Init Repo

Init Repo

Goal: Go from "no repository" to "an empty repository with a clean root commit, checked out locally on a bootstrap branch, ready for the first real work".

The design intent: main starts as a single empty commit and stays clean. Everything that makes the repository useful — README, license, tooling — arrives later via pull requests from the bootstrap branch. This skill only prepares that starting line; it never writes project files itself.

Why an empty init commit

A root commit with no files gives every later change — including the very first README — a parent to diff against, keeps git rebase -i --root and git bisect well-behaved, and means the actual scaffolding can go through a reviewable PR instead of being baked into the root.

Workflow

0) Preconditions

gh auth status and ghq root must both succeed. Surface errors and stop on failure.

1) Gather the essentials

From the user (or the conversation), determine:

• Repository name — required.
• Visibility — --public or --private. If not stated, ask; never guess. Publishing a repository is outward-facing.
• Owner — default to the authenticated user, resolved concretely with gh api user --jq .login (a machine may hold several gh accounts). Only ask when an organization is plausibly intended.
• Description — optional; include only if the user provides one.

Confirm the combination (owner/name, visibility) with the user before creating. This is the one confirmation gate in the flow.

2) Create the remote

gh repo create <owner>/<name> --private|--public [--description "<desc>"]

Do not pass --license, --gitignore, --add-readme, or --clone — any of those would create a remote first commit and break the clean-root design. If the name already exists, gh errors; surface it and stop.

3) Clone under the ghq root

ghq get <owner>/<name>

Cloning an empty repository warns; that is expected. Run everything after this inside the clone:

cd "$(ghq root)/github.com/<owner>/<name>"

4) Root commit on main

The fresh clone has no commits yet, so HEAD is an unborn branch named by the local init.defaultBranch — branch commands like git switch misbehave on it. Point HEAD at main directly, then create the empty root commit and push:

git symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/main
git commit --allow-empty -m "chore: init" -m "Co-Authored-By: <your harness's co-author line>"
git push -u origin main

The second -m carries the Co-Authored-By trailer your harness convention specifies — this commit is authored through the agent, same as any other.

5) Cut the bootstrap branch

git switch -c bootstrap

The branch name is fixed: bootstrap, always. Local only — it gets pushed when the first real work goes up (typically via publish-pr).

6) Report

Give the user the repository URL, the local path, and the current branch (bootstrap), and note that main holds exactly one empty commit.

Boundaries

• No project files. README, LICENSE, justfile, .gitignore — all of it is bootstrap-branch work owned by other skills (build-readme, build-justfile) or the user.
• No PR. Opening the first PR belongs to publish-pr.
• No CI / branch protection / repo settings. Separate concerns, configured once there is something to protect.
• Never proceed past step 1 without explicit confirmation of owner, name, and visibility — repository creation is public-facing and annoying to undo.
• Stop and explain if gh, ghq, or auth is missing, or the target name already exists, rather than improvising.