Scaffold a New Project

You create the full directory structure and configuration files for a new project.

Process

Step 1: Gather Project Details

If $ARGUMENTS provides a project name, use it. Otherwise ask:

• "What should the project be called?" (used for directory name and package.json)
• "Where should I create it?" (default: current directory)

Read ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../imp_doc/getting-started/setup.md for detailed setup instructions and best practices.

Step 2: Create Directory Structure

<project-name>/
├── trigger/              — Trigger.dev task definitions
├── src/
│   ├── clients/          — API clients with rate limiting
│   ├── db/
│   │   └── schema/       — Drizzle ORM table definitions
│   └── lib/              — Utilities (rate-limiter, dedup, config)
├── scripts/              — Manual trigger and utility scripts
├── server/               — Data viewer server (optional)
├── tests/
│   ├── unit/             — Unit tests
│   └── integration/      — Integration tests
├── docs/                 — Architecture docs and learnings
└── baml_src/             — BAML schema definitions (if using LLM calls)

Step 3: Generate package.json

Create package.json with:

{
  "name": "<project-name>",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "type": "module",
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "npx trigger.dev@4.3.3 dev",
    "deploy": "npx trigger.dev@4.3.3 deploy --env prod",
    "test": "vitest run",
    "test:watch": "vitest",
    "db:generate": "drizzle-kit generate",
    "db:migrate": "drizzle-kit migrate",
    "db:push": "NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0 drizzle-kit push",
    "db:studio": "NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0 drizzle-kit studio",
    "server": "tsx server/index.ts",
    "server:dev": "tsx --watch server/index.ts"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@trigger.dev/sdk": "4.3.3",
    "drizzle-orm": "^0.39.0",
    "pg": "^8.13.0",
    "zod": "^3.24.0",
    "hono": "^4.6.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@trigger.dev/build": "4.3.3",
    "drizzle-kit": "^0.30.0",
    "tsx": "^4.19.0",
    "typescript": "^5.7.0",
    "vitest": "^3.0.0",
    "@types/pg": "^8.11.0",
    "@types/node": "^22.0.0"
  }
}

Step 4: Generate TypeScript Config

Create tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2022",
    "module": "ESNext",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "strict": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true,
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
    "resolveJsonModule": true,
    "declaration": true,
    "declarationMap": true,
    "sourceMap": true,
    "outDir": "./dist",
    "rootDir": ".",
    "paths": {
      "@/*": ["./src/*"]
    }
  },
  "include": ["src/**/*", "trigger/**/*", "server/**/*", "scripts/**/*"],
  "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist"]
}

Step 5: Copy Template Files

Copy from ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../templates/:

After copying, replace <PROJECT_ID> placeholders in trigger.config.ts with the project name.

Step 6: Generate .env.example

# Database (PostgreSQL)
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://<USER>:<PASSWORD>@<HOST>:<PORT>/<DATABASE>?sslmode=require

# Trigger.dev
TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY=<YOUR_TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY>
TRIGGER_API_URL=https://api.trigger.dev

# Observability (optional — Axiom)
AXIOM_API_TOKEN=<YOUR_AXIOM_API_TOKEN>
AXIOM_DATASET=<YOUR_DATASET_NAME>

# Add API keys for your data sources below:
# RAPIDAPI_KEY=<YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY>
# LLM_API_KEY=<YOUR_LLM_API_KEY>

Step 7: Generate drizzle.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from "drizzle-kit";

export default defineConfig({
  schema: "./src/db/schema/index.ts",
  out: "./drizzle",
  dialect: "postgresql",
  dbCredentials: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL!,
    ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: false },
  },
});

Step 8: Initialize Git

git init

Create .gitignore:

node_modules/
dist/
.env
*.log
drizzle/
.trigger/

Step 9: Report

Project "<project-name>" scaffolded:

  src/db/schema/index.ts       — Drizzle schema (base tables)
  src/lib/pipeline-config.ts   — Rate limits, batch sizes, config
  src/clients/base-client.ts   — API client template
  trigger.config.ts            — Trigger.dev configuration
  tsconfig.json                — TypeScript config
  package.json                 — Dependencies
  drizzle.config.ts            — Drizzle Kit config
  .env.example                 — Environment variables template
  .gitignore                   — Git ignore rules

Next steps:
  1. cp .env.example .env      — fill in your secrets
  2. npm install               — install dependencies
  3. /scaffold-client <api>    — add your first API client
  4. /scaffold-task <task>     — add your first background task

Step 10: Record Learnings

Reflect on the scaffolding process. If you encountered any of the following, record them to .outbound-builder-plugin-memory.json:

• Errors or workarounds (e.g., dependency conflicts, config issues)
• Non-obvious behaviors (e.g., a template needed unexpected modifications)
• API quirks or platform-specific gotchas
• Schema decisions that differed from the template defaults

For each learning:

1. Determine the category: error-fix, api-quirk, schema-pattern, config-gotcha, build-pattern, or domain-insight
2. Generate a deterministic ID: mem- + first 8 chars of MD5 hash of category:title (use python3)
3. Read .outbound-builder-plugin-memory.json (create with {"version":1,"entries":[],"proven_patterns":[]} if missing)
4. Dedup by ID -- if the same ID exists, increment success_count and update date
5. Otherwise append a new entry with success_count: 1, source: "scaffold", and context.stage: "scaffold-project"
6. Rebuild proven_patterns from entries with success_count >= 2
7. Write the file

Skip this step if nothing noteworthy happened during scaffolding.

Rules

• Never include real secrets — use <YOUR_*> placeholders in .env.example
• Pin Trigger.dev CLI and SDK versions to match (4.3.3)
• Always set ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: false } for cloud-hosted PostgreSQL
• Template files should be copied, not symlinked
• The project must work with npm install && npm run dev after filling in .env