Project Initialization

Initialize the project in the current working directory. Existing project files are preserved in an old* directory for later review; do not merge them into the new scaffold during this workflow.

Dual-Runtime Project Generation

The bundled template contains Claude project sources under .claude/**. Its Git hooks use the installed ~/.claude/scripts/codex-sync-git-guard.py: pre-commit generates and stages AGENTS.md, .agents/skills/**, and .codex/agents/** after the sources are staged; pre-push checks for drift. Host-local .codex/.sync/** is ignored. A reported conflict or validation error stops the action.

1. Check the Current Directory

Work only in the current directory. If it is already a Git repository with uncommitted changes, ask whether to commit them first, continue while preserving them in old*, or stop. Do not proceed until the user chooses.

Resolve the directory of this loaded project-initialization skill and set INIT_SKILL_DIR to that absolute path. Verify that its assets/new-project/ directory exists before moving project files.

Determine whether this is a software project (main + dev) or a skills workspace (main only). Use the request and existing project context; ask if the type is unclear.

2. Preserve Existing Files and Apply the Template

If the current directory contains anything other than .git, move all such entries into the first available directory named old, old2, old3, and so on. Do not move .git.

OLD_DIR=""
if find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 ! -name '.git' -print -quit | grep -q .; then
  OLD_DIR="old"
  N=2
  while [ -e "$OLD_DIR" ]; do OLD_DIR="old${N}"; ((N++)); done
  mkdir "$OLD_DIR"
  find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 ! -name '.git' ! -name "$OLD_DIR" -exec mv -- {} "$OLD_DIR/" \;
fi

cp -rp "$INIT_SKILL_DIR/assets/new-project/." .

If OLD_DIR is non-empty, add its exact root-relative directory (for example /old2/) to the new root .gitignore. Keep the archive local and untracked so Git hooks do not treat its saved Claude configuration as another active project. Do not stage the archive.

Before staging, set Default branch in the copied CLAUDE.md to dev for software or main for a skills workspace. For a skills workspace, also replace Branch Structure in .claude/skills/project-knowledge/references/patterns.md with a single main branch for active work and remove the merge-to-dev and merge-to-main testing requirements.

3. Initialize Git and Hooks

Initialize Git with main as the primary branch when needed. For an existing repository, preserve its history and make the current primary branch main. Then:

1. Make .githooks/pre-commit and .githooks/pre-push executable.
2. Set git config core.hooksPath .githooks.
3. Stage the scaffold and tracked deletions caused by the move. Keep the ignored old* archive untracked.
4. Create the first initialization commit. The pre-commit hook generates and stages AGENTS.md alongside .agents/skills/** and .codex/agents/**; .gitignore excludes .codex/.sync/**. If generation reports a conflict or validation error, the commit stops. If the repository already has history, create a normal initialization commit instead of rewriting existing commits.

4. Connect GitHub and Create Branches

GitHub is required for this workflow. Verify that gh is installed and authenticated.

• If origin already exists, show its URL and ask whether it is the intended repository. Stop on a mismatch rather than replacing the remote. Confirm through gh that the repository is private; if it is public, stop and ask whether to make it private or use another repository.
• If origin does not exist, ask for the GitHub repository name unless already supplied. The supplied name authorizes creating the private repository. Create it with gh repo create {name} --private --source=. --remote=origin.

For software projects, before any push inspect whether a local or remote dev branch already exists. If neither exists, create dev from main. If either exists, show its relationship to main and ask whether to reuse it; never reset or recreate an existing dev, and stop if local and remote histories conflict. For a skills workspace, use main without creating dev.

Ask explicitly before pushing main. After approval, push main; for software also push the created or approved dev and leave dev checked out. For a skills workspace, leave main checked out. Read the canonical repository URL through gh.

5. Report the Result

Report:

• the GitHub URL;
• the created or reused branches: main and dev for software, main for a skills workspace;
• the preserved local, Git-ignored old* directory, or that the directory was initially empty;
• the active branch: dev for software or main for a skills workspace;
• the next step: create the initial Project Knowledge with documentation-writing.

Do not review or merge files from old* during initialization.