Repo Init Wizard — Guide the user through a structured interview to establish all foundational deci

repo-init.skill.md

name	repo-init
description	Interactive repo setup wizard. Use when: initializing a new repository, setting up project conventions, configuring dev tooling, choosing tech stack, setting up CI/CD, configuring AI tools. Guides user through structured questions covering repo structure (monorepo/polyrepo), tech stack (language, database, API, frontend, testing), AI tools (agents, methodology), and CI/CD (pipelines, IaC). Produces a reviewed summary and generates config files.
argument-hint	Optional: pass a specific section to jump to (repo-structure, tech-stack, ai-tools, ci-cd)

Repo Init Wizard

Purpose

Guide the user through a structured interview to establish all foundational decisions for a new repository. At the end, produce a reviewed summary and offer to generate config files, instructions, and CI/CD scaffolding.

Platform Adaptation

Before starting the interview, load the reference file for the current agent environment and follow its tool guidance:

• Copilot CLI mapping
• Codex mapping
• Gemini CLI mapping

Prefer the platform's native structured question/input tool over plain chat whenever one exists. This skill should feel like a guided wizard, not a questionnaire dump.

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Defaults

Every question has a marked default (default). If the user says "skip", "default", or gives a blank reply, accept the default and move on. Announce which default was taken so the user can backtrack if needed.

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Procedure

Fasttrack — Presets

Before Section 1, ask the user if they want a head start:

"Would you like a preset to skip most questions? I can pre-fill everything for a well-known stack and you only tweak what differs."

Available presets (load from ./examples/presets/):

Preset	File	What it sets up
Web + API monorepo (TypeScript)	web-api-monorepo-ts.md	React 19 + Tailwind v4 + TanStack Query/Router + shadcn/ui, Node.js API, npm workspaces + Turborepo, Vitest, Playwright, ESLint+Prettier, GitHub Actions, PostgreSQL
Python API	python-api.md	FastAPI, uv, pytest, Ruff, GitHub Actions, PostgreSQL
TypeScript library / CLI	ts-library.md	tsup, npm, Vitest, ESLint+Prettier, GitHub Actions npm publish
Java Microservices	java-microservices.md	Spring Boot 3 + Java 21, Maven multi-module, gRPC inter-service, Testcontainers, Helm, GitHub Actions
.NET Microservices	dotnet-microservices.md	ASP.NET Core 9 minimal APIs, MassTransit, EF Core + Postgres, xUnit + Testcontainers, Azure Bicep
Python Data Science	python-data-science.md	Jupyter, pandas/polars, DVC data versioning, uv, Ruff, nbval CI smoke tests
Python ML Project	python-ml.md	DVC pipelines, MLflow tracking, FastAPI serving, uv, Ruff, pytest, Docker
Go API Service	go-api.md	Chi router, sqlc + pgx, golang-migrate, Testcontainers-Go, golangci-lint, GitHub Actions
AWS Serverless	aws-serverless.md	Lambda + API Gateway v2 + DynamoDB, AWS CDK (TypeScript), Turborepo, Vitest, GitHub Actions
Azure ML	azure-ml.md	AzureML SDK v2 pipelines, MLflow, managed endpoints, Azure Bicep IaC, GitHub Actions
GCP ML	gcp-ml.md	Vertex AI Pipelines (KFP v2), BigQuery, Cloud Run serving, Terraform, Workload Identity Federation
Start from scratch	(no preset)	Walk through all sections manually

If a preset is chosen: read the preset file, populate all answers from it, jump directly to Section 5 — Review & Confirm, and show the pre-filled summary. The user only answers questions they want to change.

If "Start from scratch" is chosen: continue with the full interview below.

If the user passes a section name as an argument, jump directly to that section.

At the very start of the interview, tell the user: "Feel free to ask me to explain any term at any time — just say something like 'what is X?' and I'll clarify before we continue. You can also say 'skip' or 'default' on any question to accept the default."

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Section 1 — Repo Structure

1. Repo topology — MonoRepo or Polyrepo? (not sure what these mean? just ask)

   • Options: MonoRepo, Polyrepo (default: Polyrepo)

2. (Only if MonoRepo) Monorepo tooling — which tool manages the workspace?

   • Options: Nx, Turborepo (default), Bazel, Rush, Lerna, pnpm workspaces (no orchestrator), Other

Record answers, then proceed to Section 2.

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Section 2 — Tech Stack

Work through each sub-topic below in order. Options for later sub-topics adapt based on earlier answers. User can say "skip" on any sub-topic to accept the default.

2a. Overall Language / Runtime

Options: Java / JVM (Kotlin, Scala, etc.), Python, Node.js / TypeScript (default), .NET (C#, F#), Go, Rust, Other

2b. Build Tooling

Present options driven by 2a:

2a answer	Options (default first)
Java / JVM	Maven (default), Gradle, Bazel, Other
Python	uv (default), Poetry, Hatch, pip + setuptools, Bazel, Other
Node.js / TypeScript	npm (default), yarn, pnpm, Bun, Turborepo tasks, Other
.NET	MSBuild / dotnet CLI (default), Cake, NUKE, Other
Go	go build (built-in) (default), Mage, Task, Other
Rust	Cargo (built-in) (default), Other
Other	Ask user to describe

2c. Database

Options (multi-select, default: None): Relational / RDBMS (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite…), Document DB (MongoDB, Firestore…), Key-Value / Cache (Redis, DynamoDB…), Graph DB (Neo4j, Amazon Neptune…), Time-Series (InfluxDB, TimescaleDB…), Vector DB (pgvector, Pinecone, Qdrant…), None (default)

For each selected DB category, ask which specific engine (or "undecided").

2d. API Style

Options (multi-select, default: REST / HTTP): REST / HTTP (default), GraphQL, gRPC / Protobuf, tRPC, WebSockets, None / internal only

2e. Delivery Target

Options: Web (browser) (default), Desktop, Mobile, CLI / daemon, Library / SDK, Multiple

• If Web: ask about (each skippable):

  • CSS approach (default: Tailwind CSS): Tailwind CSS, Bootstrap / Bulma, CSS Modules, Styled Components / Emotion, Vanilla CSS, Other
  • State management (default: TanStack Query — server-state only): TanStack Query (server-state only), Redux / RTK, Zustand, MobX, Jotai / Recoil, None, Other
  • UI component library (default: shadcn/ui): shadcn/ui, Radix UI, MUI, Ant Design, Chakra UI, None, Other
  • Routing (default: TanStack Router): TanStack Router, React Router, Next.js App Router, None, Other

• If Desktop (default: Tauri):

  • Shell: Native (Swift/AppKit, WinUI, GTK), Webview — Electron, Webview — Tauri (default), Webview — Neutralinojs, Other

• If Mobile (default: React Native):

  • Framework: React Native (default), Flutter, Native (Swift / Kotlin), Capacitor / Ionic, Other

2f. Testing

• Unit test framework (driven by 2a, default noted per runtime):

Runtime	Options (default first)
Java / JVM	JUnit 5 (default), TestNG, Spock, Other
Python	pytest (default), unittest, Other
Node.js / TypeScript	Vitest (default), Jest, Node test runner, Other
.NET	xUnit (default), NUnit, MSTest, Other
Go	testing (built-in) (default), Testify, Other
Rust	built-in test (default), Other

• E2E / integration framework (multi-select, default: None): Playwright, Cypress, Selenium / WebDriver, Puppeteer, Detox (mobile), k6 (load), None (default), Other

2g. Linting & Formatting

Options driven by 2a (default noted per runtime):

Runtime	Options (default first)
Java / JVM	Checkstyle + google-java-format (default), PMD, SpotBugs, Other
Python	Ruff (default), Flake8 + isort + Black, Pylint, Other
Node.js / TypeScript	ESLint + Prettier (default), Biome, StandardJS, Other
.NET	Roslyn analyzers (default), StyleCop, Other
Go	golangci-lint + gofmt (default), Other
Rust	clippy + rustfmt (built-in) (default), Other

2h. Cloud & Infrastructure

• Cloud-native? (default: No): Yes — cloud-first design, Partially — some managed services, No — on-prem / self-hosted (default)
• (If Yes or Partially) Cloud providers (multi-select, default: AWS): AWS (default), Google Cloud, Azure, Cloudflare, Other

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Section 3 — AI Tools

3a. AI Coding Assistant

Options (multi-select, default: GitHub Copilot): GitHub Copilot (VS Code agent mode) (default), Claude Code (Anthropic CLI), Cursor, Google Gemini CLI / AI Studio, Codeium / Windsurf, None, Other

3b. AI Development Methodology

• Does the team follow a structured AI-driven spec methodology? (default: No — ad-hoc)

  • Options: Yes — Spec-Driven Development (SDD), Yes — custom internal methodology, No — ad-hoc (default), Unsure

• (If SDD) Spec format (default: Open Spec): Spec Kit (structured YAML/MD specs), Open Spec (Markdown-based) (default), Custom format, Other

3c. AI Agent Preferences

These will be recorded in the repo's agent instructions file (e.g. copilot-instructions.md, AGENTS.md, .cursorrules, or equivalent for the chosen assistant).

• Shell preference (default: No preference): bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell, No preference (default)
• Tool use style (default: No preference): Prefer shell commands over MCP tools when equivalent, Prefer MCP tools, No preference (default)
• Confirmation behavior (default: Ask before destructive actions): Ask before destructive actions (default), Auto-approve safe ops, ask for destructive, Minimal confirmations
• Additional free-text preferences (optional, skip to leave blank): e.g. "always use conventional commits", "never modify test files without asking"

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Section 4 — CI/CD

4a. CI/CD Platform

Options: GitHub Actions (default), GitLab CI/CD, CircleCI, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket Pipelines, Buildkite, TeamCity, None yet, Other

4b. Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Options (multi-select, default: None): Terraform / OpenTofu, AWS CDK, Pulumi, AWS CloudFormation, Azure Bicep / ARM, Ansible, Helm (Kubernetes), Docker Compose only, None (default), Other

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Section 5 — Review & Confirm

Present the complete summary in a structured format:

## Repo Init Summary

### Repo Structure
- Topology: <MonoRepo / Polyrepo>
- Monorepo tool: <if applicable>

### Tech Stack
- Language / Runtime: ...
- Build tool: ...
- Database(s): ...
- API style: ...
- Delivery target: ...
  - [Web] CSS: ... | State: ... | UI lib: ...
  - [Desktop] Shell: ...
- Unit testing: ...
- E2E testing: ...
- Linting: ...
- Cloud: ... | Providers: ...

### AI Tools
- Assistant(s): ...
- Methodology: ...
- Shell preference: ...
- Tool use style: ...
- Extra preferences: ...

### CI/CD
- Platform: ...
- IaC: ...

Ask the user to confirm or correct any item before proceeding.

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Section 6 — Next Steps

After confirmation, ask the user what they want to do next (multi-select):

• Init the project right now — scaffold the repo layout, config files, and tooling based on the choices above (monorepo config, linter/formatter config, build tool config, etc.)
• Set up AI assistant configs — generate AGENTS.md and tool-specific config files (CLAUDE.md, copilot-instructions.md, Cursor rules, GEMINI.md, etc.) using the ai-config skill. The assistant choices, shell preference, methodology, and extra conventions from Section 3 will be passed automatically — no re-answering needed.
• (Only if SDD was selected in 3b) Install SDD Tools — set up the spec-driven development toolchain and folder structure for the chosen spec format
• Something else — ask the user to describe what they need; proceed accordingly

Execute each selected action one by one. For any action that writes files, describe what will be created and confirm before writing.

Handoff to ai-config skill

When "Set up AI assistant configs" is selected, invoke the ai-config skill and pass the following context from Section 3 so it skips the questions already answered:

tools:         <list from 3a, e.g. [copilot, claude]>
shell:         <from 3c>
commit_style:  <from 3c extra preferences, if mentioned>
confirmation:  <from 3c>
extra:         <from 3c free-text preferences>
methodology:   <from 3b, e.g. spec-driven>
stack:
  runtime:     <from 2a>
  linter:      <from 2g>
  test:        <from 2f unit framework>

Announce to the user which values are being pre-filled before the ai-config skill starts, so they can correct anything without re-running the full wizard.

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Guidelines

• One section at a time. Present one section's questions, then wait for the user's answers before moving on.
• Fasttrack first. Always offer presets before starting Section 1. Loading a preset jumps directly to Section 5.
• Skip = default. If the user says "skip", "default", or leaves a reply blank, use the marked default and announce it: "Using default: X".
• Load the current platform reference first. Use the matching file in ./references/ before the interview starts so you follow that agent's preferred question UX.
• Prefer native question UI. Use the platform's structured question/input tool when available. Fall back to plain chat only if the platform has no dedicated input mechanism.
• One question per turn. Even within a section, keep each prompt focused on a single decision.
• Explain on demand. If the user asks "what is X?" or "explain X" at any point, explain the term concisely, then re-present the current question so they can answer without losing their place.
• Keep the main skill body platform-neutral. Do not hardcode environment-specific tool names here; put those details in the reference files.
• Adapt options to runtime. Build tools, test frameworks, and linters shown must match the selected language.
• Mark branches clearly. Only ask conditional sub-questions when the parent condition is met.
• Always include an "Other" option with a free-text field so users aren't blocked by a missing option.
• Multi-select where applicable. Database, cloud providers, IaC, and AI assistants can have more than one answer. Use native multi-select UI when supported; otherwise collect a comma-separated or repeated-answer list and confirm the parsed values if needed.
• Preserve all answers across sections — the full state is needed for the summary and file generation.
• Be concise in questions. Show a short description per option, not paragraphs.
• SDD state is sticky. If the user selected SDD in Section 3b, always surface the "Install SDD Tools" option in Next Steps.