is-setup

Setup an Ideaspace

Full protocol: read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/purpose-elicitation.md and ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/repo-context.md.

Goal: detect → confirm → run ideaspaces create → capture purpose / now / next in conversation when content emerges.

This skill is the conversational layer around the bundled CLI. The conversation lives here; the file writes live in the CLI. That keeps one source of truth — change the CLI's templates, the skill's behavior updates automatically.

The CLI ships inside this plugin at ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/cli/bundle/ideaspaces.js. Invoke via Bash. No separate install required.

Don't offer unprompted. Wait for a signal — "set up a space", "add ideaspaces here", or detection of a directory the user wants structured.

1. Inspect (read-only)

Read the cwd before acting. Surface what was found in plain language. No side effects until the user confirms.

Signal	What it tells us
Markdown files	Content already here. Could be notes, docs, or both.
.git/	Already a git repo. The CLI won't re-init.
_agent/foundation.md present	Already a complete ideaspace. The CLI will refuse; tell the user to edit _agent/ directly.
_agent/always.md / rules.md / soul.md	Old shape. The CLI errors today; tell the user this is unimplemented.
CLAUDE.md	Claude Code orientation already configured. CLI won't overwrite.
.github/, package.json, Cargo.toml, etc.	Code-repo signal. CLI defaults to private _agent/ + CLAUDE.local.md.

Use Glob and Read for inspection. Bash for git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree.

2. Reflect

Surface the findings and propose what'll happen:

"I see 12 markdown files and a git repo here, no _agent/ yet. I'll add the ideaspace seed (foundation + guide files in _agent/, a CLAUDE.md, and a .gitignore block). Your existing markdowns won't be touched. OK?"

Confirm intent. The skill doesn't auto-decide.

3. Dry-run, then apply

The CLI has a built-in --yes-gated dry-run. Use it as a preview before applying:

node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/cli/bundle/ideaspaces.js create

Without --yes, this prints the plan and exits 0 without writing. Show the plan to the user, get a final confirmation, then apply:

node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/cli/bundle/ideaspaces.js create --yes

For a code repo where the user wants shared (committed) _agent/, add --shared:

node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/cli/bundle/ideaspaces.js create --yes --shared

The CLI handles git init (if needed), _agent/foundation.md, _agent/guide.md, CLAUDE.md (or CLAUDE.local.md), .gitattributes, .gitignore defaults, and the initial commit. Errors don't roll back partial scaffolds — git is the recovery surface.

Why seed-only: foundation.md + guide.md describe the contract that names purpose.md, now.md, and next.md. Reading them, an agent sees those names without matching files and the drift rule fires — propose creating them. Real content from real exchange beats placeholder filler.

4. Capture purpose / now / next in conversation

For each of these, draw the content out and write the file when there's real content. Skip the file if the user has nothing to say — missing files are honest "not captured yet" signals; the next session's agent will surface them again.

1. Purpose — "Why does this space exist? What's it for?" Two-sentence answer becomes _agent/purpose.md. If a README.md is already present, propose a draft from it.
2. Now — "What are you working on right now?" Single paragraph becomes _agent/now.md.
3. Next — "What's queued after now?" Optional. Vague is OK.

Use is_write for these (Layer 1 frontmatter — name, summary). Capture is conscious; don't write Purpose for the user, elicit and reflect back. After each capture, commit it as its own commit (Bash: git add _agent/{file}.md && git commit -m "Capture {name}").

5. Offer publish

After scaffold (and capture, if any), suggest the natural next step:

"Want to host this remotely so you can access it from other devices and Claude Code sessions? I can walk you through publishing — try /is-publish, or just say the word."

Don't run publish without explicit confirmation — it's a structural change and triggers OAuth login if not already done.

Don'ts

• Don't reimplement what the CLI does. Run the bundle. The CLI is the source of truth for scaffold logic; this skill is the conversation around it.
• Never overwrite existing CLAUDE.md. The CLI doesn't; if the user has one, the bundle skips writing it. Append an ## Ideaspace section manually if they want orientation pointers.
• Never delete or modify existing markdowns. They're the user's data. The CLI doesn't touch them either — verify if you ever bypass the CLI.
• Don't git init outside the CLI. The CLI handles it. If you git init first the CLI sees an existing repo and adapts.
• Never overwrite an existing .gitignore. The CLI appends under a # ideaspace defaults header.
• Never push automatically. Local-first by default. Use /is-publish (or the underlying ideaspaces publish) only when the user explicitly says so.

Confirm

Summarize what landed:

• _agent/foundation.md + _agent/guide.md scaffolded (the seed)
• _agent/purpose.md / now.md / next.md if captured in conversation; missing if skipped
• CLAUDE.md (or CLAUDE.local.md) added
• .gitattributes + .gitignore defaults
• Initial commit + any capture commits

"You're set. Next session will start oriented to your space. Run /is-publish when you're ready to host this remotely."

What comes next

• /is-publish — host this space remotely (login + provision + push)
• is-capture — propose saving knowledge during work
• is-reflect — propose updating direction when it drifts
• is-writing — writing standard for Notes
• is-space — navigation, Two Roles, the contract reference

Recovery

If anything goes sideways during scaffold:

• The CLI's plan is dry-run by default — re-run without --yes to preview again
• Partial scaffolds can be cleaned up with git status + git restore (or git clean -n to preview untracked files)
• The CLI is idempotent on existing files (won't overwrite CLAUDE.md, won't double-append .gitignore block) — re-running with --yes is safe