prompts/prompts/NEW_REPO_CHECKLIST.md

title, last_modified

title	last_modified
New Repo Checklist	2026-07-06

Use this checklist when creating a new repository from scratch. Follow the steps in order. Full policies are at https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/prompts/REPO_POLICIES.md.

Template files can be fetched from: https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/<path>

1. Initialize

• git init
• Ask the user for the license (MIT, GPL, or WTFPL)

2. First Commit (README only)

• Create README.md with all required sections:
  • Description: name, purpose, category, license, author
  • Getting Started: copy-pasteable code block
  • Rationale: why does this exist?
  • Design: how is it structured?
  • TODO: initial task list
  • License: matches chosen license
  • Author: @sneak
• git add README.md && git commit

3. Scaffolding (feature branch)

• git checkout -b initial-scaffolding

Fetch Template Files

• .gitignore — fetch from https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.gitignore, extend for language-specific artifacts
• .editorconfig — fetch from https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.editorconfig
• Makefile — fetch from https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/Makefile, adapt targets for the project's language and tools
• For JS/docs repos: .prettierrc and .prettierignore — fetch from https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.prettierrc and https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.prettierignore

Create Project Files

• LICENSE file matching the chosen license
• REPO_POLICIES.md — fetch from https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/prompts/REPO_POLICIES.md
• Dockerfile and .dockerignore — fetch .dockerignore from https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.dockerignore
  • All Dockerfiles must run make check as a build step
  • Server: also builds and runs the application
  • Non-server: brings up dev environment and runs make check
  • Image pinned by sha256 hash with version/date comment
• Gitea Actions workflow at .gitea/workflows/check.yml that runs script/cibuild on push — reference https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
• Language-specific:
  • Go: go mod init sneak.berlin/go/<name>, .golangci.yml (fetch from https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.golangci.yml)
  • JS: yarn init, yarn add --dev prettier
  • Python: pyproject.toml

Configure script/ Entrypoints and Makefile

Implementations live in script/ (scripts-to-rule-them-all); Makefile targets are thin shims calling them. Model scripts: https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/script/<name>

• scripts are POSIX sh (#!/bin/sh, set -eu, no bashisms) so they run on alpine images without bash
• script/bootstrap / make bootstrap — installs all dependencies, idempotently, assuming nothing (pkg manager detection nix/apt/brew/apk; node used if present, else pinned version via nvm from a hash-verified archive; pinned yarn via corepack); Dockerfile runs it instead of inline installs
• script/setup / make setup — readies a fresh clone: runs bootstrap, then install-precommit, plus repo-specific init
• script/test / make test — runs real tests, not a no-op (30-second timeout)
• script/lint / make lint — runs linter
• script/fmt / make fmt — formats code (writes)
• script/fmt-check / make fmt-check — checks formatting (read-only)
• script/check / make check — runs test, lint, fmt-check; must not modify files
• script/projectname — outputs the project name (used by script/docker for the image tag)
• script/docker / make docker — builds Docker image, tagged via script/projectname (byte-identical across repos)
• script/cibuild — cd to repo root, docker build . (what CI runs)
• script/precommit — called by the pre-commit hook; runs script/check
• script/install-precommit — installs the pre-commit hook that runs script/precommit
• make hooks — shims to script/install-precommit
• README Entrypoints section documents the scripts and links the standard

4. Verify

• make check passes
• make docker succeeds
• No secrets in repo
• No mutable image/package references
• No unnecessary files in repo root
• All dates written as YYYY-MM-DD

5. Merge and Set Up

• Commit, merge to main
• make hooks to install pre-commit hook
• Add remote and push
• Verify main passes make check