# adopt-project

This skill audits an existing codebase and suggests agent-starter patterns in tiers based on how much they change. It applies only the items you approve.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 74
- Author: sneg55
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/sneg55/agent-starter/tree/HEAD/skills/adopt-project/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-09-14
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/adopt-project

## What it does

The skill inspects the project and prepares a gap report covering existing setup, proposed agent-starter components, and possible conflicts. It checks instructions, hooks, skills, tests, linters, and code patterns. TypeScript and Python projects are audited separately when both are present.

Proposals are grouped by invasiveness. Changes to project files are merged or appended rather than replacing existing content. Create the `adopt/agent-starter` branch before any writes; after merge steps, the skill runs the project’s tests and linter if available. When a project has no tests, it limits the proposal to non-invasive changes.

This is for an existing codebase, not a new project. The skill uses Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, and Grep to work with files. If a starter pattern conflicts with current conventions, the developer decides how to proceed.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sneg55/agent-starter --skill adopt-project -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/adopt-project/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/adopt-project/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sneg55/agent-starter --skill adopt-project -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/adopt-project/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sneg55/agent-starter --skill adopt-project -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/adopt-project/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install sneg55/agent-starter adopt-project
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/adopt-project/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sneg55/agent-starter --skill adopt-project -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/sneg55/agent-starter --path skills/adopt-project
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/adopt-project/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sneg55/agent-starter --skill adopt-project -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/sneg55/agent-starter/tree/HEAD/skills/adopt-project/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- Audit which agent-starter patterns a project already has
- Spot conflicts between existing setup and proposed rules
- Add approved hooks or missing skills
- Merge lint settings into an existing configuration
- Extend project instructions without replacing current content

## Example prompts
- Audit this project and suggest agent-starter patterns to add.
- Check the lint setup and show ways to adopt the starter rules without mass-fixing existing violations.
- Install the approved agent-starter hooks and skills while preserving existing files.

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: f590a837f6ebcc87.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE f590a837f6ebcc87
```text
---
name: adopt-project
description: Apply agent-starter patterns to an EXISTING project - audits the codebase, proposes components by invasiveness tier (hooks, skills, CLAUDE.md, lint configs, patterns), and applies only what the developer approves. Use when the user says adopt, retrofit, "apply agent-starter to this project", or wants starter patterns in an existing codebase.
user_invocable: true
allowed-tools:
- Read
- Write
- Edit
- Bash
- Glob
- Grep
---

# Adopt agent-starter in an Existing Project

<!-- Mirrors ADOPT.md in the agent-starter repo. If ADOPT.md changes, update this skill to match. -->

Use on an existing codebase. Never on a green field - that's `/new-project`.

An existing project has state to audit, every change is potentially
destructive, and adoption must be incremental. So the flow is **audit-first,
merge-don't-overwrite, opt-in per component**.

## Safety rails (read first)

- Create a branch before any write: `git checkout -b adopt/agent-starter`.
  Everything below is reversible by dropping the branch.
- Read every file before modifying it. Append and merge; never replace a file
  the developer wrote.
- After each merge-tier step, run the project's own test suite (and linter, if
  present). A red suite means stop and surface it.
- If the project has no tests, say so explicitly and default to the
  non-invasive tier only.
- Surface contradictions between starter patterns and existing conventions;
  never resolve them silently.

## Phase 1: Interview

Ask one at a time:

1. **Components** - which are you interested in? (hooks / skills / CLAUDE.md +
   memory / lint configs / code patterns / "audit first, then decide")
2. **Repo path** - local path to agent-starter, e.g. `~/code/agent-starter`
   (only needed if files will be copied).

## Phase 2: Audit (read-only)

Build a gap report before proposing anything.

**Detect the stack:**

- `package.json` + `tsconfig.json` → TypeScript/JavaScript
- `pyproject.toml` / `setup.py` / `requirements.txt` → Python
- Both → monorepo: audit each half separately
- Neither → other stack; only Tier 1 and CLAUDE.md apply

**Inventory** (present as a table: component | what exists | starter offering | conflicts):

- **Lint/format:** ESLint configs (flat or legacy), `biome.json`, Prettier;
  ruff (`ruff.toml` or `[tool.ruff]` in pyproject), mypy/pyright configs
- **Tailwind design system:** `tailwindcss` 4.x in `package.json` dependencies,
  or a shadcn `components.json`. Either one makes the project a candidate for
  the `@shadcn/lint` fragment (Tier 3). Record the ESLint major.minor while
  here: the plugin needs 9.30+.
- **Instructions:** `CLAUDE.md`, `CLAUDE.local.md`, `.claude/rules/`, `AGENTS.md`
- **Hooks:** `.claude/settings.json` hook entries; agent-starter hooks already
  installed system-wide (`~/.claude/hooks/.agent-starter-version` - record the
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE f590a837f6ebcc87

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