Scaffold

You are the li-scaffold skill.

What this skill does

Sets up a new repo (or initializes scaffolding in existing repo) with Lintel's Category B templates: CLAUDE.md (from template + repo-specific variables), CORE-PRINCIPLES.md, EVOLUTION.md, EVOLUTION-LOG.md, .claude/memory/{lessons,working-state,personas}.md, .claude/plans/todo.md, .claude/decisions/{README,TEMPLATE}.md, TEMPLATE-skill.md. (Subagents come from the plugin fleet — no repo-local .claude/agents/.)

This is how new repos get Lintel defaults inside 30 seconds.

When to use

• Brand-new repo, no CLAUDE.md yet
• Existing repo joining Lintel standards
• Per-engagement template initialization

When NOT to use

• Repo already has CLAUDE.md (warn before overwrite)
• Scratch / throwaway repo (outside scope; recommend lighter setup)

Workflow

1. Verify target. Current cwd = target repo? Confirm via AskUserQuestion.

2. Check for collisions. Files that would be created or overwritten:

   • CLAUDE.md — overwrite or merge?
   • .claude/memory/ — exists with content?
   • .claude/decisions/ — exists? Recommend backup if collisions.

3. Locate Lintel scaffolding source.

   • Primary: ~/.lintel/scaffolding/01-foundation/
   • Fallback: clone or fetch from jokerman89/lintel

4. Gather repo-specific variables (AskUserQuestion):

   • Repo name
   • Team / owner
   • Engagement type (customer-engagement / internal-tool / mvp / research)
   • Default voice tier (resolved from the active pack — internal by default)
   • Compliance level (resolved from the active pack — advisory by default)
   • GitHub URL (if known)

5. Render CLAUDE.md from template. Substitute variables. Result: project-specific CLAUDE.md.

6. Copy other scaffolding files.

   cp scaffolding/01-foundation/CORE-PRINCIPLES.md .
   cp scaffolding/01-foundation/EVOLUTION.md .
   cp scaffolding/01-foundation/EVOLUTION-LOG.md .
   mkdir -p .claude/memory .claude/plans .claude/decisions
   cp scaffolding/01-foundation/.claude/memory/* .claude/memory/   # lessons + working-state + personas + personas-example
   cp scaffolding/01-foundation/.claude/plans/* .claude/plans/
   cp scaffolding/01-foundation/.claude/decisions/* .claude/decisions/
   # No .claude/agents/ — the subagent fleet ships with the plugin; a repo-local agent
   # would shadow the fleet's same-named one (removed 2026-06-14, ADR-0015 subtraction).
   cp scaffolding/01-foundation/.claude/SUBAGENT-GUIDE.md .claude/
   cp scaffolding/01-foundation/TEMPLATE-skill.md .
   cp scaffolding/01-foundation/TEMPLATE-agent.md .
   

7. Initial commit (interactive — confirm with operator):

   git add CLAUDE.md CORE-PRINCIPLES.md EVOLUTION.md EVOLUTION-LOG.md .claude/ TEMPLATE-*.md
   git commit -m "chore: scaffold Lintel base via li-scaffold"
   

8. Add compliance template (optional). If the active pack ships compliance scaffolding (resolve_pack_field compliance.hooks non-empty), apply the pack's compliance templates too. The _default pack ships none.

9. Report. Files created + next steps.

Output format

LINTEL-SCAFFOLD: <repo name>

Variables collected:
- Repo: <name>
- Team: <team>
- Engagement type: <type>
- Voice tier default: <tier>
- Compliance level: <level>

Files created:
- ✓ CLAUDE.md (rendered from template)
- ✓ CORE-PRINCIPLES.md
- ✓ EVOLUTION.md, EVOLUTION-LOG.md
- ✓ .claude/memory/{lessons,working-state,personas}.md
- ✓ .claude/plans/todo.md
- ✓ .claude/decisions/{README,TEMPLATE}.md
- ✓ .claude/memory/personas-example.md
- ✓ .claude/SUBAGENT-GUIDE.md (subagents come from the plugin fleet — no repo-local agents)
- ✓ TEMPLATE-skill.md, TEMPLATE-agent.md

If the active pack ships compliance scaffolding:
- ✓ pack-provided compliance docs (none in _default)

Commit: <SHA>

Next steps:
- [ ] Review CLAUDE.md, adjust project-specific sections
- [ ] Customize .claude/memory/personas.md with engagement-specific personas
- [ ] Install Lintel plugin for your CLI: see docs/per-cli/
- [ ] First /qa to verify setup

Edge cases

• Existing CLAUDE.md — backup first, merge interactively, OR offer dry-run preview.
• No Lintel scaffolding source available — recommend git clone jokerman89/lintel ~/.lintel.
• Non-git directory — recommend git init first.
• Customer wants to fork Lintel — see docs/compliance.md for what they'd need to change.

Why this matters

Without this skill, every new repo starts CLAUDE.md from scratch. With it, every new repo starts with proven defaults. 30-second setup vs 30-minute setup.

This is Category B (Repo-scaffolding) in action — the templates Lintel curates get applied to make every new project consistent.