| name | pair-process-bootstrap |
| description | Orchestrates full project setup — PRD verification, project categorization, checklist, standards, quality gates, PM tool — for a brand-new project, end to end. Composes /pair-process-specify-prd, /pair-capability-setup-pm, /pair-capability-record-decision, assess-* (optional). |
| version | 0.5.0 |
| author | Foomakers |
/pair-process-bootstrap — Project Bootstrap
Orchestrate the complete project setup sequence. Transforms a PRD into a fully configured project with adopted standards, quality gates, and PM tool integration. Each phase checks output existence before acting — re-invocation resumes from the first incomplete phase.
Composed Skills
| Skill | Type | Required |
|---|
/pair-process-specify-prd | Process | Yes — invoked if PRD is missing or template |
/pair-capability-setup-pm | Capability | Yes — invoked in finalization phase for PM tool configuration |
/pair-capability-record-decision | Capability | Yes — invoked for each bootstrap decision (categorization, tech choices, etc) |
/pair-capability-assess-architecture | Capability | Optional — architecture pattern assessment. Graceful degradation if absent. |
/pair-capability-assess-stack | Capability | Optional — tech stack assessment (core sections). Graceful degradation if absent. |
/pair-capability-assess-testing | Capability | Optional — testing strategy assessment. Graceful degradation if absent. |
/pair-capability-assess-infrastructure | Capability | Optional — infrastructure assessment. Graceful degradation if absent. |
/pair-capability-assess-observability | Capability | Optional — observability assessment. Graceful degradation if absent. |
/pair-capability-assess-methodology | Capability | Optional — methodology assessment. Graceful degradation if absent. |
/pair-capability-assess-pm | Capability | Optional — PM tool assessment (delegates to /pair-capability-setup-pm). Graceful degradation if absent. |
/pair-capability-assess-ai | Capability | Optional — AI development tools assessment. Graceful degradation if absent. |
/pair-capability-map-subdomains | Capability | Optional — full-catalog ($scope: all) domain mapping, the only caller allowed this scope. Graceful degradation if absent. |
/pair-capability-map-contexts | Capability | Optional — full-catalog ($scope: all) context mapping, the only caller allowed this scope. Graceful degradation if absent. |
Phase 0: PRD Verification (BLOCKING)
Step 0.1: Check PRD State
- Check: Does adoption/product/PRD.md exist and is it populated (not a template)?
- A file is a template if it contains
[Product/feature name] or [Creation date].
- Skip (populated PRD): Extract project name and key constraints. Move to Phase 1.
- Act (missing or template): Compose
/pair-process-specify-prd.
- Wait for PRD approval before proceeding.
- Verify: PRD exists and is populated. If not → HALT.
Step 0.2: Extract Key Constraints from PRD
- Act: Read PRD and extract:
- Target users and scale expectations
- Budget and timeline constraints
- Team size and technical skills
- Compliance and integration requirements
- Key features (P0/P1/P2)
- Verify: Key constraints documented in session state.
Phase 1: Project Categorization
Step 1.1: Check Existing Categorization
- Check: Does adoption/decision-log/ contain a
*-project-categorization.md file?
- Skip: If categorization already recorded, read it and move to Phase 2.
- Act: Proceed to categorization analysis.
Step 1.2: Categorize Project
-
Act: Evaluate project indicators from PRD:
- Team size and budget constraints
- Scale expectations and performance needs
- Compliance and integration complexity
- Timeline pressures and market requirements
-
Act: Present categorization with evidence:
Based on PRD analysis, this project fits [Type X] categorization:
- Type A (Pet/PoC): Small team (1-3), minimal budget, single user or small group, no compliance, fast iteration
- Type B (Startup/Scale-up): Growing team (3-15), moderate budget, scaling users, some integrations, rapid growth
- Type C (Enterprise): Large team (15+), significant budget, many users, compliance requirements, complex integrations
Evidence: [specific PRD indicators]
Does this categorization match your project?
-
Act: On confirmation, compose /pair-capability-record-decision:
$type: non-architectural
$topic: project-categorization
$summary: "Project categorized as Type [X] — [category name]"
-
Verify: Categorization decision recorded.
Phase 2: Checklist Completion
Step 2.1: Check Existing Adoption Files
-
Check: Scan adoption/tech/ for existing files. Classify each as populated or template:
architecture.md
tech-stack.md
infrastructure.md (optional — not all project types need it)
ux-ui.md (optional — not all project types need it)
way-of-working.md
-
Skip: Files that are already populated — do not re-generate.
-
Act: Build a checklist of missing or template files to complete.
Step 2.2: Assessment Phase (Optional)
-
Check: Are assess-* skills installed? Scan installed skills directory for assess-* skills.
-
Act (installed): Compose assess-* skills in recommended sequence — see assess-orchestration.md for the sequence, each skill's owned adoption-file section, and the parallel-safety/partial-installation rules. Each skill checks its own adoption file first — already-decided domains are skipped automatically (resolution cascade). assess-* skills are output-only: each returns a proposal { content, target, decision-metadata } and writes nothing. For each accepted proposal, /pair-process-bootstrap composes /record-decision(content, target, decision-metadata) — the sole adoption writer — to persist it. Never let an assess-* skill write adoption directly.
-
Act (not installed): Warn and proceed with manual assessment:
assess-* skills are not yet installed. Proceeding with manual assessment.
For each technical area, I'll reference the guidelines and ask you to make decisions directly.
-
Verify: Assessment data collected (via skills or manually) and persisted via /pair-capability-record-decision. All adoption files written from assess-* proposals are consistent.
Step 2.3: Gather Information per Section
For each missing adoption file, work through the relevant checklist section. Reference the Bootstrap Checklist for section-specific questions.
-
Architecture — scale, integrations, compliance, patterns
-
Tech Stack — languages, frameworks, libraries with versions
-
Infrastructure — deployment, CI/CD, monitoring, environments
-
UX/UI — design system, accessibility, device support
-
Way of Working — processes, quality gates, release cycles
Rules:
- Ask 3-4 focused questions per section
- Wait for developer responses before proceeding
- Record each significant decision via
/pair-capability-record-decision (non-architectural → ADL, architectural → ADR)
Phase 3: Standards Generation
Step 3.1: Generate Adoption Documents
For each missing adoption file (in order: architecture → tech-stack → infrastructure → ux-ui → way-of-working):
- Check: Is this file already populated? If yes, skip.
- Act: Generate the document following:
- Adopted Standards format (if format guide exists)
- Concise, prescriptive English
- Specific versions and configuration details
- References to KB guidelines for detailed rationale
- Act: Present key decisions with rationale for developer review.
- Act: Iterate on feedback until approved.
- Act: Save to adoption/tech/
<filename>.md.
- Verify: File written, consistent with other adoption files.
Step 3.2: Quality Gate Setup
-
Check: Does adoption/tech/way-of-working.md already contain a Custom Gate Registry with entries?
-
Skip: If quality gates already configured, move to Phase 4.
-
Act: Ask the developer:
Quality gate setup:
The standard pipeline includes: type checking, testing, linting, formatting.
Do you want custom quality gates beyond the standard pipeline?
Examples: security scanning, bundle size checks, smoke tests, accessibility audits.
If yes, describe the additional gates. If no, I'll configure the standard pipeline only.
-
Act: For each quality gate (standard + custom):
- Add entry to the Custom Gate Registry in
way-of-working.md with: Order, Gate name, Command, Scope Key, Required flag, Description
- Create placeholder script entries (in
package.json scripts or technology-specific equivalent) so the gate infrastructure is executable from day one
-
Act: Record quality gate decisions via /pair-capability-record-decision:
$type: non-architectural
$topic: quality-gate-setup
-
Verify: Quality gates documented in way-of-working and placeholder scripts exist.
Phase 3.5: Domain Modeling (optional, full-catalog)
Runs after architecture and tech-stack are adopted (Step 3.1) — both are prerequisites for /pair-capability-map-contexts.
Step 3.5.1: Subdomain Placement
- Check: Is
/pair-capability-map-subdomains installed? Does adoption/product/subdomain/ already contain populated entries?
- Skip: If not installed → warn and proceed to Step 3.5.2 without subdomain placement. If already populated → proceed to Step 3.5.2.
- Act: Compose
/pair-capability-map-subdomains with $scope: all — the only caller allowed a full-catalog run. Uses PRD (always present at this point); falls back to "system areas" if no initiatives exist yet.
- Verify: Subdomain catalog created/updated, or fallback noted. Proceed regardless of outcome.
Step 3.5.2: Bounded Context Placement
- Check: Is
/pair-capability-map-contexts installed? Does adoption/tech/boundedcontext/ already contain populated entries?
- Skip: If not installed → warn and proceed to Phase 4 without context mapping. If already populated → proceed to Phase 4.
- Act: Compose
/pair-capability-map-contexts with $scope: all — the only caller allowed a full-catalog run. Uses the subdomain catalog (Step 3.5.1) plus architecture.md and tech-stack.md (Step 3.1).
- Verify: Bounded context catalog created/updated, or fallback noted. Domain modeling never blocks bootstrap completion — proceed to Phase 4 regardless of outcome.
Phase 4: Finalization
Step 4.1: Consistency Verification
- Act: Re-read all adoption files:
- Act: Verify cross-document consistency:
- Tech stack versions match architecture references
- Way-of-working references correct tools from tech-stack
- Infrastructure aligns with architecture patterns
- Act: Fix any inconsistencies found.
- Verify: The three checks above hold with no remaining mismatch — tech-stack versions match architecture references, way-of-working tooling matches tech-stack, infrastructure aligns with architecture. Any check still failing after the fix step above → retry that step once; if still unresolved, HALT: "Consistency check unresolved — report the specific mismatch to the developer."
Step 4.2: PM Tool Configuration
- Check: Is PM tool already configured in way-of-working.md?
- Skip: If configured, confirm and move to Step 4.3.
- Act: Compose
/pair-capability-setup-pm. The skill handles tool selection, configuration, and ADL recording.
- Verify: PM tool configured and recorded.
Step 4.3: Final Summary
-
Act: Present bootstrap completion summary to the developer for final approval:
Bootstrap complete. All adoption files generated and approved.
Review the summary below and confirm everything is correct.
-
Verify: Developer approves. If not → iterate on specific concerns.
Output Format
BOOTSTRAP COMPLETE:
├── PRD: [verified | created via /specify-prd]
├── Categorization: [Type A | Type B | Type C] — [ADL path]
├── Adoption Files:
│ ├── architecture.md: [generated | existing | skipped]
│ ├── tech-stack.md: [generated | existing | skipped]
│ ├── infrastructure.md: [generated | existing | skipped | n/a]
│ ├── ux-ui.md: [generated | existing | skipped | n/a]
│ └── way-of-working.md: [generated | existing | skipped]
├── Quality Gates: [N gates configured — standard + custom]
├── Domain Model: [subdomains: N | contexts: N | skipped — not installed]
├── PM Tool: [configured via /setup-pm | already configured]
├── Decisions: [N decisions recorded (ADR: X, ADL: Y)]
└── Status: [Complete | Partial — details]
HALT Conditions
- PRD missing or template and /pair-process-specify-prd fails (Phase 0) — cannot bootstrap without product context
- Project categorization rejected (Phase 1) — developer must confirm before technical decisions
- Critical technical decision unresolved (Phase 2) — cannot generate adoption files with gaps
- Adoption file generation rejected (Phase 3) — each document needs developer approval
On HALT: report the blocker clearly, propose resolution, wait for developer.
Idempotent Re-invocation
See idempotency convention. Re-invoking /pair-process-bootstrap on a partially completed project is safe and expected — per-phase:
- PRD: detects existing populated PRD, skips Phase 0.
- Categorization: detects existing ADL entry for
project-categorization, skips Phase 1.
- Adoption files: checks each file individually — only generates missing/template files.
- Quality gates: detects existing Custom Gate Registry entries, skips Step 3.2.
- PM tool: detects existing configuration in way-of-working, confirms and skips.
- Decisions: existing ADL/ADR entries are not re-created.
Phase completion is detected via output file existence — never re-does completed work.
Graceful Degradation
See graceful degradation (optional skill not installed → skip that phase/step with a warning, never blocks) and record-decision contract (/pair-capability-record-decision not installed → proposals cannot be persisted, document manually) for the standard scenarios. Additional cases (bootstrap's per-phase optional dependencies):
- assess-* skills not installed: Skip assessment phase, reference guideline files directly, ask developer for manual decisions. Log: "assess-* skills not installed — using manual assessment."
- /specify-prd not installed: HALT at Phase 0 if PRD is missing (a required dependency, not optional). Suggest creating PRD manually using how-to-01.
- /setup-pm not installed: Skip PM configuration in Phase 4. Warn: "PM tool not configured — /pair-capability-setup-pm not installed."
- Bootstrap checklist asset not found: Use Phase 2 section questions as fallback — they cover the same areas.
- Adoption directory doesn't exist: Create
adoption/tech/ and adoption/decision-log/ on first write.
- /record-decision not installed: Adoption cannot be persisted automatically — assess-* skills are output-only and never write adoption themselves. Warn: "/pair-capability-record-decision not installed — assess-* proposals cannot be persisted. Write adoption files manually from the proposals and record decisions by hand."
- /map-subdomains or /pair-capability-map-contexts not installed: Skip the corresponding step in Phase 3.5 with a warning. Domain modeling never blocks bootstrap completion.
Notes
- The developer can stop between phases; re-invoke to resume (see idempotency convention).
- Phase 3.5 is the only full-catalog (
$scope: all) entry point for /pair-capability-map-subdomains and /pair-capability-map-contexts — every other caller is scoped to what it just touched. See Callers Matrix.
- Content source: how-to-02 Phases 0-4 (including domain modeling). How-to-02 retains orchestration flow, this skill has operational detail.