home / skills / kjgarza / marketplace-claude / project-bootstrapping

project-bootstrapping skill

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This skill bootstraps new projects or improves existing ones by establishing structure, tooling, docs, and workflows aligned with best practices.

npx playbooks add skill kjgarza/marketplace-claude --skill project-bootstrapping

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SKILL.md

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---
name: project-bootstrapping
description: Sets up new projects or improves existing projects with development best practices, tooling, documentation, and workflow automation. Use when user wants to start a new project, improve project structure, add development tooling, or establish professional workflows.
---

# Overview

Sets up new projects or improves existing projects with development best practices, tooling, documentation, and workflow automation.

## When to Use

- "set up a new project"
- "bootstrap this project"
- "add best practices"
- "improve project structure"
- "set up development tooling"
- "initialize project properly"

## What It Sets Up

### 1. Project Structure
- Standard directories (docs/, .github/, .cursor/, .claude/)
- Logical file organization
- Structure improvements

### 2. Git Configuration
- Comprehensive `.gitignore`
- `.gitattributes` for line endings/diffs
- Git hooks (pre-commit, commit-msg)
- Branch protection patterns


### 3. Documentation
- Comprehensive `README.md`
- `CONTRIBUTING.md`
- Code documentation (JSDoc, docstrings)
- `CHANGELOG.md` structure
- Architecture docs if complex
- MIT License file

### 4. Testing Setup
- Identify/suggest testing framework
- Test structure and conventions
- Example/template tests
- Configure test runners
- Coverage reporting
- Testing scripts/commands

### 5. Code Quality Tools
- Linters (ESLint, Pylint, etc.)
- Formatters (Prettier, Black, etc.)
- Type checking (TypeScript, mypy, etc.)
- Pre-commit hooks for quality
- Editor configs (.editorconfig)
- Code quality badges

### 6. Dependencies Management
- Package manager configuration
- Organize dependencies
- Check security vulnerabilities
- Set up dependency updates (Dependabot, Renovate)
- Create lock files
- Document dependency choices

### 7. Development Workflow
- Useful npm scripts / Makefile targets
- Environment variable templates (.env.example)
- Docker configuration if appropriate
- Development startup scripts
- Hot-reload / watch modes
- Document development workflow

### 8. CI/CD Setup
- GitHub Actions / GitLab CI config
- Automated testing
- Automated deployment (if applicable)
- Status badges
- Release automation
- Branch protection

## Approach

### Discovery Phase

Ask clarifying questions:
1. **Project type**: New or existing?
2. **Primary purpose**: Web app, library, CLI tool?
3. **Language/framework**: JS/TS, Python, Go, etc.?
4. **Collaboration**: Personal or team?
5. **Deployment target**: Server, cloud, mobile, desktop?
6. **Preferences**: Specific tools/frameworks?
7. **Scope**: Full setup or specific areas?

### Implementation Phase

1. **Analyze existing** structure (if existing project)
2. **Create plan** based on answers
3. **Show plan** and get approval
4. **Implement systematically** (one area at a time)
5. **Verify completeness**
6. **Provide handoff** documentation

## Customization

Adapts to:
- **Language ecosystem**: Node.js vs Python vs Go vs Rust
- **Project size**: Small script vs large app
- **Team size**: Solo vs collaborative
- **Maturity**: Startup speed vs enterprise standards

## Tools Used

- **AskUserQuestion**: Gather requirements
- **Write**: Create configuration files, documentation
- **Edit**: Update existing files
- **Bash**: Initialize tools (git init, npm init)
- **Read**: Analyze existing structure
- **Glob**: Find files to update

## Success Criteria

- All standard files present and configured
- Clear and complete documentation
- Documented development workflow
- Automated quality tooling (pre-commit hooks)
- Easy test execution
- Follows language/framework conventions
- Quick developer onboarding
- No obvious best practices missing

## Templates

- Node.js/TypeScript web app
- Python CLI tool
- Python web API (FastAPI/Flask)
- React/Next.js app
- Go service
- Rust CLI/library

## Integration

- **feature-planning**: For planning custom features
- **code-auditor**: For validating setup quality
- **codebase-documenter**: For generating detailed docs

## Scope Control

- **Full bootstrap**: Everything from scratch
- **Partial setup**: Specific areas only (e.g., "just add testing")
- **Improvement pass**: Enhance existing project
- **Audit + fix**: Check what's missing and add it

Overview

This skill bootstraps new projects or improves existing repositories by adding development best practices, tooling, documentation, and workflow automation. It focuses on practical, repeatable setups that speed onboarding and reduce technical debt. Deliverables include project structure, CI/CD, testing, linters, dependency management, and clear developer documentation.

How this skill works

The skill asks a few discovery questions about project type, language, collaboration model, and deployment targets. It analyzes an existing codebase (if provided), produces a tailored plan, then writes or edits configuration files, documentation, and scripts. Implementation is incremental: create structure, add git and CI configs, enable quality tooling, and verify with tests and handoff docs.

When to use it

Starting a new project and wanting a professional template
Improving structure, docs, or workflows in an existing repo
Adding testing, linters, or type checking to a codebase
Setting up CI/CD, release automation, or dependency updates
Preparing a project for team collaboration or open-source contribution

Best practices

Run a short discovery to scope full vs partial bootstrap before changes
Prefer minimal, well-documented defaults that follow language conventions
Add automated checks (pre-commit + CI) early to prevent regressions
Include clear CONTRIBUTING, README, and environment templates for onboarding
Use lockfiles and automated dependency updates to reduce supply-chain risk

Example use cases

Bootstrap a Python CLI tool with packaging, tests, mypy, and GitHub Actions
Improve an existing web app by adding testing, linting, Docker, and deployment workflow
Add pre-commit hooks, .editorconfig, and a comprehensive .gitignore to a repo
Create a reproducible dev environment with Makefile, .env.example, and start scripts
Set up automated releases, changelog format, and status badges for an open-source library

FAQ

Can you bootstrap only specific areas like testing or CI?

Yes. You can request a partial setup scoped to one or more areas such as testing, CI, or documentation without changing the rest of the project.

What languages and frameworks are supported?

The approach adapts to common ecosystems (Python, Node/TS, Go, Rust) and frameworks like FastAPI, Flask, React, Next.js. Tell me your stack and desired conventions during discovery.

Do you run commands on my machine or just edit files?

I can generate the files and shell commands (git init, pip/npm installs, Docker builds). Running commands on your machine requires you to execute the provided steps or allow automated scripting in your environment.