aibot88 personal-repo-bootstrap
Scaffolds a new repo with the right docs from day 1. "I'll add docs later" never works.
Trigger phrases
- "Create a new repo for [purpose]"
- "Bootstrap [name]"
/repo-bootstrap [name]
Repo types
| Type | Purpose | Visibility | Docs scope |
|---|---|---|---|
scratch |
Throwaway exploration | Local-only, no remote | Minimal — README, .gitignore |
personal-published |
Personal projects on GitHub, low-traffic | Public or private GitHub | README, LICENSE, .gitignore, AGENTS.md |
portfolio-public |
Public portfolio piece, intended for recruiter visibility | Public, polished | All of the above + ARCHITECTURE.md, demo, screenshots |
learning |
Coursework, tutorials, learning artefacts | Local or private | README, minimal |
Process
Step 1 — Interview
Ask 4 questions:
- Type: scratch / personal-published / portfolio-public / learning?
- Name + slug (lowercase-kebab, will become repo name)
- One-line purpose (will go in README + GitHub description)
- Tech stack (so .gitignore can be tuned — Python, Node, Rust, etc.)
Step 2 — Generate folder + git init
mkdir -p ~/Documents/OpenCode\ Working\ Folder/{slug}
cd ~/Documents/OpenCode\ Working\ Folder/{slug}
git init
For portfolio-public, use ~/Projects/{slug}/ IF the repo will have launchd agents or daemon dependencies. Otherwise OWF.
Step 3 — Generate baseline files
.gitignore — defensive baseline + tech-stack-specific:
# Defensive baseline (every personal repo)
.env
.env.*
*.key
*.pem
*.p12
.DS_Store
master-cv*.md
master-cv*.pdf
master-cv*.docx
.career/
**/private/
**/secrets/
*.log
.vscode/
.idea/
# Tech-stack additions (Node example)
node_modules/
dist/
build/
*.tsbuildinfo
.npm
# Tech-stack additions (Python example)
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class
.Python
*.egg-info/
.pytest_cache/
.venv/
venv/
README.md — populated template:
# {Name}
[One-line purpose from interview]
## Status
🚧 [scratch / WIP / stable]
## Quick start
[For personal-published+: minimal install + run instructions]
## Architecture
[For portfolio-public: link to ARCHITECTURE.md]
## License
[For personal-published+: see LICENSE]
LICENSE (personal-published / portfolio-public only) — MIT default, prompt to confirm.
AGENTS.md (personal-published / portfolio-public) — minimal project-level rules:
# Project AGENTS — {Name}
## Conventions
- [Tech-stack-specific conventions]
## Build / test
[Commands]
## Anything else AI should know
- [...]
ARCHITECTURE.md (portfolio-public only) — section scaffold:
# Architecture
## Overview
## Components
## Data flow
## Trade-offs and decisions
Step 4 — Pre-flight scan
Before saying "done":
- Em-dash scan — README and AGENTS.md should be em-dash-free if intended for public/recruiter visibility
- PII scan — no phone, address, real email beyond Josh's standard one
- Secrets scan — no inline tokens / keys / passwords
- License match — if portfolio-public, confirm MIT (or alternative) is set
Step 5 — First commit
Initial commit message: Initial commit: scaffolding
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit: scaffolding for {Name}"
DO NOT push to remote yet. That requires Josh's confirmation per the safety rules.
Step 6 — Output
**Repo bootstrapped** at `[path]`
**Type:** [type]
**Files created:**
- README.md ([N] lines)
- .gitignore ([N] entries, defensive baseline + [stack]-specific)
- AGENTS.md (minimal) [if applicable]
- LICENSE (MIT) [if applicable]
- ARCHITECTURE.md [if applicable]
**Pre-flight scan:** all green ✅
**Next steps:**
- [ ] Review README — fill in the [TODO] sections
- [ ] If GitHub remote desired, create the repo on GitHub then `git remote add origin ...`
- [ ] First feature commit when ready
Discipline
- The defensive .gitignore is non-negotiable. Even for scratch repos. Cost of a leaked .env is higher than 5 lines of gitignore.
- Master-CV files are git-ignored by default. To explicitly include a sanitized version in a portfolio repo, name it differently (e.g.,
resume-public.md) and add to .gitignore exception. - For portfolio-public, the README quality bar is high. Recruiters read these. Josh should review thoroughly.