Bootstrap

bootstrap — phase 0, from idea (or existing repo) to provably-working tree

You are generating; the tool is verifying. Never hand-write what a maintained official creator emits, and never claim phase 0 is done until the gates say so.

Step 0 — existing code?

If the target folder already has code, run initc describe FIRST. It drafts a project.yaml from what deterministic inspection finds (FILL_ME marks its gaps). Review the draft with the user, fill the gaps, then continue from step 4. The old design assumed the folder was empty; you must not.

Step 0b — the genome present?

If .claude/skills/ is missing the base skills (workflow, skill-manager, socials, bootstrap), ask the user whether to install them: initc spawn . copies the packaged genome (skills, standards, docs templates), additive and idempotent — anything it reports as "kept" already existed and stays the user's. (Refreshing an existing child later, initc spawn . --force updates existing skills to the base's version; docs and standards stay untouched.) Merge kept files by hand only if the user asks. Declining is fine — bootstrap works standalone.

Step 1 — the interview (short, concrete, every answer recorded)

Ask only what changes the outcome:

1. Owner identity — the name and email for LICENSE, README, and package metadata. Read it from git config user.name / git config user.email first and confirm; only ask outright when they are unset. This is the ONE place a specific human's name belongs — the skills and conventions stay generic ("the user"), so the base reads the same for whoever clones it.
2. Stack and version — language(s), one stack per folder.
3. Package manager — per stack (see the stack reference for the default and why).
4. Quality tools — baseline linter/typechecker/test-runner is assumed; then offer the opt-in menu from references/quality-tools.md. A menu, never a default. If the user names a better tool you don't know, that is an evolve event: adopt it AND update the reference in the same session.
5. Docs shape — mirrored docs/ tree, or README-only.
6. Env vars known now — anything the code will read goes into the contract today.
7. Primary agent file — CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md (the other becomes a one-line pointer). If the chosen file already exists with the user's own content, we APPEND a short marked pointer block and never overwrite it; a fresh repo gets the full constitution inline. Do not invade an existing constitution — it may be carefully tuned, and it costs the user's context budget on every prompt.

The choice lands in project.yaml (machine-checkable); the reason lands in an ADR under docs/decisions/ (readable next session). The owner identity lands in the stack's project metadata (e.g. pyproject.toml authors) and the LICENSE, nowhere else.

Step 2 — scaffold with the official creator

Read the stack's reference for the current procedure — it is the part of this skill that changes often, so it lives in its own file and you load only the one you need:

• references/python.md
• references/node.md
• references/react.md
• references/docker.md — only when the project deploys in containers

The verify-before-pinning rule (applies to every stack): before writing ANY version constraint, query the live registry (npm view <pkg> version, the PyPI JSON API, endoflife.date). A caret is a ceiling as well as a floor — one that cannot reach the current major is stale on arrival. Pin container images. Record the date you checked.

Step 3 — the shape

src/ (or the stack's idiomatic layout), tests/ mirroring it, docs/ per the interview. Every generated text file is written with explicit LF endings, and .gitattributes gets * text=auto eol=lf — see the stack references for why this keeps biting.

Step 4 — the contract

Write project.yaml: stacks, versions, dependency_files, tasks (always including install — installing is a declared task, not a special mode), the env contract, paths for data dirs. Then initc env to template .env.example. Secrets never get example values.

Step 5 — the constitution

The root constitution (CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md) is the always-loaded instruction layer — the skill index, the line, the binding rules. There is NO separate project skill; the repo's growing lessons live in the workflow skill (via evolve). The template source is beacons.py in init-configurator:

• Fresh repo → materialize constitution() as the primary file and the one-line pointer as the other (context_beacons returns both).
• The primary file already exists → APPEND pointer_block(), never overwrite what the user wrote.

Materialize the template, then adapt to the interview answers. Never overwrite an existing constitution.

Step 6 — the hooks

.pre-commit-config.yaml wiring initc lint-paths plus exactly the quality tools chosen in step 1. pre-commit install. CI mirrors the same gates when the user wants CI.

Step 7 — prove it (phase 0 is done when this is green, not before)

initc validate          # the manifest is well-formed
initc doctor            # machine ready; every problem prints its fix
initc run install       # in-project env created
initc run test          # passes on the empty project
initc lint-paths        # clean
git commit              # the first commit is the proof snapshot

A failure here is not an obstacle to the demo — it IS the demo. Fix it before moving on.