prepare

name	prepare
description	Use when preparing a codebase for first-time public/open-source release. Full lifecycle from audit through documentation, hardening, and final review.

Prepare for Open-Source Release

Announce: "I'm using git-repo-prep:prepare to walk through open-source preparation."

Setup

Create a TodoWrite checklist for all 9 phases:

1. Discovery
2. Secrets & Personal Info Audit
3. License
4. Documentation
5. Gitignore Refinement
6. Project Hardening
7. Repository Metadata
8. Backlog & Honesty
9. Final Review

Phase Pattern

Every phase follows this loop:

0. Mark this phase's task in_progress
1. Scan/audit current state for this phase
2. Present findings to user
3. Propose specific changes
4. AskUserQuestion — skip / approve / modify
5. Implement approved changes
6. Commit with descriptive message (e.g., docs: add CONTRIBUTING.md)
7. Mark phase task complete, move to next

Rules

• DO NOT prescribe choices — always ask via AskUserQuestion (license, CI provider, test framework, etc.)
• DO NOT drift into code quality review — stay focused on what matters for making the repo public. Ignore code style, error handling, architecture, performance.
• DO NOT over-engineer — don't add dotenv, validation, startup checks, or error handling beyond what the user asks for. The goal is open-source readiness, not refactoring.
• DO NOT dump everything at once — work one phase at a time, wait for user approval before moving on.
• DO treat personal info as a separate concern from secrets — emails, usernames, and real names in config or metadata are privacy issues even if they aren't credentials.
• DO check license consistency across LICENSE file, package metadata, and README.
• DO mention ecosystem-specific items when a known stack is detected.

---

Phase 1: Discovery

Detect the ecosystem and scan project structure.

Detect ecosystem by looking for:

File	Ecosystem
package.json	Node.js
pyproject.toml / setup.py / setup.cfg	Python
Cargo.toml	Rust
go.mod	Go
*.csproj / *.sln	.NET
Gemfile	Ruby
pom.xml / build.gradle	Java/Kotlin

Report what exists (present/missing):

• README
• LICENSE
• .gitignore
• CI/CD config (.github/workflows/, .gitlab-ci.yml, etc.)
• Tests directory
• CONTRIBUTING.md
• SECURITY.md
• CHANGELOG

Present findings to user before proceeding.

---

Phase 2: Secrets & Personal Info

Two separate scans. Both matter for making a repo public.

Secrets scan

• Hardcoded API keys, passwords, tokens, connection strings in source files
• .env files or config files containing real credentials
• AWS keys, GitHub tokens, database URLs with passwords, SMTP credentials
• Private keys (.pem, .key files)

Personal info scan

• Email addresses in package metadata (package.json author, pyproject.toml authors, Cargo.toml authors)
• Email addresses in source code comments or config
• Real names or usernames hardcoded in source (e.g., DEFAULT_AUTHOR = "jsmith")
• Usernames in URLs or paths

If secrets or personal info found:

• Warn that git history also contains these values
• Recommend key rotation/revocation for any real credentials
• Suggest git filter-repo or BFG Repo Cleaner for history rewriting if needed
• Propose replacing secrets with environment variables and creating .env.example
• Propose replacing personal info with generic values or removing it

Do not add dotenv packages, validation, or startup checks unless the user asks.

---

Phase 3: License

Ask the user which license they want. Present common options:

• MIT — permissive, simple
• Apache-2.0 — permissive, patent grant
• GPL-3.0 — copyleft
• Other — ask user to specify

Then:

1. Create or update LICENSE file
2. Update package metadata license field:
   • package.json → "license": "MIT"
   • pyproject.toml → license field
   • Cargo.toml → license field
3. Add license section to README (or update if present)
4. Check for mismatches — if LICENSE file says MIT but metadata says ISC, flag it

---

Phase 4: Documentation

README

Check for these sections (present or missing):

• What the project does and why
• Installation / getting started
• Usage with examples
• Configuration (if applicable)
• License section
• Limitations / known issues

Don't write the full docs without asking. Propose the structure, ask user for approval, then help draft.

CONTRIBUTING.md

Propose including:

• How to report bugs
• How to submit changes (PR workflow)
• Code style / conventions
• Testing expectations
• Any CLA or DCO requirements

SECURITY.md

Propose a vulnerability reporting process. At minimum: an email or instructions for responsible disclosure.

CLAUDE.md (optional)

If the project already uses AI tools or has complex setup, suggest a CLAUDE.md with build/test/lint commands and architectural notes. Ask first — don't create by default.

---

Phase 5: Gitignore Refinement

Check current .gitignore against ecosystem best practices:

Ecosystem	Must ignore
Node.js	node_modules/, .env, dist/, coverage/
Python	__pycache__/, *.pyc, .env, *.egg-info/, dist/, .venv/
Rust	target/, .env
Go	vendor/ (if not vendoring), .env
General	.env, .env.*, *.log, .DS_Store, *.pem, *.key

Always check:

• .env and .env.* patterns excluded
• Credentials directories excluded
• Build artifacts excluded
• IDE/OS files excluded (.idea/, .vscode/, .DS_Store, Thumbs.db)

If sensitive files are already tracked:

• Flag them: "These files are tracked by git and need git rm --cached"
• Propose the commands, get approval before running

---

Phase 6: Project Hardening

Ask the user what level of hardening they want before proposing anything. Options:

• Minimal — just CI basics
• Standard — CI + dependency updates
• Full — CI + dependency updates + hooks + coverage

CI/CD

Ask which provider (GitHub Actions is most common). Propose a workflow that:

• Runs tests
• Runs linter (if project has one)
• Runs on push and PR

Dependency management

Suggest Dependabot (GitHub) or Renovate. Brief config.

Pre-commit hooks

Suggest only if project doesn't already have them. Keep it simple — lint + format.

Coverage enforcement

Suggest only if tests already exist. Don't add test frameworks — that's beyond open-source prep scope.

---

Phase 7: Repository Metadata

Ecosystem-specific metadata that helps with discoverability and distribution:

Ecosystem	Check for
Node.js	repository URL, engines field, files field (or .npmignore), keywords, description
Python	[project.urls], classifiers, requires-python, keywords, description
Rust	repository, keywords, categories, rust-version, description
Go	module path matches repo URL, godoc comment on package

Flag anything missing. Propose additions. Don't prescribe values — ask the user for descriptions, keywords, etc.

---

Phase 8: Backlog & Honesty

Building trust with contributors by being upfront about the project's state.

• BACKLOG.md — Suggest creating one if the project has known gaps, unfinished features, or planned work. Ask user what to include.
• Limitations section in README — If not already present, suggest adding known limitations, unsupported use cases, or stability caveats.

These are optional. Ask before creating.

---

Phase 9: Final Review

Invoke git-repo-prep:review as a final validation pass.

This catches anything missed during the prepare phases and gives the user a clean summary of the repo's openness state.

Use the Skill tool: skill: "git-repo-prep:review"