdir=TB;
    node [shape=box];
    
    start [label="Start Interview" shape=ellipse];
    frame [label="1. Frame the Interview"];
    product [label="2. Product Questions"];
    platforms [label="3. Platform Questions"];
    integrations [label="4. Integration Questions"];
    data [label="5. Data Model Questions"];
    api [label="6. API Questions"];
    deploy [label="7. Deployment Questions"];
    summarize [label="8. Show Summary"];
    confirm [label="Confirm?" shape=diamond];
    write [label="9. Write PROJECT_MANIFEST.json"];
    done [label="Interview Complete" shape=ellipse];
    
    start -> frame -> product -> platforms -> integrations;
    integrations -> data -> api -> deploy -> summarize;
    summarize -> confirm;
    confirm -> write [label="yes"];
    confirm -> product [label="revise"];
    write -> done;
}

Execution Steps

Step 1: Frame the Interview

Tell the user:

I'll guide you through setting up your new Gmacko Ventures project. This interview has 7 sections covering:

1. Product goals and scope
2. Platform choices (web/mobile)
3. Integrations (auth, payments, analytics, etc.)
4. Data model and entities
5. API design
6. Deployment configuration

You can say "skip" to use defaults for any section, or "back" to revise previous answers.

At the end, I'll show you a summary before generating your PROJECT_MANIFEST.json.

Step 2: Product Questions

Ask these questions (wait for responses):

PRODUCT GOALS
=============

1. What is the name of your project? (lowercase, hyphens allowed)
   Example: "acme-saas", "team-tracker", "invoice-app"

2. What is the display name? (human-readable)
   Example: "Acme SaaS Platform", "Team Tracker Pro"

3. Describe your project in one sentence:
   Example: "A B2B platform for managing team projects and tasks"

4. Who are your target users?
   Example: "Small to medium B2B teams (5-50 users)"

5. What are 3-5 features that MUST be in your MVP?
   Example: 
   - User authentication
   - Project management
   - Task tracking
   - Team collaboration

6. What features are explicitly OUT of scope for MVP?
   Example:
   - Mobile app
   - Advanced reporting
   - Third-party integrations

Step 3: Platform Questions

PLATFORMS
=========

7. Which platforms do you need?
   a) Web only
   b) Web + Mobile (React Native via Expo)
   c) Mobile only

8. If mobile is deferred, which phase? (e.g., "Phase 2")

9. Does the app need to work offline? (yes/no)

Step 4: Integration Questions

INTEGRATIONS
============

I'll ask about each integration. Answer "yes", "no", or "later" (for Phase 2+).

10. Authentication (Clerk)
    - Do you need it? (default: yes)
    - Social providers? (google, github, apple, none)
    - Multi-factor auth? (yes/no)
    - Organizations/teams? (yes/no)

11. Payments (Stripe)
    - Do you need it? (yes/no/later)
    - Model: subscription, one-time, or usage-based?
    - How many pricing tiers?
    - Free trial days?

12. Analytics (PostHog)
    - Do you need it? (default: yes)
    - Session recording? (yes/no)

13. Error Monitoring (Sentry)
    - Do you need it? (default: yes)
    - Performance monitoring? (yes/no)

14. Email (SendGrid)
    - Do you need transactional emails? (yes/no/later)

15. Real-time (Pusher)
    - Do you need real-time updates? (yes/no/later)
    - Use case? (e.g., live notifications, collaborative editing)

16. File Storage (Uploadthing)
    - Do you need file uploads? (yes/no/later)
    - Use case? (e.g., profile photos, documents)

Step 5: Data Model Questions

DATA MODEL
==========

17. List your core entities (database tables):
    Example: users, teams, projects, tasks, comments

18. For each entity, list the key fields:
    Example:
    - users: id, email, name, avatar
    - projects: id, name, description, status, ownerId

19. Describe the main relationships:
    Example:
    - users -> teams (many-to-many via teamMembers)
    - teams -> projects (one-to-many)
    - projects -> tasks (one-to-many)

20. Is this a multi-tenant app? (single tenant / team-based / organization-based)

Step 6: API Questions

API DESIGN
==========

21. API style preference?
    a) tRPC (default, type-safe, recommended)
    b) REST
    c) GraphQL
    d) Mix of tRPC + WebSockets

22. List your main API routers/endpoints:
    Example: users, teams, projects, tasks, billing

Step 7: Deployment Questions

DEPLOYMENT
==========

23. Web deployment platform?
    a) Vercel (default, recommended)
    b) Kubernetes cluster
    c) Other (specify)

24. What environments do you need?
    Default: development, staging, production

25. Custom domains?
    - Production: (e.g., app.example.com)
    - Staging: (e.g., staging.example.com)

26. Mobile deployment (if applicable)?
    - EAS (Expo Application Services) is default
    - Bundle ID base: (e.g., com.gmacko.myapp)

Step 8: Show Summary

After gathering all answers, display a summary table:

PROJECT CONFIGURATION SUMMARY
=============================

Project
-------
Name:         acme-saas
Display:      Acme SaaS Platform
Description:  A B2B platform for managing team projects
Target Users: Small to medium B2B teams

Platforms
---------
Web:    Yes
Mobile: Phase 2

Integrations
------------
| Integration | Enabled | Configuration |
|-------------|---------|---------------|
| Clerk       | Yes     | Google, GitHub, Orgs |
| Stripe      | Yes     | Subscription, 3 tiers, 14-day trial |
| PostHog     | Yes     | Autocapture, Session recording |
| Sentry      | Yes     | Performance monitoring |
| SendGrid    | No      | - |
| Pusher      | Yes     | Private channels |
| Uploadthing | No      | - |

Data Model
----------
Entities: users, teams, teamMembers, projects, tasks
Multi-tenancy: Team-based

API
---
Style: tRPC
Routers: users, teams, projects, tasks, billing

Deployment
----------
Web: Vercel (dev/staging/prod)
Mobile: EAS
Domains: app.acme-saas.com, staging.acme-saas.com

Step 9: Confirm and Write

Ask:

Does this look correct? Reply "yes" to generate PROJECT_MANIFEST.json, or tell me what to change.

On confirmation:

1. Write

   PROJECT_MANIFEST.json

   to the repository root
2. Report success and suggest next steps:

   PROJECT_MANIFEST.json has been created!

   Next steps:

   1. Review the manifest file
   2. Run the

      gmacko-init-plan

      skill to generate INITIAL_PLAN.md
   3. Run the

      gmacko-init-bootstrap

      skill to execute setup

Output Format

The

PROJECT_MANIFEST.json

must follow this schema:

{
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "createdAt": "<ISO timestamp>",
  "project": {
    "name": "<project-name>",
    "displayName": "<Display Name>",
    "description": "<one-sentence description>",
    "org": "gmacko",
    "repository": "gmacko/<project-name>"
  },
  "goals": {
    "primary": "<main goal>",
    "targetUsers": "<target audience>",
    "successMetrics": ["<metric 1>", "<metric 2>"],
    "mvpScope": ["<feature 1>", "<feature 2>"],
    "outOfScope": ["<deferred 1>", "<deferred 2>"]
  },
  "platforms": {
    "web": true,
    "mobile": false,
    "mobilePhase": 2
  },
  "integrations": {
    "auth": { "provider": "clerk", "enabled": true, "config": {} },
    "payments": { "provider": "stripe", "enabled": true, "config": {} },
    "analytics": { "provider": "posthog", "enabled": true, "config": {} },
    "monitoring": { "provider": "sentry", "enabled": true, "config": {} },
    "email": { "provider": "sendgrid", "enabled": false },
    "realtime": { "provider": "pusher", "enabled": false },
    "storage": { "provider": "uploadthing", "enabled": false }
  },
  "database": {
    "provider": "neon",
    "orm": "drizzle",
    "entities": [],
    "relationships": []
  },
  "api": {
    "style": "trpc",
    "realtime": false,
    "routers": []
  },
  "screens": {
    "mvp": [],
    "phase2": []
  },
  "deployment": {
    "web": { "provider": "vercel", "environments": [] },
    "mobile": { "provider": "eas", "profiles": [], "bundleId": "" }
  },
  "domains": {}
}

Red Flags

Rationalization	Correction
"I'll skip the interview, user seems clear"	ALWAYS complete all sections; use defaults if user says "skip"
"I'll just write the manifest without confirmation"	ALWAYS show summary and get explicit "yes" before writing
"The user didn't specify entities, I'll guess"	ASK explicitly; don't invent data model
"I'll add extra integrations they might need"	Only enable what user explicitly requests

References

• Example manifest:

  docs/ai/examples/PROJECT_MANIFEST.example.json

• Skill system design:

  docs/ai/SKILL_SYSTEM_DESIGN.md