# Onboard > First-run setup for a fresh clone of career-agent. Bootstraps $PERSONAL, checks prerequisites (pandoc, python deps, git config), then runs a guided interview to populate personal-info, goals, impact-doc, and brag-doc. Detects partial setup and resumes. Use when the user says "/onboard", "set me up", "I just cloned the repo", "first time using this". - Skill: `rish-modi/onboard` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add rish-modi/onboard` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/rish-modi/onboard/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: Rish-Modi (https://skillmd.com/u/rish-modi) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/rish-modi/onboard --- # Onboard ## When to use On a fresh clone of the repo, or any time the user explicitly invokes `/onboard`. Also when the user says things like "I just cloned this", "set me up", "first time", "how do I start". If the user is mid-task on something else (writing a resume, analyzing a Job Description), do **not** silently redirect them into onboarding. Confirm first. ## What it produces - `$PERSONAL/` directory bootstrapped with `career/` and `applications/` subfolders. - Four core personal docs populated (or skipped at the user's choice) in `$PERSONAL/career/`: - `personal-info.md` - `goals.md` - `impact-doc.md` - `brag-doc.md` - A short readout of what was filled, what was deferred, and what tools (if any) are missing. Nothing else. No git changes. No app launching. No resume generation. ## Workflow Run these phases in order. **Each phase is resumable**: re-running `/onboard` after partial setup detects what already exists and picks up where the user left off. Confirm before overwriting any file that already has real content (not template stubs). ### Phase 0: Resolve $PERSONAL and detect state 1. Resolve `$PERSONAL` and `$LEETCODE_BANK` per `CLAUDE.md` (both are siblings of the main repo). 2. Check what already exists: - Does `$PERSONAL/` exist? - Does `$PERSONAL/career/` exist? - Does each of `personal-info.md`, `goals.md`, `impact-doc.md`, `brag-doc.md` exist? - For each existing file: is it still a template stub (contains the original `` and empty fields) or does it have real content? - Does `$LEETCODE_BANK/` exist (for Phase 2.5)? 3. Print a one-line state summary, e.g.: ``` Setup status: $PERSONAL exists, personal-info filled, goals stub, impact-doc and brag-doc missing. $LEETCODE_BANK missing. Resuming from goals. ``` 4. If everything is already filled with real content, ask the user whether they want to re-interview any section or just exit. ### Phase 1: Prerequisite checks Run these silently and only report the **missing** ones. Don't list things that work. | Check | How | Why it matters | |---|---|---| | `git config user.name` and `user.email` set | `git config user.name && git config user.email` | Commits and PR authorship. | | `pandoc` installed | `pandoc --version` | `resume-builder` and `cover-letter-builder` produce `.docx`. | | `python3` installed | `python3 --version` (Windows: `py --version` or `python --version`) | All doc-generation skills. | | Python deps: `python-docx`, `reportlab`, `requests` | `python3 -c "import docx, reportlab, requests"` | Resume `.docx` / `.pdf` generation, Job Description fetching. | For each missing item, print a one-line fix: - `pandoc` → `brew install pandoc` / `winget install pandoc` / `apt install pandoc`. - Python deps → `pip install python-docx reportlab requests`. - Git config → `git config --global user.name "Your Name"` etc. If everything is present, say so in one line ("Prereqs: all good") and move on. Do **not** block onboarding on missing tools. They're only needed when the relevant skill is later invoked. ### Phase 2: Bootstrap $PERSONAL If `$PERSONAL/` or its subfolders don't exist, create them and copy the templates that aren't already in place: ``` $PERSONAL/career/ $PERSONAL/applications/ $PERSONAL/career/personal-info.md (copy from career/personal-info.template.md if missing) $PERSONAL/career/goals.md (copy from career/goals.template.md if missing) $PERSONAL/career/impact-doc.md (copy from career/impact-doc.template.md if missing) $PERSONAL/career/brag-doc.md (copy from career/brag-doc.template.md if missing) ``` Never overwrite an existing file at this phase. Templates only land in slots that are empty. ### Phase 2.5: Bootstrap $LEETCODE_BANK The `coding-prep` skill's company-lookup flow reads from a read-only sibling clone of an upstream open-source repo. Resolve `$LEETCODE_BANK` per `CLAUDE.md` (sibling of the main repo, named `leetcode-companywise-interview-questions/`). 1. **If `$LEETCODE_BANK` does not exist:** clone it shallow. ```bash git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/snehasishroy/leetcode-companywise-interview-questions.git "$LEETCODE_BANK" ``` Tell the user what you're doing in one line ("Cloning company-tagged question bank to $LEETCODE_BANK") before running. The clone is several MB and takes a few seconds. Confirm success in one line. 2. **If `$LEETCODE_BANK` already exists:** fast-forward to upstream. ```bash git -C "$LEETCODE_BANK" pull --ff-only ``` Silent if up-to-date. If it errors (uncommitted changes, diverged), tell the user and skip; do not force-update someone else's clone. 3. **If `git` is missing or the clone fails (no network, etc.):** report in one line and continue. The bank is optional infrastructure; everything else still works. Suggest the user re-run `/onboard` later or clone manually. Never modify files inside `$LEETCODE_BANK`. It is upstream-owned. The only writes here are `git pull --ff-only` to refresh. ### Phase 3: Set expectations Before starting the interview, tell the user (once, briefly): > I'll walk you through four documents: personal info, goals, impact doc, brag doc. You can fill any of them in now, defer to later, or paste raw text I'll structure for you. **Filling everything now gives the most accurate resumes, fit analyses, and interview prep.** Deferred sections will block the skills that depend on them (e.g., resume-builder needs impact-doc). Then ask: *"Want to go through all four, or pick which ones to do now?"* ### Phase 4: Interview, one doc at a time For each doc in order, ask the user up front: > **personal-info.md** — quick form: name, email, phone, location, LinkedIn, GitHub. ~2 min. Fill now, defer, or paste a block I'll parse? Three branches: - **Fill now (guided)**: Ask each field one at a time. Keep it tight. If the user already gave a value earlier in the session (e.g., from CLAUDE.md context like email), prefill and confirm rather than re-asking. Write the file when the section is complete. - **Paste**: User pastes a block of raw text (e.g., LinkedIn export, an old resume, freeform). Parse it, populate the file, show the result, ask for corrections. - **Defer**: Leave the template stub in place. Note this in the final readout. Move on. Doc-specific guidance: **personal-info.md** — simple key/value. Strip the placeholder formatting; write actual values. If the user volunteers links (portfolio, blog), add them as new lines. **goals.md** — the template has six sections (current state, target roles, target companies, constraints, what I want, what I'm avoiding). Don't ask all 30+ fields. Ask in groups: 1. "Current role and level?" (title, level, YOE, preferred coding language) 2. "What roles are you targeting?" (titles, level direction, IC vs. EM, domains) 3. "Target companies, tier 1 / tier 2 / no-go list?" 4. "Constraints: location, comp expectation, timeline, dealbreakers?" 5. "What's drawing you to a new role, and what are you avoiding from past roles?" Skip any group the user says they don't have an answer for yet; leave that section as a comment they can fill in. **impact-doc.md** — the most important doc and the longest. Ask: 1. "List your companies in reverse-chronological order, with dates." 2. For each company: "Title progression?" then "What are the 2 to 4 projects you'd want a hiring manager to know about?" 3. For each project, prompt: *what it was, your specific role, tech stack, metrics/scope, outcome, what was hardest.* One project at a time. Don't batch. 4. After projects, ask about cross-cutting work (mentorship, hiring, on-call leadership, design reviews). If the user has an existing resume, LinkedIn dump, or old impact doc, **offer to ingest it first**: *"Paste what you have, I'll structure it, then we'll fill the gaps."* This is usually faster than cold interviewing. If the user wants to defer impact-doc, warn them explicitly: *"`resume-builder`, `cover-letter-builder`, `star-stories`, and `job-analyzer` all depend on this. They'll work but the output will be generic until you fill it in."* **brag-doc.md** — four sections (quantified wins, recognition, things shipped, talks/writing/mentorship, failures/lessons). Ask: 1. "Top 5 quantified wins from the last 2 to 3 years? Metric + 1-line context each." 2. "Recognition: promotions, awards, named callouts?" 3. "Failures or hard lessons worth keeping? Useful later for behavioral stories." Skip "things shipped" and "talks/writing" unless the user volunteers; impact-doc already covers most of that. ### Phase 5: Final readout Print a compact summary: ``` Setup complete. Filled: - personal-info.md - goals.md (deferred: target companies, dealbreakers) Deferred: - impact-doc.md → blocks resume-builder, cover-letter-builder, star-stories, job-analyzer - brag-doc.md → used by resume-builder and interview-prep for quantified bullets Missing tools: pandoc (needed for .docx output) Suggested next step: Fill impact-doc.md when you have ~30 min. Then run /help to see what each skill needs. ``` Then **stop**. Don't auto-launch another skill. ## Behaviors and edge cases - **CLAUDE.md says "no em dashes."** Apply this from the moment of onboarding onward (in the files you write and in your responses). The user has confirmed this preference. - **CLAUDE.md says "work on master."** If the user is on a branch when they invoke `/onboard`, gently flag it. Don't force a switch. - **Templates may have changed since clone.** If the template file in the repo is newer than the personal copy and the personal copy is still a stub, prefer the latest template content. If the personal copy has real content, leave it alone. - **Don't ingest external accounts.** No reaching out to LinkedIn, GitHub, etc. The user pastes what they want to share. - **Persist incrementally.** Write each file as soon as its section is done. Don't hold everything in memory and write at the end; a crashed session shouldn't lose 40 minutes of interviewing. ## Anti-patterns - **Don't auto-fill from CLAUDE.md context without confirming.** The user's email is visible in the system context but they still get to confirm it before it lands in `personal-info.md`. - **Don't editorialize about gaps.** If a user defers a section or has thin content, note the dependency impact and move on. No "you really should fill this in" lectures. - **Don't validate format pedantically.** If the user gives "tc: 320k" instead of a structured field, accept it and write it as-is. The docs are for the user, not for a schema. - **Don't run other skills inside onboard.** Onboarding ends at the readout. The user runs `/help` or a specific skill next. - **Don't ask "are you ready?" between every step.** Move through the interview at a brisk pace. Pause only at doc boundaries. - **Don't create $PERSONAL silently if it already exists.** Detect, report, and resume.