AI Assisted Workspace Setup

AI-Assisted Workspace Setup

Sets up a developer environment on any OS, tailored to the user's use case. Covers base tooling (VS Code + GitHub Copilot, Node.js, Python), then branches into use-case-specific packages: data science (Python or R), AI-assisted development, web development, or general programming. Reporting capability starts with Markdown and upgrades to Quarto where supported.

Agent instruction: Use vscode_askQuestions at every decision point listed in this skill. Never assume a use case, language, or package preference — always ask first. Gather answers in batches (one vscode_askQuestions call per logical group) to minimise interruptions.

When to Use

• Setting up a brand-new machine or onboarding a developer
• Configuring a data science or AI development environment
• Adding a reporting pipeline (Markdown / Quarto)
• Auditing what is installed before adding tools
• Checking permissions before attempting installs

Phase 0 — Gather Use Case Intent

Before running any diagnostics, interview the user with vscode_askQuestions.

0.1 — Primary Use Case

vscode_askQuestions([
  {
    header: "Primary use case",
    question: "What will you primarily use this workspace for?",
    options: [
      { label: "Data Science / Analysis", description: "Python or R, notebooks, reporting" },
      { label: "AI-Assisted Development", description: "LLMs, embeddings, agent frameworks" },
      { label: "Web Development", description: "Node.js, TypeScript, React / Next.js / Svelte" },
      { label: "General Programming", description: "Scripts, automation, multiple languages" },
      { label: "DevOps / Infrastructure", description: "Docker, Ansible, Terraform, CI/CD" },
      { label: "Multiple / Not sure yet", description: "Install a broad base set" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: true
  }
])

Store the answer as USE_CASE. Then ask the follow-up batch that matches the chosen use case (see sections 0.2–0.6 below). Skip irrelevant sections.

0.2 — Data Science Track (if USE_CASE = Data Science)

vscode_askQuestions([
  {
    header: "DS language",
    question: "Which language(s) do you want for data science?",
    options: [
      { label: "Python only", recommended: true },
      { label: "R only" },
      { label: "Both Python and R" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  },
  {
    header: "Reporting level",
    question: "What level of reporting / document output do you need?",
    options: [
      { label: "Markdown only", description: "Simple .md files, GitHub-renderable", recommended: true },
      { label: "Jupyter Notebooks", description: "Interactive notebooks (.ipynb)" },
      { label: "Quarto", description: "Reproducible reports, HTML/PDF/slides from .qmd" },
      { label: "R Markdown / knitr", description: "Classic R-native reporting" },
      { label: "All of the above" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false,
    multiSelect: true
  },
  {
    header: "DS packages scope",
    question: "How much do you want installed now?",
    options: [
      { label: "Minimal core only", description: "numpy, pandas, matplotlib (Python) / tidyverse (R)" },
      { label: "Standard data science", description: "Core + scipy, seaborn, statsmodels, scikit-learn", recommended: true },
      { label: "Full ML / deep learning", description: "Standard + PyTorch or TensorFlow, XGBoost, LightGBM" },
      { label: "Let me choose per package" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  }
])

0.3 — AI Development Track (if USE_CASE = AI-Assisted Development)

vscode_askQuestions([
  {
    header: "AI dev stack",
    question: "Which AI / LLM tools do you need?",
    options: [
      { label: "OpenAI SDK (openai)", recommended: true },
      { label: "Anthropic SDK (anthropic)" },
      { label: "LangChain" },
      { label: "LlamaIndex" },
      { label: "Hugging Face (transformers, diffusers)" },
      { label: "Local models (Ollama)" },
      { label: "Agent frameworks (AutoGen, CrewAI)" }
    ],
    multiSelect: true,
    allowFreeformInput: true
  },
  {
    header: "AI dev language",
    question: "Primary language for AI development?",
    options: [
      { label: "Python", recommended: true },
      { label: "TypeScript / JavaScript" },
      { label: "Both" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  },
  {
    header: "AI reporting",
    question: "Do you need reporting / documentation output?",
    options: [
      { label: "No — just code", recommended: true },
      { label: "Markdown only" },
      { label: "Jupyter Notebooks" },
      { label: "Quarto" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  }
])

0.4 — Web Development Track (if USE_CASE = Web Development)

vscode_askQuestions([
  {
    header: "Web framework",
    question: "Which web framework(s) will you use?",
    options: [
      { label: "React / Next.js" },
      { label: "Vue / Nuxt" },
      { label: "Svelte / SvelteKit", recommended: true },
      { label: "Plain Node.js / Express" },
      { label: "Full-stack (any of the above + API)" },
      { label: "Not sure yet" }
    ],
    multiSelect: true,
    allowFreeformInput: true
  },
  {
    header: "Web language",
    question: "TypeScript or JavaScript?",
    options: [
      { label: "TypeScript", recommended: true },
      { label: "JavaScript" },
      { label: "Both / doesn't matter" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  }
])

0.5 — General Programming / DevOps Track

vscode_askQuestions([
  {
    header: "Languages",
    question: "Which programming languages do you need configured?",
    options: [
      { label: "Python" },
      { label: "JavaScript / TypeScript" },
      { label: "Go" },
      { label: "Rust" },
      { label: "Java / Kotlin" },
      { label: "C / C++" },
      { label: "Ruby" },
      { label: "PHP" },
      { label: "Shell scripting (bash/zsh)" }
    ],
    multiSelect: true,
    allowFreeformInput: true
  }
])

0.6 — Installation Scope (all tracks)

Always ask this at the end of the use-case interview:

vscode_askQuestions([
  {
    header: "Install scope",
    question: "How should packages be installed when possible?",
    options: [
      { label: "User-level only (no sudo required)", description: "pip --user, nvm, local R library", recommended: true },
      { label: "System-level (requires sudo/admin)", description: "Faster, shared across users" },
      { label: "Virtual environments / isolated", description: "venv, conda, renv per project" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  },
  {
    header: "Confirm before each install",
    question: "Do you want to confirm before each group of packages is installed?",
    options: [
      { label: "Yes — show me what will be installed first", recommended: true },
      { label: "No — install everything automatically" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  }
])

Store as INSTALL_SCOPE and CONFIRM_INSTALLS. Reference these throughout all later phases.

0.7 — Python Workspace Scaffold (when Python is in scope)

Ask this when USE_CASE involves Python (Data Science, AI Development, or General with Python selected):

vscode_askQuestions([
  {
    header: "Python project manager",
    question: "Which tool should manage the Python environment and project?",
    message: "uv is the fastest modern choice and replaces pip/venv/pip-tools in one binary. hatch is ideal for publishable packages following PEP 517/518.",
    options: [
      { label: "uv", description: "Astral's uv — fast, modern, replaces pip/venv/pip-tools", recommended: true },
      { label: "hatch", description: "PEP 517/518-native, great for publishable packages" },
      { label: "poetry", description: "Classic lock-file dependency management" },
      { label: "venv + pip", description: "Minimal stdlib approach, no extra tooling" },
      { label: "Skip — environment already set up" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  },
  {
    header: "Scaffold workspace files",
    question: "Which workspace files should be created for the project?",
    message: "These establish a standard, reproducible project structure for VS Code.",
    options: [
      { label: "All (README, .code-workspace, .vscode/)", description: "Full scaffold — recommended for new projects", recommended: true },
      { label: "README.md only" },
      { label: ".code-workspace only" },
      { label: ".vscode/ only (settings, extensions, mcp)" },
      { label: "Skip — I'll manage structure manually" }
    ],
    multiSelect: true,
    allowFreeformInput: false
  },
  {
    header: "Project name",
    question: "What is the project / workspace name? (used for .code-workspace filename and README title)",
    allowFreeformInput: true
  }
])

Store as PYTHON_PM, SCAFFOLD_FILES, and PROJECT_NAME.

Phase 1 — Diagnose

Run the appropriate diagnostic script for the OS. If the OS is already known, skip to Phase 2.

Detect OS

# In any terminal — output is one of: macos, linux, windows
uname -s 2>/dev/null || echo "windows"

Run Full Diagnostic

macOS / Linux — run diagnose.sh:

bash ./scripts/diagnose.sh

Windows (PowerShell) — run diagnose.ps1:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
./scripts/diagnose.ps1

The diagnostic script reports:

• OS name and version
• Current user and privilege level (admin / standard)
• Available package managers
• Installed versions of: code, node, npm, python, python3, pip, pip3
• Git status

Read the output and build a gap list: which tools are missing or outdated.

Phase 2 — Check Permissions

Before installing, confirm the user has sufficient rights.

If not admin: warn the user. Offer user-scoped install paths where possible (e.g. --user flag for pip, nvm for Node, VS Code user installer on Windows). Never silently fail on permission errors.

Phase 3 — Detect Package Manager

Check what is available before choosing an install method. Prefer in this order:

macOS

1. brew (Homebrew) — brew --version
2. Manual .dmg / .pkg download (fallback)

Linux

1. apt / apt-get (Debian/Ubuntu) — apt --version
2. dnf / yum (Fedora/RHEL) — dnf --version
3. pacman (Arch) — pacman --version
4. snap — snap --version
5. Manual .tar.gz / binary (fallback)

Windows

1. winget — winget --version
2. choco (Chocolatey) — choco --version
3. scoop — scoop --version
4. Manual installer download (fallback)

See package-managers.md for install commands for each manager.

Phase 4 — Install Missing Tools

Work through the gap list. Install in this order to respect dependencies:

1. Git (prerequisite for everything else)
2. Node.js + npm
3. Python + pip
4. VS Code
5. GitHub Copilot extension

Install Commands by Platform

Git

Node.js

Prefer a version manager for flexibility:

Python

VS Code

GitHub Copilot Extension

Once VS Code is installed, install via CLI:

code --install-extension GitHub.copilot
code --install-extension GitHub.copilot-chat

This works on all platforms where code is on the PATH. On Windows, restart the terminal after VS Code install if code is not found.

Phase 4b — APM (Agent Package Manager)

APM (microsoft.github.io/apm) manages GitHub Copilot agent skills, instructions, and prompt files — the same way npm manages Node packages. Install it so the user can extend their AI tooling with curated skill packs.

Prerequisite Check

APM requires Node.js / npm. Verify before proceeding:

node --version && npm --version

If Node is missing, complete Phase 4 (Node install) first.

Ask the User

vscode_askQuestions([
  {
    header: "Install APM",
    question: "Do you want to install APM (Agent Package Manager) to manage AI skills and agents?",
    message: "APM lets you add curated skill packs, agents, and prompt files to your workspace with a single command. Requires Node.js (already checked). See: https://microsoft.github.io/apm",
    options: [
      { label: "Yes — install APM now", recommended: true },
      { label: "No — skip for now" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  }
])

Skip the rest of this phase if the user declines.

Install APM

# User-global install (no sudo — recommended)
npm install -g @microsoft/apm

# Verify
apm --version

If npm install -g fails with permission errors (common on macOS/Linux without nvm):

# Fix npm prefix to user dir (one-time setup)
mkdir -p ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix ~/.npm-global
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc
npm install -g @microsoft/apm

# Or run without global install via npx
npx @microsoft/apm --version

Initialise APM in the Workspace

cd <project-directory>
apm init

This creates an apm.yml manifest:

name: my-workspace
version: 1.0.0
targets:
  - copilot
dependencies:
  apm: []
  mcp: []
includes: auto

Discover and Add Skills

Ask the user how they want to find skills:

vscode_askQuestions([
  {
    header: "Skill discovery",
    question: "How do you want to find AI skills and agents to install?",
    options: [
      { label: "Browse awesome-copilot (official)", description: "github.com/microsoft/awesome-copilot", recommended: true },
      { label: "skills.sh registry", description: "Community skill registry at https://skills.sh" },
      { label: "GitHub search", description: "Search 'apm.yml copilot skills' on GitHub" },
      { label: "Google search", description: "site:github.com apm.yml copilot agent skills" },
      { label: "Skip — I'll add them manually later" }
    ],
    allowFreeformInput: false
  }
])

Present these sources to the user:

Fallback: If skills.sh is unavailable or returns no results, direct the user to github.com/microsoft/awesome-copilot or search GitHub for public apm.yml files.

Install a skill

# Add from GitHub
apm add github/<owner>/<repo>/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md

# Example — janitor agent from awesome-copilot
apm add github/awesome-copilot/agents/janitor.agent.md

# Install all declared dependencies
apm install

Use-Case Skill Suggestions

Suggest relevant APM search terms based on USE_CASE from Phase 0:

Phase 4c — Python Workspace Scaffold

Run this phase when PYTHON_PM and/or SCAFFOLD_FILES were set in Phase 0.7. It creates a minimal, correctly structured Python project with a managed virtual environment and standard VS Code workspace files.

4c.1 — Install Python Project Manager

uv (recommended)

# macOS / Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# macOS (Homebrew alternative)
brew install uv

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

# Windows (winget)
winget install --id astral-sh.uv -e

# Verify
uv --version

hatch

# Via pip (works everywhere; consider pipx for isolation)
pip install hatch
# or: pipx install hatch

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install hatch

# If uv is already installed — cleanest option
uv tool install hatch

# Verify
hatch --version

poetry

# Official installer (macOS / Linux)
curl -sSL https://install.python-poetry.org | python3 -

# Windows (PowerShell)
(Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://install.python-poetry.org -UseBasicParsing).Content | python -

# Verify
poetry --version

4c.2 — Initialise the Project

Replace <project-name> with PROJECT_NAME from Phase 0.7.

uv

# New project (creates <project-name>/ directory with pyproject.toml + src layout)
uv init <project-name>
cd <project-name>

# Add a scripts/ directory for helper scripts (not created by default)
mkdir -p scripts

# Add core dev tools (linter, formatter, test runner)
uv add --dev ruff pytest pytest-cov

# Create the virtual environment and install all deps
uv sync

pyproject.toml additions for helper scripts and ruff:

[tool.ruff]
line-length = 88
target-version = "py310"

[tool.ruff.lint]
select = ["E", "F", "I", "UP"]

[tool.pytest.ini_options]
testpaths = ["tests"]

hatch

# New project
hatch new <project-name>
cd <project-name>

# Add scripts/ directory
mkdir -p scripts

# hatch uses pyproject.toml environments — no separate lock file by default
hatch env create

Add to pyproject.toml to keep the venv in .venv/ (required for VS Code interpreter auto-detection):

[tool.hatch.envs.default]
type = "virtual"
path = ".venv"

[tool.hatch.envs.default.scripts]
test = "pytest {args}"
lint = "ruff check {args:.}"
fmt = "ruff format {args:.}"

4c.3 — Scaffold Workspace Files

Create all selected files from SCAFFOLD_FILES. Substitute PROJECT_NAME everywhere shown.

README.md

# <PROJECT_NAME>

> Short description of the project.

## Requirements

- Python ≥ 3.10
- [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) (`curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh`)

## Setup

```bash
# Install dependencies and create virtual environment
uv sync

Development

# Run tests
uv run pytest

# Lint
uv run ruff check .

# Format
uv run ruff format .

# Run a helper script
uv run python scripts/<script>.py

Project Structure

<PROJECT_NAME>/
├── src/
│   └── <package>/
│       └── __init__.py
├── tests/
│   └── __init__.py
├── scripts/          # helper and automation scripts
├── .vscode/
│   ├── settings.json
│   ├── extensions.json
│   └── mcp.json
├── <PROJECT_NAME>.code-workspace
├── pyproject.toml
├── uv.lock           # (uv) or pyproject.toml lock section (hatch/poetry)
└── README.md

License

MIT

---

#### `<PROJECT_NAME>.code-workspace`

```json
{
  "folders": [
    { "path": "." }
  ],
  "settings": {
    "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "${workspaceFolder}/.venv/bin/python"
  },
  "extensions": {
    "recommendations": [
      "ms-python.python",
      "ms-python.vscode-pylance",
      "charliermarsh.ruff",
      "ms-python.debugpy",
      "tamasfe.even-better-toml",
      "GitHub.copilot",
      "GitHub.copilot-chat"
    ]
  }
}

Windows note: Change the interpreter path to ${workspaceFolder}/.venv/Scripts/python.exe.

.vscode/settings.json

{
  "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "${workspaceFolder}/.venv/bin/python",
  "python.terminal.activateEnvironment": true,
  "python.terminal.activateEnvInCurrentTerminal": true,
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.rulers": [88],
  "[python]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "charliermarsh.ruff",
    "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
      "source.fixAll.ruff": "explicit",
      "source.organizeImports.ruff": "explicit"
    }
  },
  "python.testing.pytestEnabled": true,
  "python.testing.pytestArgs": ["tests"],
  "files.exclude": {
    "**/__pycache__": true,
    "**/.pytest_cache": true,
    "**/*.pyc": true,
    ".venv": true
  },
  "search.exclude": {
    ".venv": true,
    "uv.lock": true
  }
}

.vscode/extensions.json

{
  "recommendations": [
    "ms-python.python",
    "ms-python.vscode-pylance",
    "charliermarsh.ruff",
    "ms-python.debugpy",
    "tamasfe.even-better-toml",
    "redhat.vscode-yaml",
    "GitHub.copilot",
    "GitHub.copilot-chat"
  ]
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {}
}

mcp.json is the VS Code MCP server registry file. Populate it with any MCP servers the project needs. Each entry follows the format:

"server-name": {
  "type": "stdio",
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "@some/mcp-server"]
}

Ask the user which MCP servers (if any) should be pre-configured. Common choices: filesystem, memory, github, playwright.

4c.4 — .gitignore

Add Python + venv entries if a .gitignore does not already exist:

# macOS / Linux
cat >> .gitignore << 'EOF'
.venv/
__pycache__/
*.pyc
*.pyo
*.pyd
.pytest_cache/
.ruff_cache/
dist/
*.egg-info/
.env
.env.*
EOF

# Or use uv's built-in (creates a minimal .gitignore on uv init)

4c.5 — Verify Python Environment

# Confirm interpreter resolves to the project .venv
uv run python --version          # uv
hatch run python --version       # hatch

# Confirm ruff and pytest are available
uv run ruff --version
uv run pytest --version

# Run tests (should pass with empty test suite)
uv run pytest

Open the project in VS Code and confirm the status bar shows .venv as the active interpreter. If not, press Ctrl+Shift+P → Python: Select Interpreter → choose .venv.

Phase 5 — Verify

After all installs, run the diagnostic script again to confirm all tools are present and on the expected versions:

# macOS / Linux
bash ./scripts/diagnose.sh

# Windows
./scripts/diagnose.ps1

Expected passing state:

Decision Tree (Quick Reference)

Start
 └─ Phase 0: Interview user (use case, languages, reporting, install scope)
     ├─ 0.7: Python in scope? → ask project manager (uv/hatch/poetry/venv) + scaffold files
     └─ Phase 1: Detect OS + run diagnostic
         └─ Phase 2: Check permissions → user-scoped install if not admin
             └─ Phase 3: Detect package manager
                 └─ Phase 4: Install base tools (git → Node → Python → VS Code → Copilot)
                     ├─ macOS?  brew present? → brew for all; else install brew first
                     ├─ Linux?  apt/dnf/pacman → system pkg; snap for VS Code
                     └─ Windows? winget (built-in Win11) → choco → scoop → manual
                         └─ Phase 4b: Install APM (npm install -g @microsoft/apm)
                             ├─ Guide user to awesome-copilot / skills.sh for skill packs
                             └─ Phase 4c: Python Workspace Scaffold (when Python in scope)
                                 ├─ Install uv / hatch / poetry
                                 ├─ uv init / hatch new → pyproject.toml + .venv
                                 ├─ mkdir scripts/   ← helper scripts live here
                                 ├─ Create README.md
                                 ├─ Create <project>.code-workspace
                                 ├─ Create .vscode/settings.json  (interpreter + ruff)
                                 ├─ Create .vscode/extensions.json
                                 ├─ Create .vscode/mcp.json       (empty servers map)
                                 └─ Phase 5: Verify all tools + run use-case package install

Notes

• Never mix package managers for the same tool — pick one and stay consistent.
• macOS system Python (/usr/bin/python3) is managed by Apple; always install a separate Python via brew (preferred) or pyenv.
• Windows PATH: After installs via winget/choco, open a new terminal session before verifying — PATH updates do not apply to the current session.
• Copilot sign-in: After installing the Copilot extension, the user must sign in with a GitHub account that has Copilot access. This cannot be automated.
• APM vs Atom APM: Microsoft's @microsoft/apm may conflict with the legacy Atom editor apm binary. Use npx @microsoft/apm or alias mapm if needed.
• R user library: R automatically creates ~/Library/R/x.y/library (macOS) or ~/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/x.y (Linux) for user installs — no sudo required.
• Quarto user install on Linux: Extract to ~/.local/bin/quarto and add ~/.local/bin to PATH in .zshrc / .bashrc.
• skills.sh: If the skills.sh registry is unavailable, fall back to searching GitHub for apm.yml files or the awesome-copilot repository.
• uv vs pip: uv resolves and installs dependencies 10–100× faster than pip. It also manages Python versions (uv python install 3.12). Prefer it for all new Python projects.
• hatch .venv path: By default hatch stores environments globally (~/.local/share/hatch/env/). Set [tool.hatch.envs.default] type = "virtual" / path = ".venv" in pyproject.toml so VS Code can auto-detect the interpreter.
• Windows interpreter path: In .vscode/settings.json and .code-workspace, change .venv/bin/python to .venv/Scripts/python.exe.
• scripts/ directory: Always create it even if empty — it signals to contributors where helper/automation scripts live. Add a brief comment in README.md explaining its purpose.
• .vscode/mcp.json: This file is read by VS Code to register MCP servers for the workspace. Keep it under source control so all contributors share the same MCP configuration.