project-scaffold

Create the canonical folder structure and seed files for a new project. Every project in this suite shares the same skeleton so that any agent (Claude, Codex, Gemini, Copilot) can cold-start from any project and immediately know where things live.

When to use

• User says "new project", "scaffold", "init", or names a project to start.
• A project directory exists but is missing standard files.
• User asks "set up the folder structure" or "create the template files."

Inputs

Input	Source	Required
Project name	User prompt	Yes
Project root path	User prompt or cwd	Yes
Templates	Bundled in templates/ beside this skill	Yes

Instructions

1. Confirm the project name and root path with the user. Do not assume — ask if ambiguous.

2. Create the following directory tree under the project root:

<project-root>/
  artifacts/
    research/
      summary/
    reviews/
  docs/
  src/

Artifact DB: artifacts/db.sh is the skill suite's SQLite helper. It creates and manages artifacts/project.db on first use. All intermediate skill outputs (research findings, review findings, session state) are stored there. Final synthesis documents (artifacts/research/summary/, artifacts/reviews/review-synthesis.md, artifacts/reviews/production-readiness.md) remain as files.

3. Copy and personalize the following template files from templates/ into the project root. Replace {{PROJECT_NAME}} placeholders with the actual project name:

Template file	Destination
coterie-template.md	coterie.md
cnotes-template.md	cnotes.md
todo-template.md	todo.md
features-template.md	features.md
claude-md-template.md	CLAUDE.md
agents-md-template.md	AGENTS.md
gemini-md-template.md	GEMINI.md
gitignore-template	.gitignore
../../../references/db.sh	artifacts/db.sh

After copying all templates, run: chmod +x artifacts/db.sh

4. coterie.md specifics — the coterie template is the shared rules file that all agents read. When copying it, verify it includes:

   • Structured note schema with author delimiters: CODEX, CLAUDE, GEMINI, COPILOT.
   • Note ID format: CN-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-AUTHOR (e.g., CN-20260306-143022-CLAUDE).
   • All 13 required fields for structured notes (id, author, timestamp, category, status, priority, tags, related_files, related_notes, summary, detail, action_items, resolution).
   • Communication style rules — concise, no filler, bullet points over prose.
   • Code standards — language-agnostic defaults (consistent naming, no dead code, tests required).
   • Commit message format — conventional commits (type(scope): description).
   • Sections removed from template (now handled elsewhere): "When to Ask vs When to Act" (generic, Claude already knows this) and "Cross-Cutting Rules pointer" (schema is inlined in references/cross-cutting-rules.md).

5. After all files are created, list every file and directory created and confirm with the user.

Exit condition

All directories (artifacts/research/, artifacts/research/summary/, artifacts/reviews/, docs/, src/) exist. All template files are present and personalized. artifacts/db.sh is present and executable. The user has seen the summary and confirmed.

Examples

User: "Start a new project called nexus-api"
Action: Ask for root path, scaffold all folders and files under that path with
        PROJECT_NAME = nexus-api.

User: "I have a project at ~/projects/dashboard but it's missing the standard files"
Action: Check which standard files are missing, create only the missing ones.
        Do not overwrite existing files without asking.

User: "scaffold"
Action: Ask for project name and path, then proceed.

Cross-cutting

Before completing, read and follow ../references/cross-cutting-rules.md.