init

name	init
description	Set up a new project in phren with summary, CLAUDE.md, task, and skill templates.
dependencies	["git"]

phren-init - Scaffold a new project

Set up a new project in phren with summary, CLAUDE.md, task, and skill templates.

Tell phren about a new project, or bootstrap phren himself if you're starting fresh.

Usage

phren-init my-new-project    # scaffold a specific project
phren-init                   # list existing projects, suggest unconfigured ones

First: find or create the phren directory

PHREN_DIR="${PHREN_DIR:-$HOME/.phren}"
ls "$PHREN_DIR" 2>/dev/null

If the phren directory doesn't exist, offer to create it:

"No phren repo found. Want me to create one at ~/.phren? This will set up the base directory structure (global/, profiles/, machines.yaml)."

If the user says yes, create the base structure:

mkdir -p "$PHREN_DIR"/{global/skills,profiles}
# Create a starter machines.yaml
# Create a starter profile

Then continue with the project scaffolding below.

With a project name

1. Check it doesn't already exist

ls "$PHREN_DIR/<project-name>/" 2>/dev/null

If it exists, tell the user and ask if they want to reset it or just update specific files.

2. Create the project directory

mkdir -p "$PHREN_DIR/<project-name>/skills"

3. Create summary.md

This is the project's identity card. Five lines, no more.

# <project-name>

What: <one sentence about what this project does>
Stack: <languages, frameworks, key deps>
Status: <active / maintenance / new / archived>
Run: <the main command to start it, e.g. "npm run dev">
Watch out: <the one thing that trips people up>

Ask the user for these if you can't figure them out from the project directory. If the project directory exists on disk (e.g. ~/<project-name>/), read its package.json, pyproject.toml, README, or similar to pre-fill.

4. Create CLAUDE.md

# <project-name>

<One paragraph: what this project is and what it does.>

## Commands

```

Architecture

Conventions

Pre-fill from the project's existing README or package.json if available. Leave architecture and conventions as placeholders with the HTML comments.

### 5. Create tasks.md

```markdown
# <project-name> tasks

## Active

## Queue

## Done

6. Create skills README

# <project-name> skills

Project-specific skills go here. Add `.md` files and phren will resolve them together with global skills, then mirror the effective set into the project's `.claude/skills/` directory on sync.

Write this to $PHREN_DIR/<project-name>/skills/README.md.

7. Add to profile(s)

Check if profiles exist:

ls "$PHREN_DIR/profiles/"*.yaml 2>/dev/null

If profiles exist, ask: "Which profile should this project be in?" and show the options.

If no profiles exist, offer to create one:

"No profiles set up yet. Want me to create a 'default' profile with this project in it?"

Then add the project name to the chosen profile's projects list.

8. Commit (if git repo)

cd "$PHREN_DIR"
git add <project-name>/
git add profiles/  # if modified
git commit -m "add <project-name>"
git push  # only if remote exists

If phren isn't a git repo yet, walk them through the full setup:

cd "$PHREN_DIR"
git init
git add -A
git commit -m "initial phren setup"

Then check if gh is available:

which gh && gh auth status

If yes, offer to create the GitHub repo:

"Your phren isn't on GitHub yet. Want me to create a private repo and push it? That's what lets you sync across machines."

If they say yes:

gh repo create my-phren --private --source=. --push

If gh isn't available, show the manual steps:

"Create a private repo at github.com/new, then: git remote add origin [e-mail]:YOU/my-phren.git git push -u origin main

Once it's on GitHub, clone it on any machine and run phren-sync to activate."

9. Report

phren-init <project-name>

Created:
  $PHREN_DIR/<project-name>/summary.md
  $PHREN_DIR/<project-name>/CLAUDE.md
  $PHREN_DIR/<project-name>/tasks.md
  $PHREN_DIR/<project-name>/skills/README.md

Added to profile: default

Run phren-sync to activate on this machine.

Without a project name

When user just runs phren-init with no args:

1. If phren directory exists, list all directories that have a summary.md (configured projects)
2. Look for directories in ~/ that look like projects (have package.json, pyproject.toml, Cargo.toml, go.mod, etc.) but don't have a phren entry
3. Show both lists and suggest adding unconfigured ones

phren-init: project scan

Configured in phren:
  myapp, api-server

Found on this machine but not in phren:
  ~/side-project (has package.json)
  ~/experiments/rust-thing (has Cargo.toml)

Run phren-init <name> to add one.

If phren doesn't exist at all, offer to bootstrap it from scratch.

Related skills

• phren-sync: activate the new project on this machine after init
• phren-discover: find what to build next in a project
• /tasks: manage the project's task queue