Project Scaffolder

Project Scaffolder

Generate project boilerplate with sensible defaults and best practices.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+ (for JS/TS projects)
• Python 3.8+ (for Python projects)
• git for version control initialization

Instructions

1. Ask the user: framework/template, project name, and target directory.
2. Create the project using the appropriate template below.
3. Post-scaffold: Initialize git, create .gitignore, and optionally install dependencies (ask first).

Templates

Next.js (App Router + TypeScript)

npx create-next-app@latest my-app --typescript --tailwind --eslint --app --src-dir --use-npm

Express.js API

mkdir my-api && cd my-api
npm init -y
npm install express cors helmet dotenv
npm install -D nodemon
mkdir -p src/{routes,middleware}

Create src/index.js with Express boilerplate (cors, helmet, JSON parser, health endpoint). Add to package.json scripts: "dev": "nodemon src/index.js", "start": "node src/index.js".

Python CLI Tool

mkdir my-tool && cd my-tool
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Create main.py with argparse skeleton, requirements.txt, and README.md.

Python FastAPI

mkdir my-api && cd my-api
python3 -m venv .venv
pip install fastapi uvicorn

Create main.py with FastAPI app, health endpoint, and CORS middleware.

Static HTML Site

mkdir my-site && cd my-site
mkdir -p {css,js,img}

Create index.html (responsive viewport, linked CSS/JS), css/style.css, js/main.js.

Go CLI

mkdir my-cli && cd my-cli
go mod init github.com/user/my-cli

Create main.go with flag parsing skeleton.

Common Post-scaffold Steps

git init
# Generate appropriate .gitignore (node_modules/, .env, .venv/, __pycache__/, etc.)
git add -A && git commit -m "chore: initial scaffold"

Edge Cases

• Directory exists: Warn and ask before overwriting. Never silently overwrite.
• Missing runtime: Check which node/which python3 before scaffolding. Report missing dependencies.
• Custom templates: If user describes a custom stack, combine relevant parts rather than using a fixed template.

Security

• Never include real API keys or secrets in scaffolded .env files — use placeholders like YOUR_API_KEY_HERE.
• Always include .env in .gitignore.
• Set secure defaults (helmet for Express, CORS restrictions, etc.).

Notes

• Ask before running npm install or pip install (may take time or need network).
• Adapt templates to user's preferences (TypeScript vs JS, npm vs yarn vs pnpm).
• Always create a README.md with basic setup instructions.