Conductor Setup

Initialize or resume Conductor project setup. This command creates foundational project documentation through interactive Q&A.

Pre-flight Checks

1. Check if conductor/ directory already exists in the project root:

   • If conductor/product.md exists: Ask user whether to resume setup or reinitialize
   • If conductor/setup_state.json exists with incomplete status: Offer to resume from last step

2. Detect project type by checking for existing indicators:

   • Greenfield (new project): No .git, no package.json, no requirements.txt, no go.mod, no src/ directory
   • Brownfield (existing project): Any of the above exist

3. Load or create conductor/setup_state.json:

   {
     "status": "in_progress",
     "project_type": "greenfield|brownfield",
     "current_section": "product|guidelines|tech_stack|workflow|styleguides",
     "current_question": 1,
     "completed_sections": [],
     "answers": {},
     "files_created": [],
     "started_at": "ISO_TIMESTAMP",
     "last_updated": "ISO_TIMESTAMP"
   }
   

Interactive Q&A Protocol

CRITICAL RULES:

• Ask ONE question per turn
• Wait for user response before proceeding
• Offer 2-3 suggested answers plus "Type your own" option
• Maximum 5 questions per section
• Update setup_state.json after each successful step
• Validate file writes succeeded before continuing

Section 1: Product Definition (max 5 questions)

Q1: Project Name

What is your project name?

Suggested:
1. [Infer from directory name]
2. [Infer from package.json/go.mod if brownfield]
3. Type your own

Q2: Project Description

Describe your project in one sentence.

Suggested:
1. A web application that [does X]
2. A CLI tool for [doing Y]
3. Type your own

Q3: Problem Statement

What problem does this project solve?

Suggested:
1. Users struggle to [pain point]
2. There's no good way to [need]
3. Type your own

Q4: Target Users

Who are the primary users?

Suggested:
1. Developers building [X]
2. End users who need [Y]
3. Internal teams managing [Z]
4. Type your own

Q5: Key Goals (optional)

What are 2-3 key goals for this project? (Press enter to skip)

Section 2: Product Guidelines (max 3 questions)

Q1: Voice and Tone

What voice/tone should documentation and UI text use?

Suggested:
1. Professional and technical
2. Friendly and approachable
3. Concise and direct
4. Type your own

Q2: Design Principles

What design principles guide this project?

Suggested:
1. Simplicity over features
2. Performance first
3. Developer experience focused
4. User safety and reliability
5. Type your own (comma-separated)

Section 3: Tech Stack (max 5 questions)

For brownfield projects, first analyze existing code:

• Run Glob to find package.json, requirements.txt, go.mod, Cargo.toml, etc.
• Parse detected files to pre-populate tech stack
• Present findings and ask for confirmation/additions

Q1: Primary Language(s)

What primary language(s) does this project use?

[For brownfield: "I detected: Python 3.11, JavaScript. Is this correct?"]

Suggested:
1. TypeScript
2. Python
3. Go
4. Rust
5. Type your own (comma-separated)

Q2: Frontend Framework (if applicable)

What frontend framework (if any)?

Suggested:
1. React
2. Vue
3. Next.js
4. None / CLI only
5. Type your own

Q3: Backend Framework (if applicable)

What backend framework (if any)?

Suggested:
1. Express / Fastify
2. Django / FastAPI
3. Go standard library
4. None / Frontend only
5. Type your own

Q4: Database (if applicable)

What database (if any)?

Suggested:
1. PostgreSQL
2. MongoDB
3. SQLite
4. None / Stateless
5. Type your own

Q5: Infrastructure

Where will this be deployed?

Suggested:
1. AWS (Lambda, ECS, etc.)
2. Vercel / Netlify
3. Self-hosted / Docker
4. Not decided yet
5. Type your own

Section 4: Workflow Preferences (max 4 questions)

Q1: TDD Strictness

How strictly should TDD be enforced?

Suggested:
1. Strict - tests required before implementation
2. Moderate - tests encouraged, not blocked
3. Flexible - tests recommended for complex logic

Q2: Commit Strategy

What commit strategy should be followed?

Suggested:
1. Conventional Commits (feat:, fix:, etc.)
2. Descriptive messages, no format required
3. Squash commits per task

Q3: Code Review Requirements

What code review policy?

Suggested:
1. Required for all changes
2. Required for non-trivial changes
3. Optional / self-review OK

Q4: Verification Checkpoints

When should manual verification be required?

Suggested:
1. After each phase completion
2. After each task completion
3. Only at track completion

Section 5: Code Style Guides (max 2 questions)

Q1: Languages to Include

Which language style guides should be generated?

[Based on detected languages, pre-select]

Options:
1. TypeScript/JavaScript
2. Python
3. Go
4. Rust
5. All detected languages
6. Skip style guides

Q2: Existing Conventions

Do you have existing linting/formatting configs to incorporate?

[For brownfield: "I found .eslintrc, .prettierrc. Should I incorporate these?"]

Suggested:
1. Yes, use existing configs
2. No, generate fresh guides
3. Skip this step

Artifact Generation

After completing Q&A, generate the following files:

1. conductor/index.md

# Conductor - [Project Name]

Navigation hub for project context.

## Quick Links

- [Product Definition](./product.md)
- [Product Guidelines](./product-guidelines.md)
- [Tech Stack](./tech-stack.md)
- [Workflow](./workflow.md)
- [Tracks](./tracks.md)

## Active Tracks

<!-- Auto-populated by /conductor:new-track -->

## Getting Started

Run `/conductor:new-track` to create your first feature track.

2. conductor/product.md

Template populated with Q&A answers for:

• Project name and description
• Problem statement
• Target users
• Key goals

3. conductor/product-guidelines.md

Template populated with:

• Voice and tone
• Design principles
• Any additional standards

4. conductor/tech-stack.md

Template populated with:

• Languages (with versions if detected)
• Frameworks (frontend, backend)
• Database
• Infrastructure
• Key dependencies (for brownfield, from package files)

5. conductor/workflow.md

Template populated with:

• TDD policy and strictness level
• Commit strategy and conventions
• Code review requirements
• Verification checkpoint rules
• Task lifecycle definition

6. conductor/tracks.md

# Tracks Registry

| Status | Track ID | Title | Created | Updated |
| ------ | -------- | ----- | ------- | ------- |

<!-- Tracks registered by /conductor:new-track -->

7. conductor/code_styleguides/

Generate selected style guides from $CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/templates/code_styleguides/

State Management

After each successful file creation:

1. Update setup_state.json:
   • Add filename to files_created array
   • Update last_updated timestamp
   • If section complete, add to completed_sections
2. Verify file exists with Read tool

Completion

When all files are created:

1. Set setup_state.json status to "complete"

2. Display summary:

   Conductor setup complete!
   
   Created artifacts:
   - conductor/index.md
   - conductor/product.md
   - conductor/product-guidelines.md
   - conductor/tech-stack.md
   - conductor/workflow.md
   - conductor/tracks.md
   - conductor/code_styleguides/[languages]
   
   Next steps:
   1. Review generated files and customize as needed
   2. Run /conductor:new-track to create your first track
   

Resume Handling

If --resume argument or resuming from state:

1. Load setup_state.json
2. Skip completed sections
3. Resume from current_section and current_question
4. Verify previously created files still exist
5. If files missing, offer to regenerate

Error Handling

• If file write fails: Halt and report error, do not update state
• If user cancels: Save current state for future resume
• If state file corrupted: Offer to start fresh or attempt recovery