chameleon-init

name	chameleon-init
description	Use when the user explicitly invokes /chameleon-init to bootstrap a chameleon profile for the current repository (TypeScript/JavaScript, Ruby, or Python — framework-agnostic, with deeper awareness for Rails and Django/DRF/Flask/FastAPI)

/chameleon-init

Bootstrap a chameleon profile for the current repo, then auto-apply rename proposals so the archetype labels match the team's vocabulary without a user interview. Profile artifacts are written atomically via the commit-marker pattern.

When to use

User runs /chameleon-init in a TypeScript/JavaScript, Ruby, or Python repo that does not yet have a .chameleon/ directory. chameleon supports these three as first-class languages and is framework-agnostic by default — it learns the repo's own conventions, so any framework works — with deeper, framework-aware guidance where conventions are strong (Rails for Ruby; Django, DRF, Flask, FastAPI for Python).

If .chameleon/profile.json already exists, suggest /chameleon-refresh instead — running init twice would overwrite the existing profile.

The flow (overall)

1. Confirm the repo's language: TypeScript/JavaScript (tsconfig.json or TS in package.json deps), Ruby (Gemfile, or config/application.rb for Rails), or Python (any .py source files — setup.py counts). pyproject.toml / requirements.txt / manage.py / Pipfile mark a Python framework, but the repo needs actual .py source to profile: a manifest-only repo with no .py files has nothing to cluster and bootstrap returns failed_unsupported_language, so don't announce it as ready-to-bootstrap on a manifest alone.

2. Determine the production branch (the branch the profile derives from, regardless of what is checked out). Call chameleon-mcp::detect_repo(file_path=<repo_root>) and read its production_branch block:

   • locked: true — a lock already exists; just mention it.
   • clean detection (branch set, conflict: false, from_origin: true) — zero-touch: announce "production branch: <branch> (auto-detected from the origin default; will be locked)". Do NOT ask.
   • conflict: true — ask ONE short question: "Which branch is production? (detected: <branch>, also found: <candidates>)". Pass the answer as "production_ref": <answer> in the bootstrap call's params (step 3).
   • no branch / from_origin: false — local-only or unrecognized layout. Ask once: "Which branch should chameleon treat as production? (Enter to skip — the working tree will be analyzed instead)". Pass a non-empty answer via production_ref; on skip just proceed.

   Both questions are ONE-TURN questions with a safe default, never a gate: in a non-interactive session (claude -p — no second turn will ever come), do not stall waiting for the answer — take the default (the detected branch on conflict; working-tree derivation on local-only), proceed to step 3 immediately, and state the taken default in the summary. A stalled init strands the repo with NO profile at all, which is strictly worse than either default; a real graded run flew fully unguided because this question waited for a turn that could not happen. The defaults are cheap to flip later (/chameleon-refresh with an explicit production_ref, or editing config.json).

3. Call chameleon-mcp::chameleon_lifecycle(action="bootstrap_repo", params={"path": <repo_root>}) (plus "production_ref": <answer> in params when step 2 asked). With a lock, the pipeline analyzes the production branch's tree — a detached materialization of the locked ref — NOT the current checkout; feature-branch noise never shapes the profile. Without one it analyzes the working tree as before.

4. The tool runs the full pipeline (workspace detection, tool config reading, discovery, AST parse, clustering, canonical selection, atomic profile commit). Archetypes start out with heuristic names like controller, react-component, service, migration.

5. Auto-apply rename proposals (see below) so cluster-* / class-* / numeric-suffix fallback names get replaced with the team's vocabulary.

6. Report the BootstrapReport to the user: archetype count, files processed, duration, profile path, the production-branch lock (the envelope's production_ref block), and what got renamed.

7. Suggest the user run /chameleon-trust to approve the profile for their session.

Default: auto-apply renames (no user interview)

Renames are purely cosmetic — they just rekey archetypes.json / canonicals.json / rules.json / idioms.md. Pattern quality, witness selection, and lint behavior are unaffected. So auto-rename is the default: the skill picks the best candidate per archetype from propose_archetype_renames and applies them without asking.

Auto-apply algorithm

1. Call chameleon-mcp::chameleon_lifecycle(action="propose_archetype_renames", params={"repo": <abs-repo-path>, "top_n": 16}).
2. For each proposal, decide whether to rename:
   • Always rename when the current name is a low-information fallback: starts with cluster- (raw hash), starts with class- (generic Ruby class name when the witness is more specific), or ends in a bare numeric disambiguator like -2 / -3 with no semantic suffix.
   • Skip when the current name is already descriptive (controller, service, model, migration, worker, react-component, next-page, etc.) AND the top suggested alternative isn't materially better.
   • Tie-break on multiple candidates: prefer the alternative the proposal ranks first (suggested_alternatives[0]), unless it duplicates an existing archetype name in the same profile (skip in that case).
3. Validate every chosen new name against \A[a-z][a-z0-9-]{0,63}\Z. Discard any invalid pick silently. 3b. Dedup the chosen targets against EACH OTHER, not only against existing names. apply_archetype_renames is all-or-nothing: if two archetypes both pick the same new name (e.g. two test clusters both proposing tests-py), the whole batch hard-fails on the collision and NOTHING is renamed. After step 3, walk the picks in order and drop any whose target duplicates an already-chosen target (or an existing archetype name); the first claimant keeps the name, the later collider keeps its original. Only then build the {old: new} map.
4. Apply the resulting {old: new} map via chameleon-mcp::chameleon_lifecycle(action="apply_archetype_renames", params={"repo": <abs-repo-path>, "renames": ...}).
5. Report what got renamed in the BootstrapReport summary (e.g. "renamed 3 archetypes: cluster-25874012 → test-models-spec, class-foo → service-foo, controller-2 → admin-controller").

When to skip auto-apply entirely

• propose_archetype_renames returns status: failed (no profile, etc.) → skip silently.
• The proposal returns zero archetypes that meet the "always rename" bar → skip silently, report "renames applied: 0".
• The repo's .chameleon/config.json sets auto_rename: false → fall back to the legacy ≤3-prompt interview below.

Legacy ≤3-prompt interview (only when auto_rename: false)

If .chameleon/config.json is present AND sets auto_rename: false, run the interactive interview:

• Prompt 1: list top-8 archetypes, ask "any to override?"
• Prompt 2: per picked archetype, show suggested_alternatives and let the user pick a number, type a custom name, or "keep".
• Prompt 3: confirm the final mapping, then apply it via chameleon_lifecycle(action="apply_archetype_renames", ...).

Invalid names get one re-ask with the regex hint (\A[a-z][a-z0-9-]{0,63}\Z). The interview is strictly ≤3 prompts.

What to tell the user before running bootstrap

chameleon will scan the production branch's tree (when a production branch is locked or auto-detected — your current checkout doesn't have to be on it), cluster the files into archetypes (e.g. "next-server-component", "service", "controller", "rails-controller"), and pick a canonical example for each. After bootstrap, archetype renames are applied automatically. It will write a .chameleon/ directory you should commit. This usually takes under 10 seconds for repos under 5,000 files; under 1 minute for repos up to 200,000 files. No LLM cost, no network (the production tree comes from your local git objects, current as of your last fetch).

If the repo has > 200,000 source files, the tool refuses by default (failed_too_many_files). Ask the user for an explicit paths_glob (e.g., src/**/*.ts or app/**/*.rb).

Common failure modes

Failure	Action
failed_unsupported_language	No TypeScript/JavaScript, Ruby, or Python signals (no tsconfig, no Gemfile, no pyproject/setup.py/.py). Tell the user chameleon supports TypeScript/JavaScript, Ruby, and Python as first-class languages — framework-agnostic, with deeper awareness for Rails and Django/DRF/Flask/FastAPI; other languages are not yet supported.
failed_too_many_files	Repo exceeds 200k file ceiling. Ask user for paths_glob to scope.
Bootstrap completes but archetypes_detected == 0	All clusters were sparse (< 5 files). User likely has a tiny project; suggest manual archetype curation via /chameleon-teach. Skip the rename interview.
canonicals_skipped_failed_scans > 0	Some clusters had every candidate fail secret/injection/poisoning scans. Tell the user to investigate via /chameleon-status.
apply_archetype_renames returns failed	Surface the error verbatim and ask the user to retry with a corrected mapping. Do NOT re-bootstrap.

Coordinator monorepo (status: "success_workspaces_only")

A monorepo whose ROOT carries no first-class source (a pnpm-workspaces / Turborepo / Nx coordinator: only a root package.json + pnpm-workspace.yaml, all code under apps/* / packages/*) bootstraps its WORKSPACES but writes NO root .chameleon/ profile. The envelope's status is "success_workspaces_only" and its workspaces array lists each bootstrapped workspace ({workspace_path, repo_root, status, archetypes_detected, ...}).

Handle this distinctly from plain success:

• Do NOT tell the user to run /chameleon-trust at the repo ROOT — there is no root profile, so it fails with "no .chameleon/ directory (run /chameleon-init first)", which reads as a contradiction right after init succeeded. Instead, tell them to run /chameleon-trust once per workspace (cd into each workspace_path, or trust each), listing the workspaces from the envelope.
• Per-edit guidance (PreToolUse/PostToolUse) resolves per FILE to its workspace, so editing a workspace file gets that workspace's conventions once its profile is trusted — that part works normally.
• Claude Code launches at the repo ROOT, but the turn-end Stop safety net (cross-file break detection, the async review job's correctness/ duplication/idiom lenses, stale-test advisories, the session attestation) still covers the session: the multi-root Stop backstop discovers every workspace the turn actually touched (from each edited file's own workspace-scoped enforcement state, not the launch cwd) and gates it against its own trusted profile, so a pure-coordinator root is not a turn-end dead spot. Each workspace still needs its own /chameleon-trust for its gate to run.

After success

Profile created at .chameleon/
- Archetypes detected: N
- Rules extracted: M
- Files processed: X (Y skipped: generated, Z skipped: parse errors)
- Duration: Tms
- Production branch: <branch> (locked — derivation pinned to <ref> @ <sha12>)
- Renames applied: K  (auto-rename)

Next steps:
1. Run /chameleon-trust to approve this profile for your user.
2. Commit `.chameleon/` to git so your team can share the profile.
3. Run /chameleon-auto-idiom to derive team idioms (mandatory wrappers,
   domain vocabulary, auth invariants) from repo evidence — a fresh profile
   has none, and AST analysis cannot infer them.
4. (Optional) Run /chameleon-teach to capture specific idioms by hand.

A fresh bootstrap always starts with zero idioms, so the /chameleon-auto-idiom offer in step 3 is unconditional: ask the user whether to run it now. If they accept, invoke the chameleon-auto-idiom skill in this same session. It is append-only — it never touches idioms the team later adds.

Surface dropped archetypes (do not swallow the bootstrap warnings)

The bootstrap envelope carries diagnostic warning lists that name real code the profile did NOT turn into an archetype. Read them and, when non-empty, tell the user in one short line each — otherwise a real role silently has no guidance:

• sparse_cluster_warnings — a small group of same-role files (e.g. two *.guard.ts NestJS guards, one migration) fell below the cluster-size floor, so no archetype covers them. List each pattern and suggest /chameleon-teach to capture the role by hand if it matters.
• bimodal_cluster_warnings — a cluster split into two shapes; the canonical witness may not represent both. Worth a /chameleon-refresh after the tree settles.
• workspace_skipped_warnings / workspace_glob_warnings / nested_profile_warnings — a monorepo workspace was skipped or a glob matched nothing; name the path so the user can bootstrap it explicitly.

Keep it terse (the counts, not a wall of JSON). Skip a category whose list is empty. This is advisory — none of it blocks a successful bootstrap.

Offer the conventions memory wiring

When the bootstrap produced .chameleon/conventions.md (it exists whenever the repo derived or taught renderable conventions), offer to wire it into Claude's memory channel. Explain why in one sentence: conventions delivered through the memory channel carry materially more instruction authority for coding agents than hook-injected context (measured: the identical rules were followed 100% via this channel vs 40% as a hook advisory, across TS/Ruby/Python), and chameleon keeps the file fresh on every refresh/teach.

Offer the options in this order (all verified equivalent at 100%; all consent-gated — create/edit only on an explicit yes, never re-ask in the same session if declined):

1. .claude/rules/chameleon-conventions.md (default suggestion) — create this one-line file:

   @../../.chameleon/conventions.md
   

   .claude/rules/*.md auto-loads at session start (official memory feature), so the whole team is covered once it is committed, and NO existing file — including the repo's CLAUDE.md — is ever modified.

2. CLAUDE.local.md — same one-line import (@.chameleon/conventions.md), for a user who wants the wiring personal and untracked (add it to .gitignore if not already ignored). Nothing shared changes.

3. CLAUDE.md import — append @.chameleon/conventions.md to the repo's CLAUDE.md only if the user explicitly prefers it there. This edits the team's file, so make that consequence explicit before doing it.

If any of the three wirings is already present, say nothing — it is wired.

Out of scope (current release)

• Languages other than TypeScript/JavaScript, Ruby, and Python — failed_unsupported_language. Future releases may add Go, etc.
• Renaming archetypes outside the top-N by cluster size — the interview only surfaces the largest ones because the long tail is rarely worth retitling. Users can re-run /chameleon-init or edit .chameleon/archetypes.json directly for the long tail.