setup

name	setup
description	Initialize a new project with the AI Coding Toolkit. Use when setting up toolkit skills in a new or existing project.
argument-hint	["target-directory"]
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Write, AskUserQuestion
toolkit-only	true

Initialize a new project at $1 with the AI Coding Toolkit.

Steps

0. Directory guard (must run from toolkit repo)
   • Confirm .toolkit-marker exists in the current working directory
   • If it is missing, STOP and tell the user to cd into the ai_coding_project_base toolkit repo and re-run /setup $1

0.5. Idempotency Check

Check if target already has toolkit installed:

if [[ -f "$1/.claude/toolkit-version.json" ]]; then
  EXISTING_COMMIT=$(jq -r '.toolkit_commit' "$1/.claude/toolkit-version.json")
  CURRENT_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
fi

Decision logic:

• If toolkit-version.json doesn't exist → proceed with full setup (existing flow)
• If exists and toolkit_commit = current HEAD → report "Already up to date" and skip to Step 7 (success report)
• If exists and toolkit_commit ≠ current HEAD → proceed with incremental update (Step 3a)

Store the result as SETUP_MODE:

• SETUP_MODE=full — new installation
• SETUP_MODE=current — already up to date
• SETUP_MODE=incremental — updating existing installation

1. Validate target directory

   • If $1 is empty, ask the user for the target directory path
   • Check if the directory exists; if not, offer to create it

2. Ask project type

   • Greenfield: Starting a new project from scratch
   • Feature: Adding a feature to an existing project

2a. For Feature type: Ask feature name and create directory - Prompt: "What should this feature be called? (used as folder name, e.g., 'analytics-dashboard')" - Validate: lowercase, hyphens and underscores allowed, no spaces or special characters - Create $1/features/ directory if it doesn't exist - Create $1/features/<feature-name>/ directory - Store the feature path as FEATURE_PATH = $1/features/<feature-name>

3. Validate global skills runtime (global-only policy)

   Skills must resolve globally via ~/.claude/skills/. Do not copy toolkit skills into $1/.claude/skills/.

   See GLOBAL_SYNC.md for helper definitions.

   Validation checks:

   GLOBAL_SKILLS_DIR="$HOME/.claude/skills"
   TOOLKIT_ROOT="$(pwd)"
   
   if [[ ! -d "$GLOBAL_SKILLS_DIR" ]]; then
     echo "Missing global skills directory: $GLOBAL_SKILLS_DIR"
     exit 1
   fi
   
   MISSING_GLOBAL=0
   for skill_dir in .claude/skills/*/; do
     skill_name="$(basename "$skill_dir")"
     if sed -n '/^---$/,/^---$/p' "$skill_dir/SKILL.md" 2>/dev/null | grep -q '^toolkit-only: true'; then
       continue
     fi
   
     global_path="$GLOBAL_SKILLS_DIR/$skill_name"
     resolved=$(realpath "$global_path" 2>/dev/null || true)
     expected=$(realpath "$skill_dir" 2>/dev/null || true)
     if [[ ! -L "$global_path" || -z  ||  !=  ]]; 
        
       MISSING_GLOBAL=1
     
   
   
    [[  -ne 0 ]]; 
      
      1
   
   

3b. Copy workstream scripts to target

Copy .workstream/ scripts from the toolkit to the target project:

mkdir -p "$1/.workstream"
for file in lib.sh setup.sh dev.sh verify.sh README.md workstream.json.example; do
  if [ -f ".workstream/$file" ]; then
    cp ".workstream/$file" "$1/.workstream/$file"
  fi
done
chmod +x "$1/.workstream/"*.sh 2>/dev/null || true

Do NOT copy workstream.json — this is project-owned and created by the user.

Verify copies:

ls -la "$1/.workstream/" 2>/dev/null

Confirm setup.sh, dev.sh, verify.sh, and lib.sh exist and are executable. Verify with ls -la that permissions include +x on all .sh files. If any script is missing or not executable, report the discrepancy.

3c. Copy Codex App templates to target

Copy .codex/ templates from the toolkit to the target project:

mkdir -p "$1/.codex"
cp ".codex/setup.sh" "$1/.codex/setup.sh"
cp ".codex/AGENTS.md" "$1/.codex/AGENTS.md"
chmod +x "$1/.codex/setup.sh"

These are recommended defaults for Codex App integration. Users configure the setup script in Codex App Settings (Cmd+,) → Local Environments.

Verify Codex App copies:

• Verify with ls -la "$1/.codex/setup.sh" that the file exists and is executable.
• Verify with ls "$1/.codex/AGENTS.md" that the file was copied.

3a. Incremental Sync (When SETUP_MODE=incremental)

Skip Step 3 entirely and use this incremental approach instead.

Check resolution mode from existing config:

FORCE_LOCAL=$(jq -r '.force_local_skills // empty' "$1/.claude/toolkit-version.json")
CURRENT_RESOLUTION=$(jq -r '.skill_resolution // "global"' "$1/.claude/toolkit-version.json")

Important: Global-only policy applies:

• force_local_skills=true is legacy-only and should be migrated to false.
• Remove local shadow copies after backup if present.
• Do not copy toolkit skills into .claude/skills/ during incremental sync.

Load the stored file hashes from $1/.claude/toolkit-version.json:

STORED_HASHES=$(jq '.files' "$1/.claude/toolkit-version.json")

Hash calculation pattern (used for all file comparisons in this step and below):

# Compute SHA-256 hash of a file — used for toolkit, target, and stored hash comparisons
file_hash() { shasum -a 256 "$1" | cut -d' ' -f1; }

For each skill in the tracked list (excluding toolkit-only skills — check SKILL.md frontmatter for toolkit-only: true):

1. Calculate toolkit file hash: TOOLKIT_HASH=$(file_hash "$TOOLKIT_FILE")
2. Get stored hash from toolkit-version.json (hash at last sync)
3. Validate global symlink points to this toolkit skill directory

Classification and Action:

Condition	Classification	Action
Global symlink valid	GLOBAL_USABLE	Keep global mode
Local shadow copies exist	ADOPT_GLOBAL	Backup modified local copies, remove local shadowing
Global symlink missing/broken	GLOBAL_MISSING	Stop and instruct bootstrap repair
Stored hash differs from toolkit	TOOLKIT_UPDATED	Update hash metadata (global resolution remains)

Track counts for each classification and report summary:

INCREMENTAL SYNC
================
Global resolution: {count} skills (via ~/.claude/skills)
Local shadows removed: {count}
Missing/broken globals: {count} (must repair before completion)
Metadata updated: {count}

If any skills are GLOBAL_MISSING, list them:

ERROR: These global skills are missing or misconfigured:
- ~/.claude/skills/phase-start
- ~/.claude/skills/fresh-start

Repair with:
./scripts/sync-agent-skills.sh
Then re-run /setup.

4. Create or Update toolkit-version.json

   For full setup (SETUP_MODE=full):

   Create .claude/toolkit-version.json in the target to enable future syncs. Use global-only resolution metadata:

   {
     "schema_version": "1.1",
     "toolkit_location": "{absolute path to this toolkit}",
     "toolkit_commit": "{current git HEAD commit hash}",
     "toolkit_commit_date": "{commit date in ISO format}",
     "last_sync": "{current ISO timestamp}",
     "force_local_skills": false,
     "skill_resolution": "global",
     "files": {
       ".claude/skills/fresh-start/SKILL.md": {
         "hash": "{sha256 hash of file}",
         "synced_at": "{ISO timestamp}",
         "resolution": "global"
       }
       
     
   
   

6a. Legacy Codex-Only MCP Path (Backward Compatibility)

If a user explicitly asks for Codex-only MCP setup, run:

./scripts/configure-codex-mcp.sh

This now delegates to the shared MCP manifest flow and applies settings only to Codex.

7. Report success and next steps

   For SETUP_MODE=current (already up to date):

   ALREADY UP TO DATE
   ==================
   Target: $1
   Toolkit commit: {COMMIT_HASH} ({COMMIT_DATE})
   
   No changes needed — toolkit files are current.
   

   For SETUP_MODE=incremental (updated existing):

   TOOLKIT UPDATED
   ===============
   Target: $1
   Previous commit: {OLD_COMMIT_HASH}
   Current commit:  {COMMIT_HASH}
   
   {Summary from Step 3a showing files synced/skipped}
   
   All toolkit skills are now up to date.
   

   For SETUP_MODE=full, Greenfield:

   TOOLKIT INITIALIZED
   ===================
   Target: $1
   Skill resolution: global ({GLOBAL_COUNT} skills via ~/.claude/skills)
   
   Next steps (run from your project directory):
   1. cd $1
   2. /product-spec
   3. /technical-spec
   4. /generate-plan
   5. cd plans/greenfield
   6. /fresh-start
   7. /configure-verification
   8. /phase-prep 1
   9. /phase-start 1
   

   Skill resolution line example:

   • Skill resolution: global (30 skills via ~/.claude/skills symlinks)

   For SETUP_MODE=full, Feature:

   TOOLKIT INITIALIZED
   ===================
   Target: $1
   Feature directory: FEATURE_PATH
   
   Next steps (run from your project directory):
   1. cd $1
   2. /feature-spec <feature-name>
   3. /feature-technical-spec <feature-name>
   4. /feature-plan <feature-name>
   5. cd features/<feature-name>
   6. /fresh-start
   7. /configure-verification
   8. /phase-prep 1
   9. /phase-start 1
   

Important

• This skill must be run from the ai_coding_project_base toolkit directory
• All other skills (/product-spec, /technical-spec, /generate-plan, /feature-spec, /feature-technical-spec, /feature-plan, and execution skills) run from the target project directory
• Only /setup and /update-target-projects run from the toolkit
• Use cp -r for directory copies to preserve structure
• Do not overwrite existing files without asking

Error Handling

Situation	Action
Target directory does not exist and mkdir -p fails	Report permission error, suggest creating manually, exit without partial state
Global skill validation fails (~/.claude/skills missing/broken)	STOP immediately, report missing skills, and instruct user to run ./scripts/sync-agent-skills.sh
toolkit-version.json write fails or produces invalid JSON	Complete file copies (primary goal), warn that incremental syncs will not work, suggest checking .claude/ directory permissions
Codex CLI skill installation fails	Do NOT fail the entire setup; report the error and continue with remaining steps
Global symlink check fails (broken symlinks in ~/.claude/skills/)	STOP and repair global symlinks; do not fall back to project-local copies

When Setup Cannot Complete

If legacy local skills are detected during incremental sync:

• List locally shadowed skills
• Back up modified local skills to .claude/skills.bak/
• Remove toolkit-managed local copies
• Keep untracked project-specific custom skills only with explicit user confirmation

If target directory doesn't exist and can't be created:

• Report: "Cannot create directory: {path}"
• Check parent directory permissions
• Suggest: Create manually with mkdir -p {path}
• Exit cleanly without partial state

If Codex CLI skill installation fails:

• Do NOT fail the entire setup
• Report: "Codex skill installation failed: {error}"
• Continue with rest of setup
• Note at end: "Codex skills not installed. Run ./scripts/install-codex-skill-pack.sh manually."

If toolkit-version.json cannot be written:

• Report: "Cannot write toolkit-version.json"
• Complete non-skill setup files (.workstream, .codex, config) as possible
• Warn: "Future incremental syncs will not work until version file is created"
• Suggest: Check .claude/ directory permissions