Project Bootstrapper Skill

Purpose

Sets up new projects or improves existing projects with development best practices, tooling, documentation, and workflow automation. Creates a professional, maintainable foundation for development.

When to Use

This skill automatically activates when users want to:

• Start a new project from scratch
• Improve existing project structure
• Add missing development tooling
• Standardize project setup
• Set up CI/CD pipelines
• Create professional documentation
• Establish development workflows

Activation phrases:

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

What It Does

Systematically sets up or improves a project across eight key areas:

1. Project Structure

• Analyzes existing structure (if any)
• Creates standard directories:
  • src/ or language-specific source dirs
  • tests/ or __tests__/
  • docs/ for documentation
  • scripts/ for automation
  • .github/ for GitHub workflows (if applicable)
• Organizes files logically
• Suggests structure improvements

2. Git Configuration

• Creates/updates .gitignore with comprehensive patterns
• Sets up .gitattributes for line endings and diffs
• Configures git hooks (pre-commit, commit-msg, etc.)
• Adds branch protection patterns
• Sets up git LFS if needed

3. Documentation

• Creates comprehensive README.md:
  • Project description and purpose
  • Installation instructions
  • Usage examples
  • Development setup
  • Contributing guidelines
  • License information
• Adds CONTRIBUTING.md for collaboration
• Sets up code documentation (JSDoc, docstrings, etc.)
• Creates CHANGELOG.md structure
• Adds architecture documentation if complex

4. Testing Setup

• Identifies or suggests testing framework
• Sets up test structure and conventions
• Creates example/template tests
• Configures test runners
• Sets up coverage reporting
• Adds testing scripts/commands

5. Code Quality Tools

• Configures linters (ESLint, Pylint, etc.)
• Sets up code formatters (Prettier, Black, etc.)
• Adds type checking (TypeScript, mypy, etc.)
• Configures pre-commit hooks for quality
• Sets up editor configs (.editorconfig)
• Adds code quality badges

6. Dependencies Management

• Sets up package manager configuration
• Organizes dependencies logically
• Checks for security vulnerabilities
• Sets up dependency updates (Dependabot, Renovate)
• Creates lock files
• Documents dependency choices

7. Development Workflow

• Creates useful npm scripts / Makefile targets
• Sets up environment variable templates (.env.example)
• Adds Docker configuration if appropriate
• Creates development startup scripts
• Sets up hot-reload / watch modes
• Documents development workflow

8. CI/CD Setup

• Creates GitHub Actions / GitLab CI config
• Sets up automated testing
• Configures automated deployment (if applicable)
• Adds status badges
• Sets up release automation
• Configures branch protection

Approach

Discovery Phase

Before making changes, asks clarifying questions:

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

Implementation Phase

1. Analyze existing structure (if existing project)
2. Create plan based on user answers
3. Show plan and get approval
4. Implement systematically:
   • One area at a time
   • Explain each change
   • Test as you go
5. Verify completeness
6. Provide handoff documentation

Customization

Adapts to:

• Language ecosystem: Node.js vs Python vs Go vs Rust, etc.
• Project size: Small script vs large application
• Team size: Solo vs collaborative
• Maturity: Startup speed vs enterprise standards

Example Interaction

User: "Set up this new Python project properly"

Skill:
Asks:
- Purpose? → "CLI tool for data processing"
- Deployment? → "PyPI package"
- Preferences? → "Use Poetry for deps, pytest for tests"

Implements:
1. Project structure (src/package_name, tests/, docs/)
2. Poetry configuration with pyproject.toml
3. Git setup (.gitignore for Python, pre-commit hooks)
4. README with installation and usage
5. Pytest setup with example tests
6. Black + Ruff for formatting/linting
7. GitHub Actions for CI
8. Makefile with common commands

Result: Professional, ready-to-develop project

Tools Used

• AskUserQuestion: Gather requirements and preferences
• Write: Create configuration files, documentation
• Edit: Update existing files
• Bash: Initialize tools (git init, npm init, etc.)
• Read: Analyze existing project structure
• Glob: Find files to update or migrate

Success Criteria

• All standard files present and configured
• Documentation is clear and complete
• Development workflow is documented
• Quality tooling is automated (pre-commit hooks)
• Tests can be run easily
• Project follows language/framework conventions
• New developers can onboard quickly
• No obvious best practices missing

Templates

Maintains templates for common setups:

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

Uses appropriate template as starting point, customizes based on user needs.

Integration

Works well with:

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

Scope Control

Can do:

• 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

User can specify scope, defaults to full setup for new projects, improvement pass for existing.

Post-Setup

After setup, provides:

• Checklist of what was done
• Next steps for starting development
• Tips specific to the stack
• Commands reference for common tasks
• Customization guide for adapting the setup