agent-folder-init

Agent Folder Init

Authorized Scope

Act only within the user's request and existing approval; loading this skill grants no new authority. Keep report-only requests report-only, honor the caller's target, host, provider, and cost limits, ask before expanding scope, and forward these limits to delegates.

Contract

Inputs:

• Existing project root
• Project name and primary tech stack
• Optional platform entry surfaces: Claude Code, Codex, and/or Cursor

Outputs:

• Dry-run plan by default
• .agents/ documentation structure and root AGENTS.md after explicit --write
• Optional CLAUDE.md or .cursor/rules/agent-context.mdc only when that platform is explicitly selected; Codex uses AGENTS.md
• Summary of planned, written, skipped, and unchanged files

Creates/Modifies:

• .agents/, root AGENTS.md, optional CLAUDE.md, optional Cursor project rule, and .editorconfig
• Does not create application source code

External Side Effects:

• None in the default dry run; --write performs local file writes only

Confirmation Required:

• Before any write: review the dry-run plan and explicitly rerun with --write
• Before overwriting an existing entry file: add --force-entry-files; symlink and non-file targets are always refused
• Before writing outside the current workspace

Delegates To:

• project-init-orchestrator when starting a new product repo
• project-init-orchestrator (v0 route) / npx @shipshitdev/v0 when a new Shipshit.dev product should be scaffolded
• agent-config-audit after generation to detect drift or stale config

Purpose

This skill plans, then scaffolds a lean AI agent documentation system including:

• Session tracking (daily files in .agents/sessions/)
• Durable project context in .agents/memory/ (one topic per file)
• Supported platform entry surfaces without copying commands, rules, agents, user settings, or another project's configuration

When to Use

• Adding AI coding-assistant context to an existing project
• Setting up AI-first development workflows
• Migrating an existing project to use structured AI documentation

For new Shipshit.dev product repos, prefer project-init-orchestrator, which routes to npx @shipshitdev/v0 and includes the standard .agents, .claude, and .codex setup.

Usage

Run the scaffold script:

python3 scripts/scaffold.py --help

# Basic usage
python3 scripts/scaffold.py \
  --root /path/to/project \
  --name "My Project"

# Review the plan, then write the shared files
python3 scripts/scaffold.py \
  --root /path/to/project \
  --name "My Project" \
  --write \
  --allow-outside

# Add only the documented Claude and Cursor entry surfaces
python3 scripts/scaffold.py \
  --root /path/to/project \
  --name "My Project" \
  --platform claude \
  --platform cursor \
  --write \
  --allow-outside

The default is always a dry run. --force-entry-files is the only flag that permits overwriting AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, or the generated Cursor entry rule. Other existing files are preserved.

Generated Structure

Documentation (.agents/)

.agents/
├── README.md                    # Navigation hub
├── memory/
│   └── README.md                # Source of truth for durable project facts
└── sessions/
    ├── README.md                # Session format guide
    └── TEMPLATE.md              # Session file template

Shared rules and coding standards go in the applicable AGENTS.md. Use AGENTS.override.md only for an intentional subtree override and CLAUDE.md only for Claude-specific additions. Durable supporting detail belongs in .agents/memory/.

Task tracking uses GitHub Issues (gh issue list, gh issue create) — not local task files.

Platform entry surfaces

AGENTS.md                         # shared instructions; native Codex entry
CLAUDE.md                         # only with --platform claude
.cursor/rules/agent-context.mdc   # only with --platform cursor

The scaffold never generates .codex/commands, copies user settings, or imports a library checkout. It copies only four .agents/ templates, .editorconfig, and the explicitly selected entry templates. Missing canonical assets are a hard failure before any write; there is no embedded or stale fallback.

Root Files

• AGENTS.md - Shared project instructions and .agents/ navigation
• CLAUDE.md - Optional Claude-specific additions that reference AGENTS.md
• .editorconfig - Editor configuration

Key Patterns

memory/ Files

• One topic per file: memory/architecture.md, memory/deployment.md, memory/entities.md, etc.
• Every file carries a last_verified: YYYY-MM-DD front-matter field.
• Transient or short-lived facts add status: temporary.

Session Files

• One file per day: sessions/YYYY-MM-DD.md
• Multiple sessions same day use Session 1, Session 2, etc. in the same file.

Customization

After scaffolding, customize:

1. Root agent entry file - Add project-specific coding standards and "never do" rules
2. .agents/memory/architecture.md - Document your architecture decisions
3. .agents/memory/entities.md - Document your data entities
4. .agents/memory/deployment.md - Document deployment steps and gotchas
5. GitHub Issues - Create issues for tasks (gh issue create)
6. Platform entry files - Add only harness-specific guidance that cannot live in shared AGENTS.md

Integration with Other Skills

This skill integrates with:

Skill	How It Works Together
project-init-orchestrator	Routes new product requests to v0 before lower-level setup
project-init-orchestrator	Uses v0 for new Shipshit.dev product workspaces
linter-formatter-init	Sets up quality tooling in the scaffolded project
husky-test-coverage	Enforces test coverage in pre-commit hooks