Two Modes

Initialize ZERG for a project. Operates in two modes based on directory state.

Two Modes

Inception Mode (Empty Directory)

When run in an empty directory, ZERG starts the Inception Mode wizard:

1. Requirements Gathering - Interactive prompts to capture project goals
2. Technology Selection - Recommends and confirms language/framework
3. Project Scaffolding - Generates complete project structure
4. Git Initialization - Creates initial commit

Discovery Mode (Existing Project)

When run in a directory with existing code, ZERG runs Discovery Mode:

1. Language Detection - Identifies languages and frameworks
2. Infrastructure Analysis - Understands existing setup
3. Configuration Generation - Creates .zerg/ and .devcontainer/

Quick Start

# Empty directory - starts Inception Mode wizard
mkdir my-new-project && cd my-new-project
zerg init

# Existing project - runs Discovery Mode
cd my-existing-project
zerg init

# Specify settings
zerg init --workers 3 --security strict

# Skip security rules
zerg init --no-security-rules

# Build devcontainer image after init
zerg init --with-containers

Inception Mode Details

When starting a new project from scratch:

$ mkdir my-api && cd my-api
$ zerg init

ZERG Init - Inception Mode
Empty directory detected. Starting new project wizard...

┌─ New Project ─────────────────────────────┐
│ Let's gather some information about your  │
│ new project.                              │
└───────────────────────────────────────────┘

Project name: my-api
Brief description: A REST API for user management
Target platforms: api
Architecture style: monolith
...

┌─ Tech Stack ──────────────────────────────┐
│ Based on your requirements, here's our    │
│ recommendation.                           │
└───────────────────────────────────────────┘

┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Component       │ Recommendation         │
├─────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│ Language        │ python (3.12)          │
│ Framework       │ fastapi                │
│ Test Framework  │ pytest                 │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘

Primary language: python
Framework: fastapi

✓ Created 6 scaffold files
✓ Created .gsd/PROJECT.md
✓ Initialized git repository
✓ Created initial commit

✓ Inception complete!

Supported Languages

Generated Structure (Python Example)

my-api/
├── my_api/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── main.py
├── tests/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── test_main.py
├── .gsd/
│   └── PROJECT.md
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── .gitignore
└── .git/

Multi-Language Detection

ZERG automatically detects all languages in your project and generates a multi-language devcontainer:

# Example output for a Python + TypeScript project
$ zerg init
Detected languages: javascript, python, typescript
Detected frameworks: fastapi, react

Devcontainer Features

Multi-language projects use devcontainer "features" to add runtimes:

Custom Language Support

Languages without official features use postCreateCommand:

• R: apt-get install r-base
• Julia: Official installer
• C++: build-essential cmake

Single vs Multi-Language

• Single language: Uses optimized pre-built image (faster startup)
• Multiple languages: Uses base Ubuntu + features (flexible)

Pre-Flight Checks

# Verify we're in a git repository
git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1 || {
  echo "ERROR: Not in a git repository"
  exit 1
}

# Create factory directories if they don't exist
mkdir -p .zerg .devcontainer/mcp-servers .claude/commands .claude/agents .gsd/specs

Phase 1: Project Discovery

Analyze the existing project to understand:

1. Language Detection

   • Check for package.json (Node.js)
   • Check for requirements.txt, pyproject.toml, setup.py (Python)
   • Check for go.mod (Go)
   • Check for Cargo.toml (Rust)
   • Check for pom.xml, build.gradle (Java)

2. Framework Detection

   • React, Next.js, Vue, Angular (frontend)
   • Express, Fastify, Flask, Django, FastAPI (backend)
   • Testing frameworks (Jest, Pytest, etc.)

3. Existing Infrastructure

   • Docker/docker-compose files
   • CI/CD configurations
   • Existing devcontainer

Task Tracking

On invocation, create a Claude Code Task to track this command:

Call TaskCreate:

• subject: "[Init] Initialize {project_name}"
• description: "ZERG initialization for {project_name}. Mode: {inception|discovery}."
• activeForm: "Initializing ZERG"

Immediately call TaskUpdate:

• taskId: (the Claude Task ID)
• status: "in_progress"

On completion (after output summary), call TaskUpdate:

• taskId: (the Claude Task ID)
• status: "completed"

Help

When --help is passed in $ARGUMENTS, display usage and exit:

/zerg:init — Initialize ZERG for a project. Operates in two modes based on directory state.

Flags:
  --workers N           Number of workers to configure
  --security LEVEL      Security level (e.g., strict)
  --no-security-rules   Skip security rules during init
  --with-containers     Build devcontainer image after init
  --help                Show this help message