Project Operations Skill

Status: Active Last Updated: 2026-01-08

Overview

This skill provides guidance for project lifecycle operations: initialization, retrofitting, phase advancement, and compliance checking.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when:

•Initializing a new project
•Adding Claude Family infrastructure to existing project
•Advancing project through development phases
•Checking project compliance
•Managing project configuration

Quick Reference

Project Lifecycle Commands

Command	Purpose	When
`/project-init`	Initialize new project	Starting new project
`/retrofit-project`	Add Claude Family to existing project	Existing codebase
`/phase-advance`	Move to next phase	Completing phase
`/check-compliance`	Verify project standards	Regular audits

Project Initialization

Creating a New Project

bash

/project-init

What it creates:

code

my-project/
├── CLAUDE.md                    # AI constitution
├── PROBLEM_STATEMENT.md         # What, for whom, why
├── ARCHITECTURE.md              # System design
├── README.md                    # Human overview
├── .claude/
│   ├── instructions/           # Auto-apply coding standards
│   ├── skills/                 # Project-specific skills
│   └── hooks/                  # Enforcement scripts
├── docs/
│   ├── adr/                    # Architecture decisions
│   └── TODO_NEXT_SESSION.md    # Work tracking
└── knowledge-vault/            # Optional: Obsidian vault

Database record:

sql

INSERT INTO claude.projects (
    project_id,
    project_name,
    project_path,
    project_type,
    phase,
    default_identity_id
) VALUES (
    gen_random_uuid(),
    'my-project',
    'C:/Projects/my-project',
    'web-application',
    'planning',
    'identity-uuid'::uuid
);

Project Phases

Phase Progression

code

planning → design → implementation → testing → production

Phase Characteristics

Phase	Focus	Deliverables
Planning	Requirements, feasibility	PROBLEM_STATEMENT.md, rough estimates
Design	Architecture, API design	ARCHITECTURE.md, ADRs, wireframes
Implementation	Code, tests	Working features, test coverage
Testing	QA, performance	Test reports, bug fixes
Production	Deploy, monitor	Live system, monitoring

Advancing Phases

bash

/phase-advance to=implementation

What it does:

•Validates current phase requirements met
•Updates claude.projects phase column
•Creates phase transition ADR
•Updates TODO_NEXT_SESSION.md

Retrofitting Existing Projects

Adding Claude Family Infrastructure

bash

/retrofit-project

What it does:

•Analyzes existing project structure
•Creates missing core docs (CLAUDE.md, etc.)
•Adds .claude/ directory structure
•Creates database project record
•Sets up default identity

Preserves:

•Existing code and structure
•Current git history
•Existing documentation (merges, doesn't replace)

Project Configuration (CLAUDE.md)

Essential Sections

markdown

# Project Name

**Type**: web-application | cli-tool | library | desktop-app
**Status**: planning | design | implementation | testing | production
**Project ID**: uuid-from-database
**Identity**: identity-name (uuid-from-database)

## Problem Statement
[Link to PROBLEM_STATEMENT.md]

## Architecture
[Link to ARCHITECTURE.md]

## Tech Stack
[Table of technologies]

## MCP Servers Available
[Which MCP servers this project can use]

## Coding Standards
[Project-specific conventions]

## Work Tracking
[How to use feedback, features, build_tasks]

Compliance Checking

What Gets Checked

bash

/check-compliance

Verifies:

• Core docs exist (CLAUDE.md, PROBLEM_STATEMENT.md, ARCHITECTURE.md, README.md)
• CLAUDE.md has required sections
• Project registered in database
• Default identity configured
• TODO_NEXT_SESSION.md exists and recent
• Git repository initialized
• .gitignore includes sensitive files

Output: Compliance report with action items

Project Types

Supported Project Types

Type	Description	Example Tech Stack
`web-application`	Full-stack web apps	React + Node.js + PostgreSQL
`api-service`	REST/GraphQL APIs	FastAPI + PostgreSQL
`cli-tool`	Command-line tools	Python + Click
`desktop-app`	Native desktop apps	WPF + .NET, Electron
`library`	Reusable packages	NPM package, PyPI library
`infrastructure`	DevOps/tooling	Terraform, Docker configs
`data-pipeline`	ETL/analytics	Airflow + Spark

Identity Per Project

Each project has a dedicated Claude identity:

sql

-- Get project's default identity
SELECT
    p.project_name,
    i.identity_name,
    i.role_description
FROM claude.projects p
JOIN claude.identities i ON p.default_identity_id = i.identity_id
WHERE p.project_name = 'my-project';

Why: Different projects need different expertise (tax law vs UI/UX vs infrastructure)

Common Queries

sql

-- List all projects
SELECT
    project_name,
    project_type,
    phase,
    is_active,
    created_at
FROM claude.projects
WHERE is_archived = false
ORDER BY created_at DESC;

-- Projects by phase
SELECT
    phase,
    COUNT(*) as project_count
FROM claude.projects
WHERE is_archived = false
GROUP BY phase
ORDER BY
    CASE phase
        WHEN 'planning' THEN 1
        WHEN 'design' THEN 2
        WHEN 'implementation' THEN 3
        WHEN 'testing' THEN 4
        WHEN 'production' THEN 5
    END;

-- Project activity (recent sessions)
SELECT
    p.project_name,
    COUNT(s.session_id) as session_count,
    MAX(s.session_start) as last_session
FROM claude.projects p
LEFT JOIN claude.sessions s ON p.project_name = s.project_name
WHERE p.is_archived = false
GROUP BY p.project_name
ORDER BY last_session DESC NULLS LAST;

Project Templates

Templates available in C:\Projects\claude-family\templates\:

code

templates/
├── CLAUDE.md.template.md
├── PROBLEM_STATEMENT.template.md
├── ARCHITECTURE.template.md
├── README.template.md
└── llms.txt.template.md

Usage: /project-init automatically uses these templates

Related Skills

•session-management - Project-scoped sessions
•work-item-routing - Project work items
•database-operations - Project database access

Key Gotchas

1. Skipping Core Docs

Problem: Starting to code without PROBLEM_STATEMENT.md or ARCHITECTURE.md

Solution: Use /project-init to ensure docs are created

2. Wrong Project Type

Problem: Choosing wrong type affects MCP availability and patterns

Solution: Match project type to actual architecture

3. Not Setting Default Identity

Problem: Sessions use wrong identity for the project

Solution: Always set default_identity_id during project init

4. Phase Skipping

Problem: Jumping from planning → implementation without design

Solution: Follow phase progression, validate requirements

Version: 1.0 Created: 2025-12-26 Location: .claude/skills/project-ops/skill.md