initialize-project

name	initialize-project
description	Initialize a new project from the TypeScript template by updating package metadata, package names, and README placeholders while preserving repository invariants such as the existing license unless the user explicitly requests a change.

Initialize Project

Purpose

Bootstrap a repository created from this template without relying on editor-specific tool names or silently changing legal/project metadata. This skill is intended to work as a portable Agent Skill, including when discovered by Cursor through the repository's shared skills surface.

Workflow

1. Inspect the template state

Before editing, read the current values from:

• package.json
• packages/*/package.json
• README.md
• LICENSE
• pnpm-workspace.yaml

Treat those files as the source of truth. Do not assume package names, license identifiers, workspace paths, or placeholder values from this skill.

2. Resolve project metadata

Use values already supplied by the user. Only ask for information that is required and cannot be safely inferred.

Relevant fields are:

• Project/package name
• Project description
• Author, when the user wants it populated
• Repository URL, when the user supplies one or asks for repository metadata
• License, only when the user explicitly wants to change the template's current license

3. Preserve the license by default

Never change the license implicitly during initialization.

• Keep the existing SPDX identifier from the package manifests.
• Keep the existing LICENSE file unchanged.
• Use the same SPDX identifier when replacing the README's {LICENSE} placeholder.

If the user explicitly requests a different license, update all affected package manifests, the README, and LICENSE consistently. Use canonical license text; if that cannot be done safely, report the unresolved license change instead of leaving inconsistent metadata.

4. Update project metadata

Use the editing capabilities available on the current agent surface; do not depend on a specific editor/tool command name.

At minimum:

1. Update root package.json:
   • name
   • description
   • author when supplied
   • repository metadata when explicitly supplied or requested
2. Update workspace package manifests:
   • Replace template-specific package names with names consistent with the new project.
   • For the existing common package, an unscoped project named my-project normally maps to @my-project/common unless the user specifies a different package scope.
   • Keep license metadata aligned with the root package.
3. Replace README placeholders:
   • {PROJECT_NAME} → project name
   • {PROJECT_DESCRIPTION} → project description
   • {LICENSE} → current SPDX license identifier
4. Update other direct references to the old template/package name only when they semantically refer to the initialized project's identity. Do not rewrite historical documentation, URLs, tool names, or unrelated occurrences blindly.

5. Refresh dependencies

Run from the repository root:

pnpm install

Commit the resulting pnpm-lock.yaml changes when initialization changes workspace package identities or dependency metadata.

6. Validate the initialized repository

Check for unresolved template placeholders and stale package identities, then run the normal project gates:

pnpm lint
pnpm test
pnpm build

Do not claim initialization succeeded if package manifests, README/license metadata, or these required gates are inconsistent. If a required external tool is unavailable, report that validation step as blocked rather than silently skipping it.

7. Cleanup policy

Do not delete this skill automatically. Remove template/bootstrap tooling only when the user explicitly asks to remove it from the initialized repository.

Example

For a user request such as:

Initialize this repository as json-fixer, a CLI tool that repairs malformed JSON.

A typical result is:

• Root package name: json-fixer
• Root description: A CLI tool that repairs malformed JSON.
• Existing common package renamed consistently, for example @json-fixer/common
• README placeholders replaced
• Existing Apache-2.0 license preserved unless the user requested another license
• Lockfile refreshed
• pnpm lint, pnpm test, and pnpm build verified