Project Init — Filing Cabinet + Lifecycle

Single entry point for project initialization. Sets up the filing cabinet (settings, CLAUDE.md, SPEC.md) AND the lifecycle harness (tasks.json v2 with phases).

Step 1: Detect State

Read the target project path. Check for existing files:

FrontierBoard guard: If board skills (setup, run, brief) exist at the path, stop — this is a FrontierBoard directory, not a project.

Step 2: Filing Cabinet (fresh or partial)

If no Claude setup exists, run the filing cabinet interview:

A: Stack Interview — ask in one message:

1. •What are you building?
2. •What stack — language, framework, key libraries?
3. •External services? (APIs, databases, auth providers)
4. •Anything off-limits for Claude?
5. •How do you want tests and lint?

B: SPEC.md Interview — go deeper. Keep asking until you can explain the project to a developer who's never heard of it. Cover: users, core loop, success criteria, biggest risks, non-goals, integrations. Minimum five exchanges.

C: Write files:

• •.claude/settings.json — deny rules (rm -rf, force push, .env, secrets) + stack-specific rules. Add PostToolUse hook for verify-lifecycle.cjs on tasks.json writes.
• •CLAUDE.md — under 150 lines. Project identity, stack, commands, structure, style rules, notes.
• •SPEC.md — what, who, core flows, architecture, data model, integrations, v1 scope, out of scope, open questions.

If files already exist (State B/C), only write what's missing. Never overwrite without confirmation. Show diffs.

Step 3: PRD Interview (Lifecycle)

Adaptive interview — no fixed exchange count. Cover:

1. •What are the major phases of this project?
2. •What does "done" look like for each phase?
3. •What are the verification criteria — how do we prove each thing works?
4. •What's the riskiest phase?
5. •Are there external dependencies or blockers?

If SPEC.md already exists, read it first and pre-populate answers.

Step 4: Generate tasks.json v2

Write tasks.json with v2 schema:

{
  "meta": {
    "version": 2,
    "project": "{project-name}",
    "current_phase": 0,
    "created": "{today}",
    "last_modified": "{today}",
    "ship_rejections": 0
  },
  "phases": [
    {
      "id": 0,
      "name": "Pre-flight",
      "goal": "Requirements, architecture, board approval",
      "status": "active",
      "started": "{today}",
      "completed": null,
      "git_tag": null,
      "review_ref": null,
      "review_mode": "standard"
    }
  ],
  "tasks": []
}

Generate 4–8 tasks per phase. Each task has:

• •id: {PREFIX}-{NNN} (derive prefix from project name)
• •type: task | bug | debt | fix
• •phase: phase ID
• •title, description, done_when, test_criteria
• •status: "open"
• •verification: null (filled when task is closed)
• •test_spec: null (filled by /project tests)
• •source: "project-init"

Migration (v1 → v2): If tasks.json v1 exists:

1. •Read existing tasks array
2. •Add meta block with version: 2
3. •Add phases array (generate from interview or infer from tasks)
4. •Add lifecycle fields to existing tasks (phase, verification, test_spec, test_criteria, done_when)
5. •Preserve all existing task data

Step 5: Generate tasks.md

Filtered view of current phase tasks. Generated from tasks.json — not hand-edited.

Step 6: Touchpoint 1 — Roadmap Review

The filing cabinet and lifecycle are ready. Before we start building, the board should review the roadmap.

Run /project review to trigger Touchpoint 1 (Roadmap Review) — Standard mode, full 4-round SOP.

Step 7: Post-Review

After board signs off on the roadmap:

1. •Set phase 0 status: "complete", completed: "{today}", git_tag: "lifecycle/phase-0-complete"
2. •Set phase 1 status: "active", started: "{today}"
3. •Update meta.current_phase: 1
4. •Create annotated git tag: lifecycle/phase-0-complete
5. •Regenerate tasks.md for phase 1

Phase 0 (Pre-flight) complete. Phase 1 is active. Run /project status to see your tasks, or /project next to pick one.

Install Hook

Add the lifecycle validator hook to .claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Write|Edit",
        "command": "node .claude/hooks/verify-lifecycle.cjs \"$FILEPATH\""
      }
    ]
  }
}

Only fires when $FILEPATH matches tasks.json. The hook is advisory — real enforcement is the board at T5 and T6.

Append to the existing hooks.PostToolUse array if one exists. Do not replace other hooks.

Configure Git Hooks Path

Run git config --local core.hooksPath .githooks in the project directory so the pre-commit hook activates. This enables the advisory validation on tasks.json commits.