Trellis Bootstrap

One-time setup for Trellis - the AI workflow system that helps your AI assistant remember project context across sessions.

What is Trellis?

Trellis provides:

• Structure - Store coding guidelines in

  .trellis/structure/

  that AI follows
• Memory - Track session history in

  .trellis/agent-traces/

• Automation - Slash commands like

  /start

  ,

  /parallel

  ,

  /finish-work

Prerequisites Check

Before starting, verify:

# Check Node.js (required: v18+)
node --version

# Check npm
npm --version

If Node.js is not installed, ask the user to install it first.

Installation Steps

Step 1: Install Trellis CLI

npm install -g @mindfoldhq/trellis@latest

Verify installation:

trellis --version

Step 2: Get Developer Name

Ask the user for their name/username. This will be used for tracking their sessions.

Example question: "What name should I use for your developer profile? (e.g., your GitHub username)"

Step 3: Initialize in Project

Run in the project root:

trellis init -u <developer-name>

This creates:

.trellis/
├── workflow.md                # Start here
├── structure/                 # Development guidelines
│   ├── frontend/
│   └── backend/
├── agent-traces/<name>/       # Your session history
└── scripts/                   # Automation scripts

.claude/
├── commands/                  # 13 slash commands
├── agents/                    # 6 agent definitions
└── hooks/                     # Automation hooks

.cursor/
└── commands/                  # 12 slash commands

AGENTS.md                      # AI reads this first

Step 4: Verify Setup

# Check created files
ls -la .trellis/
ls -la .claude/commands/

Post-Setup Instructions

Tell the user:

1. Start using Trellis - Run

   /start

   at the beginning of each session
2. Add guidelines - Edit files in

   .trellis/structure/

   to customize AI behavior
3. Track progress - Run

   /record-agent-flow

   at the end of sessions

Quick Reference

/start

/parallel

/before-frontend-dev

/before-backend-dev

/finish-work

/record-agent-flow

Success Criteria

Setup is complete when:

• trellis --version

  shows version number

• .trellis/

  directory exists with

  workflow.md

• .claude/commands/

  contains slash command files

• AGENTS.md

  exists in project root

After successful setup, this skill is no longer needed. The user should use

/start

Note: This is a bootstrap skill. Once Trellis is initialized, use the built-in

/start