cadence-rules-init-project

name	cadence-rules:init-project
description	Use when installing rules into a project's .claude/rules/workbench/ with path-scoping — detects project languages or lets you choose manually.
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Bash, AskUserQuestion
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"cameronsjo","version":"1.0"}

Install rules from this plugin to .claude/rules/workbench/ in the current project. Rules use paths: frontmatter so they only load when Claude touches matching files.

Two tiers:

• Universal rules (6): code principles, engineering standards, git workflow, markdown, security, testing/observability — always-loaded, no path scoping
• Language & tool rules (15): bash, csharp, go, java, javascript, powershell, protobuf, python, rust, typescript, cicd, dockerfile, docs, mcp, mermaid — path-scoped

Steps

1. Migrate — Detect and move old flat files from the previous prefix scheme:

OLD_DEST=".claude/rules"
NEW_DEST=".claude/rules/workbench"
mkdir -p "$NEW_DEST"

echo "=== MIGRATE ==="
for old in "$OLD_DEST"/rules-*.md; do
  [ -f "$old" ] || continue
  basename="${old##*/}"
  stripped="${basename#rules-}"
  if [ ! -f "$NEW_DEST/$stripped" ]; then
    mv "$old" "$NEW_DEST/$stripped"
    echo "MIGRATED $basename -> workbench/$stripped"
  else
    rm "$old"
    echo "REMOVED $basename (already exists in workbench/)"
  fi
done

2. Detect — Run this bash script from the project root to scan for matching files/directories. Do NOT read any rule file contents.

echo "=== DETECTION ==="

# Languages (short-circuit on first match via -quit)
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.py" -o -name "pyproject.toml" -o -name "requirements*.txt" -o -name "setup.py" -o -name "setup.cfg" -o -name ".python-version" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED python"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.ts" -o -name "*.tsx" -o -name "tsconfig*.json" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED typescript"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.js" -o -name "*.jsx" -o -name "*.mjs" -o -name "*.cjs" \) -not -path "*/node_modules/*" -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED javascript"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.go" -o -name "go.mod" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED go"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.rs" -o -name "Cargo.toml" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED rust"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.cs" -o -name "*.csproj" -o -name "*.sln" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED csharp"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.java" -o -name "pom.xml" -o -name "build.gradle" -o -name "build.gradle.kts" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED java"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.ps1" -o -name "*.psm1" -o -name "*.psd1" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED powershell"
find . -maxdepth 4 -name "*.proto" -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED protobuf"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.sh" -o -name "*.bash" -o -name "Makefile" -o -name ".envrc" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED bash"

# Tools & Domains
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "Dockerfile" -o -name "Dockerfile.*" -o -name "Containerfile" -o -name "*.dockerfile" -o -name ".dockerignore" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED dockerfile"
find . -maxdepth 2 \( -path "./.github/workflows/*" -o -name ".gitlab-ci.yml" -o -name "Jenkinsfile" -o -name "azure-pipelines.yml" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED cicd"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -path "*/docs/*.md" -o -name "*.mdx" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED docs"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -name "*.mermaid" -o -name "*.mmd" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED mermaid"
find . -maxdepth 4 \( -path "*/mcp/*" -o -name "mcp-*" -o -name "*_mcp.py" -o -name "*-mcp.ts" \) -print -quit 2>/dev/null | grep -q . && echo "DETECTED mcp"

3. Show detections — Format as a checklist:

Detected rules for this project:
- [x] python — *.py, pyproject.toml
- [x] typescript — *.ts, *.tsx, tsconfig*.json
- [x] bash — *.sh, Makefile
- [x] dockerfile — Dockerfile
- [x] cicd — .github/workflows/

4. Ask scope — Use the AskUserQuestion tool with these exact options:
   • label: "Universal", description: "Install the 6 core rules only (code, security, git, docs, testing, engineering)"
   • label: "Universal + Detected (Recommended)", description: "Install 6 core rules + all detected language/tool rules"
   • label: "All", description: "Install all 21 rules (6 universal + 15 language/tool)"
   • label: "Specify", description: "Choose exactly which rules to install"

If user selects "Specify", present a second AskUserQuestion with multiSelect: true listing all 21 available rules by name.

5. Hash compare — For the selected rules, run a hash comparison. Do NOT read any rule file contents yet.

DEST=".claude/rules/workbench"
mkdir -p "$DEST"

echo "=== UNIVERSAL ==="
for src in "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}"/rules/user/*.md; do
  [ -f "$src" ] || continue
  name="$(basename "$src")"
  dest="$DEST/$name"
  if [ ! -f "$dest" ]; then
    echo "NEW $name"
  elif [ "$(md5 -q "$src")" = "$(md5 -q "$dest")" ]; then
    echo "UNCHANGED $name"
  else
    echo "UPDATED $name"
  fi
done

For language/tool rules (if selected):

DEST=".claude/rules/workbench"
PLUGIN="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/rules/project"

echo "=== LANGUAGE/TOOL ==="
# For each selected rule, check languages/ first then project root
for rule in RULE_LIST; do
  if [ -f "$PLUGIN/languages/${rule}.md" ]; then
    src="$PLUGIN/languages/${rule}.md"
  elif [ -f "$PLUGIN/${rule}.md" ]; then
    src="$PLUGIN/${rule}.md"
  else
    echo "MISSING $rule"
    continue
  fi
  name="${rule}.md"
  dest="$DEST/$name"
  if [ ! -f "$dest" ]; then
    echo "NEW $name"
  elif [ "$(md5 -q "$src")" = "$(md5 -q "$dest")" ]; then
    echo "UNCHANGED $name"
  else
    echo "UPDATED $name"
  fi
done

Replace RULE_LIST with the space-separated list of selected rule names (e.g., python typescript bash dockerfile cicd).

6. Show summary — Format the manifest as a markdown table. If everything is UNCHANGED, report "All selected rules are up to date." and skip to step 8.

7. Install — For each rule based on status:

• NEW: Copy the source file to the destination:

  cp "$src" "$DEST/$(basename "$src")"
  

• UPDATED: Read both the source (plugin) file and the destination (installed) file using the Read tool. Merge: incorporate plugin updates while preserving user customizations (added rules, modified wording, extra sections). Write the merged result to the destination using the Write tool.

• UNCHANGED: Skip.

For language/tool rules, use the same source lookup logic (check languages/ first, then project root). For "Specify", only install the rules the user selected.

8. Summary — Report counts: installed, updated, unchanged, migrated, skipped. Remind user these rules live in .claude/rules/workbench/ and should be committed to the repo. Remind user to restart Claude Code.

Important

• Source: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/rules/user/ and ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/rules/project/ — Destination: .claude/rules/workbench/ (project root)
• No prefix — files keep their original basename
• Rules keep their paths: frontmatter — path-scoping works at .claude/rules/workbench/ just like .claude/rules/
• This command does not self-destruct — it's reusable across projects