# Bootstrap > Scaffold a new learning sub-project under the agentic-study-environment harness — create the directory, generate per-project AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and PROGRESS.md from templates, and register the new project in the .studyenv/PROGRESS.md cross-project tracker. Use this skill whenever the user wants to start studying a new topic, paper, book, language, or domain with the tutor harness — phrases like "bootstrap a new project to learn X", "start a new sub-project for Y", "set up a learning project on Z", or "create a sub-project to study W" should all trigger this skill. Do not use for general project scaffolding outside the agentic-study-environment harness. - Skill: `timbogp/bootstrap` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add timbogp/bootstrap` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/timbogp/bootstrap/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: TimboGP (https://skillmd.com/u/timbogp) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/timbogp/bootstrap --- # Bootstrap a learning sub-project This skill mints a new sub-project under the agentic-study-environment harness. A sub-project is a self-contained folder where a learner works through a single topic with the agent as tutor, scaffolded by the harness's conventions. ## When to use The user wants to start studying something new. They might say "bootstrap a project to learn TASEP", "create a sub-project for Spanish vocabulary", "set up a learning project for the seam carving paper", or similar. The signal is: a topic they want to learn, an intent to study it under the harness. This skill does NOT run a teaching session — that's `start-session`. It only sets up the scaffolding. ## What you need from the user **Required (ask if missing — do not invent):** - a **sub-project name** (becomes the directory name, e.g. `seam-carver`, `spanish-b2`, `tasep`) - a **one-line learning goal** that captures what the user wants to learn **Optional (use if supplied; do not prompt for them — they can be filled later via the sub-project's `AGENTS.md`):** - a **Domain** — controls which overlay applies during sessions. Known values: `coding`, `speech-therapy` (synonym: `logopedics`), `legal-documents` (synonyms: `official-documents`, `public-documents`), `academic-research` (synonyms: `research`, `scholarship`), `study` (the neutral default), or any user-supplied custom value. If unset, the sub-project falls back to the neutral default. - a **Language** — BCP 47 tag (e.g. `de`, `es`, `fr`) overriding the conversational language for chat replies inside this sub-project. Default is English unless an optional `.studyenv/AGENTS.md` (or `.studyenv/CLAUDE.md`) sets otherwise. Structural tokens (status legends, field names, trigger words) stay in English regardless — see `../../reference/conventions.md` for the exact rules. - **Tools & Materials** — anything the user already knows they'll work with (a language + version for coding, a textbook, a notation convention, …). - **Tracking** — `global` (default) or `local-only`. `global` registers the sub-project in the cross-project `.studyenv/PROGRESS.md` tracker (the umbrella mode). `local-only` keeps just the sub-project's own `PROGRESS.md` and skips the cross-project tracker entirely — for a lone learning project where no global index is wanted. Default to `global` when unstated; do not prompt. See `../../reference/conventions.md` → *Tracking scope*. - A note that **source materials are already in place** — controls the starting status of the sub-project. ## Refuse to overwrite If `.studyenv//` already exists, **stop and ask the user**. Never overwrite an existing sub-project. If the user wants to wipe and start over, they can delete the directory themselves and re-invoke. A sub-project may carry weeks of work in its `PROGRESS.md` and `work/` — silent overwrite would be destructive. ## What to create Everything the harness generates lives under `.studyenv/` at the current working directory (the host project root). Create `.studyenv/` if it does not yet exist, then create: 1. **`.studyenv//`** — the sub-project directory. 2. **`.studyenv//source-materials/`** — empty placeholder for the user to drop PDFs, notes, links, prepared code projects. 3. **`.studyenv//AGENTS.md`** — render from `../../templates/sub-project-agents.md` (relative to this SKILL.md). Substitute ``, the learning goal(s), and any supplied `Domain:` / `Language:` / Tools & Materials. If `Domain:` was not supplied, **omit the line entirely** (do not leave a blank or a placeholder string). Same for `Language:`. If `Tracking: local-only` was requested, write that line; otherwise (the `global` default) **omit the `Tracking:` line**. If Tools & Materials were not supplied, keep the placeholder text `TBD when setting curriculum`. 4. **`.studyenv//CLAUDE.md`** — render from `../../templates/sub-project-claude.md`. It is a compatibility pointer to `.studyenv//AGENTS.md`. 5. **`.studyenv//PROGRESS.md`** — render from `../../templates/sub-project-progress.md`. Status opens at `created`, or at `ready` if the user mentioned source materials are already in place. **Do NOT create** `.studyenv//ai-agent-materials/` or `.studyenv//work/`. The `set-curriculum` skill creates `ai-agent-materials/`; sessions create `work/` on demand per the active domain overlay. ## Update the cross-project tracker (`.studyenv/PROGRESS.md`) **If `Tracking: local-only` was requested, skip this entire section** — do not create or register `.studyenv/PROGRESS.md`. The sub-project's own `PROGRESS.md` is its only tracker (see `../../reference/conventions.md` → *Tracking scope*). Otherwise (the `global` default), after creating the sub-project, register it in the cross-project tracker at `.studyenv/PROGRESS.md`. Because `.studyenv/` is harness-owned, this file is always either the harness tracker or absent — there is no foreign file to collide with and no shape to detect. The tracker structure (a `# PROGRESS.md — studyenv` heading, a `## Projects` table, `## Grand Topics Covered`, and `## Journal`) is documented in `../../reference/conventions.md` → *`.studyenv/PROGRESS.md` structure*. - **If `.studyenv/PROGRESS.md` does not exist** (first bootstrap in this host), create it from the canonical structure, then add this sub-project's row and Journal entry. - **If it exists**, append the row and dated Journal entry **without touching prior rows or entries**. The Projects row uses the matching status (`created` or `ready`) and a one-line note (typically the learning goal, abbreviated); the Journal gets an entry under today's date describing the bootstrap. Whatever the outcome, the sub-project directory (`.studyenv//`) is already created and self-contained — its own `PROGRESS.md` is the source of truth; the tracker is only an index. ## Confirm and prompt for materials After scaffolding is in place: - Tell the user concisely what was created (paths, opening status). For `local-only`, note that the sub-project is self-tracked and was **not** registered in a cross-project tracker. - **Prompt the user to drop source materials into `.studyenv//source-materials/`** — PDFs, papers, links, prepared code projects, exercise sheets, anything. - If the user supplies materials in the same turn (or confirms they've already added some), flip the sub-project's `PROGRESS.md` Status line from `created` to `ready` — and the `.studyenv/PROGRESS.md` Projects row too, unless this is a `local-only` sub-project (which has no Projects row). ## Why these rules - The harness is structural — every sub-project follows the same layout so the agent can navigate any of them without re-learning the conventions. The templates enforce that. - Everything generated goes under `.studyenv/` so the harness footprint is fully contained and portable — the host project stays clean, and the whole study environment can be gitignored, deleted, zipped, or synced as one folder. The harness never touches the host's own root files. - Domain and Language stay **optional and omitted-when-unset** rather than written as placeholders, because the agent uses presence/absence of those fields at session time to decide whether to load an overlay or switch conversational language. A placeholder string would falsely trigger. - `ai-agent-materials/` and `work/` are deliberately not created here. Bootstrap should be cheap and reversible; the heavier folders appear when their work actually begins. - `Tracking: local-only` exists so the harness can be dropped onto a single existing project as a lone learning unit without spinning up (or polluting) a cross-project index. It's the opt-out from the umbrella; `global` stays the default so the common multi-sub-project case needs no flag. ## Related skills - After bootstrap, the user typically runs `set-curriculum` once source materials are in place, then `start-session` (or `onboard-session`, for getting up to speed on an existing artifact) to actually study. - `stop-session` updates the per-project `PROGRESS.md` and `.studyenv/PROGRESS.md`.