---

name: Project Setup Standards description: This skill should be used when the user asks about "project setup", "project initialization", "repository setup", "new project", "bootstrap project", "project structure", "development environment", "toolchain setup", "project configuration", or needs guidance on setting up new projects that comply with SDLC standards. version: 1.0.0

Project Setup Standards

Guidance for initializing new projects that comply with all SDLC requirements from the start.

Tooling

Available Tools: If using Claude Code with the sdlc plugin, run /sdlc:init to bootstrap a compliant project structure. The /sdlc:check command validates existing projects.

Project Initialization

Required Steps (MUST)

New projects MUST complete these setup steps:

Repository Initialization

Copy# Initialize repository
git init
git branch -M main

# Create standard directory structure
mkdir -p src tests docs .github/workflows

# Initialize with empty commit
git commit --allow-empty -m "chore: initialize repository"

Required Files

Mandatory Files (MUST)

Every project MUST include:

Configuration Files (MUST)

Projects MUST include appropriate configuration:

EditorConfig (MUST)

Projects MUST include .editorconfig:

Copyroot = true

[*]
end_of_line = lf
insert_final_newline = true
trim_trailing_whitespace = true
charset = utf-8

[*.{rs,ts,js,py,java,go}]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 4

[*.{yml,yaml,json}]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 2

[Makefile]
indent_style = tab

Build System Setup

Makefile Targets (MUST)

Create Makefile with standard targets:

Copy.PHONY: all build test lint format clean

all: build test

build:
	# Language-specific build command

test:
	# Run test suite

lint:
	# Run linter

format:
	# Format code

format-check:
	# Check formatting without changes

clean:
	# Clean build artifacts

Language-Specific Setup

Rust

Copycargo init
# Add to Cargo.toml:
# [lints.clippy]
# all = "warn"
# pedantic = "warn"

touch rustfmt.toml clippy.toml

TypeScript/Node.js

Copynpm init -y
npm install -D typescript eslint prettier
npx tsc --init

Python

Copypython -m venv .venv
pip install ruff pytest
# Create pyproject.toml with ruff config

Java

Copy# Maven
mvn archetype:generate -DgroupId=com.example -DartifactId=project

# Gradle
gradle init --type java-application

CI/CD Setup

GitHub Actions (MUST)

Create .github/workflows/ci.yml:

Copyname: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main, develop]

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Build
        run: make build
      - name: Test
        run: make test
      - name: Lint
        run: make lint

Branch Protection (MUST)

Configure branch protection for main:

• Require pull request reviews
• Require status checks to pass
• Require linear history (recommended)

Quality Tools Setup

Pre-commit Hooks (SHOULD)

Install pre-commit:

Copypip install pre-commit
pre-commit install

Create .pre-commit-config.yaml:

Copyrepos:
  - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit-hooks
    rev: v4.5.0
    hooks:
      - id: trailing-whitespace
      - id: end-of-file-fixer
      - id: check-yaml
      - id: check-added-large-files

Security Setup

Secret Scanning (SHOULD)

Enable GitHub secret scanning or configure gitleaks:

Copy# .gitleaks.toml
[extend]
useDefault = true

Dependency Auditing (MUST)

Configure automated dependency scanning based on language.

Documentation Setup

README Template

Create README.md with required sections:

• Project name and description
• Badges (CI, version, license)
• Installation instructions
• Quick start
• Contributing link
• License

ADR Directory (SHOULD)

Set up Architecture Decision Records:

Copymkdir -p docs/adrs
touch docs/adrs/README.md

Implementation Checklist

Repository Setup

• Initialize Git repository
• Create main branch
• Add .gitignore
• Add .gitattributes
• Configure branch protection

Required Files

• Create README.md
• Add LICENSE
• Create CONTRIBUTING.md
• Create CHANGELOG.md
• Add SECURITY.md
• Create .editorconfig

Build System

• Create Makefile with standard targets
• Add language-specific build config
• Verify make all works

Quality Tools

• Configure formatter
• Configure linter
• Set up pre-commit hooks
• Verify make lint and make format work

CI/CD

• Create GitHub Actions workflow
• Configure required status checks
• Add security scanning job

Documentation

• Populate README with content
• Set up ADR directory
• Create initial ADRs if applicable

Compliance Verification

Copy# Verify required files exist
for f in README.md LICENSE CONTRIBUTING.md CHANGELOG.md SECURITY.md .gitignore .gitattributes Makefile .editorconfig; do
  [ -f "$f" ] && echo "✓ $f" || echo "✗ $f missing"
done

# Verify CI workflow exists
ls .github/workflows/ci.yml

# Verify Makefile targets
make -n build test lint format

# Run initial compliance check
make lint && make test

Additional Resources

Reference Files

• references/setup-guide.md - Detailed setup walkthrough
• references/toolchain-versions.md - Recommended tool versions

Examples

• examples/project-rust/ - Complete Rust project template
• examples/project-typescript/ - Complete TypeScript template
• examples/project-python/ - Complete Python template