Flow setup

Use when initializing Flow in a repo, configuring .agents, installing or checking Beads bd, setting local-only sync policy, or creating first project context files.From its SKILL.md

Install

npx -y skills add cofin/flow --skill flow-setup

Assembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.

One thing to look at

15 stars15 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.

SKILL.md

2.1 KB, 440 tokens by cl100k_base, as published. Nobody here has run it

Flow Setup

Use this lifecycle skill for project initialization, installation checks, setup validation, and first context files.

Beads mode: Skip every bd invocation when the SessionStart hook reports Beads Backend: Missing (None) or Disabled via plugin config (useBeads=false). Treat spec.md markers as fallback source of truth and skip /flow:sync. Never halt for missing Beads. See ../flow/references/discipline.md.

Workflow

Detect project root, existing .agents/ state, Beads availability, and repo-native commands.
If Beads is missing, offer official Beads (bd) installation or no-Beads degraded mode.
Initialize Flow context files from templates and prefer local-only Beads settings.
Store setup decisions in Beads notes when a backend exists.
Re-run setup validation before handing off to planning.

Guardrails

Prefer .git/info/exclude for local-only ignores.
Do not edit .gitignore unless the user wants shared repository policy.
Do not run bd dolt push, bd export, or auto-stage unless policy explicitly allows it.
Keep setup idempotent; preserve existing user context files and merge rather than overwrite.

Validation

Confirm .agents/ root, workflow.md, patterns.md, knowledge/index.md, and Beads config existence when setup is expected.
Confirm Beads config defaults are local-only: no git ops, no auto export, and no auto git add.
Run repository validation commands documented in .agents/workflow.md or hook context.

References Index

Example

User: "Use Flow to set up this repo."

Action: detect the repo root, initialize .agents/, configure local-only Beads, capture setup notes, validate files, then hand off to flow-planning for the first flow.

What ships with it: 1 file

135 B alongside SKILL.md

agents/

openai.yaml135 B

Gives 0 of the 12 instructions most project setup skills give in 440 tokens

Counted across 1,553 of the 3,091 authors here whose files we hold, read 2026-09-06

Write the configuration filein 36 of 1553
Create the directory structurein 35 of 1553, across 33 files
Verify the setupin 31 of 1553, across 28 files
Run the setup scriptin 30 of 1553, across 29 files
Pre-determine the required sample sizein 29 of 1553, across 12 files
Check if the configuration already existsin 29 of 1553
Document every testin 26 of 1553, across 10 files
Start with a hypothesisin 26 of 1553, across 11 files
Ask one question at a timein 22 of 1553
Test a single variable per testin 21 of 1553, across 9 files
Read product marketing context before asking questionsin 19 of 1553, across 8 files
Do not peek and stop earlyin 18 of 1553, across 7 files

Said here and by no other author read

Initialize Flow context files
Re-run setup validation before handoff
Prefer local-only ignores

Grouped from the skills themselves: near-identical wordings counted once, and counted by distinct author, so one author publishing three of these counts once. Length counted with cl100k_base; the agent that loads this file may tokenize it differently.