Project Scaffolding Wizard

Professional-grade project scaffolding comparable to WebStorm/PyCharm project wizards. Creates fully configured projects with SDK setup, framework options, database configuration, linting, and CI/CD.

Version Freshness

All dependency versions live in assets/versions.json — never hardcode a version in generated output or in scripts/scaffold.py. Treat that manifest as the only source of truth.

Before recommending frameworks in Step 3, check how stale it is:

python3 scripts/scaffold.py --version-status

• Under 30 days — proceed without comment.
• 30–90 days — proceed, and mention the manifest's age once when presenting version-sensitive choices.
• Over 90 days — say so before recommending, and offer to refresh: python3 scripts/refresh_versions.py (dry run; add --apply to write).

Never guess at current versions or "update" the manifest from memory. Registry facts come only from refresh_versions.py, which queries npm and PyPI directly. If the refresh cannot run (no network), state that the versions may be stale rather than substituting recalled numbers.

Wizard Workflow

When a user requests a new project, follow this interactive workflow:

Step 1: Project Type Selection

Present the project type menu. Ask the user to select a category and type:

Category	Types
Static Websites	HTML5 (no CSS), HTML/CSS, HTML+Sass, HTML+Tailwind, Landing Page, Multi-page Site
Frontend Web	React, Next.js, Vue, Nuxt, Svelte, Angular, Astro, Remix, Solid, Qwik, Preact
Mobile/Desktop	React Native, Expo, Flutter, Tauri, Electron, Ionic
Backend (JS/TS)	Express, NestJS, Fastify, Hono, Elysia, tRPC, Koa
Backend (Python)	FastAPI, Django, Django REST, Flask, Litestar
Backend (Go)	Gin, Fiber, Echo, Chi
Backend (Rust)	Axum, Actix, Rocket
Backend (Java)	Spring Boot, Quarkus, Ktor, Micronaut
Backend (Other)	Laravel, Rails, .NET Web API
Libraries	TypeScript NPM, Python PyPI, Go Module, Rust Crate
CLI Tools	Node CLI, Python CLI (Typer/Click), Go CLI (Cobra), Rust CLI (Clap)
Extensions	Chrome Extension, Firefox Extension, VS Code Extension, Figma Plugin, Obsidian Plugin
Serverless	AWS Lambda, Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Functions, Supabase Functions
Full-Stack	T3 Stack, MERN, PERN, MEAN
Monorepos	Turborepo, Nx Workspace, pnpm Workspace

Step 2: Basic Configuration

Gather for ALL projects:

• Project name (required)
• Location/directory
• Description
• Author name
• License (MIT, Apache-2.0, GPL-3.0, ISC, Unlicense)

Step 3: Framework-Specific Options

Load references/wizard-options.md for detailed configuration options based on the selected project type. Key decisions include:

• Language/SDK version - Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, Java versions
• Package manager - npm, pnpm, yarn, bun, poetry, uv
• CSS framework - Tailwind, CSS Modules, Styled Components
• State management - Zustand, Redux, Jotai, TanStack Query
• Database/ORM - PostgreSQL, SQLite, Prisma, SQLAlchemy, sqlc
• Authentication - NextAuth, JWT, OAuth2
• Testing - Vitest, Jest, pytest, Playwright

Step 4: Code Quality & DevOps

• Linting - ESLint, Ruff, golangci-lint, clippy
• Formatting - Prettier, Ruff, gofmt, rustfmt
• Pre-commit hooks - husky + lint-staged, pre-commit framework
• CI/CD - GitHub Actions, GitLab CI
• Docker - Dockerfile (multi-stage), docker-compose
• Deployment - Vercel, Railway, Fly.io, AWS, self-hosted

Step 5: Generate Project

Use scripts/scaffold.py or native CLI tools to create the project structure.

CLI Integration

Prefer native CLI tools when available:

Framework	CLI Command
Next.js	npx create-next-app@latest
React (Vite)	npm create vite@latest -- --template react-ts
Vue	npm create vue@latest
Nuxt	npx nuxi@latest init
Astro	npm create astro@latest
Remix	npx create-remix@latest
SvelteKit	npm create svelte@latest
Solid	npm create solid@latest
Expo	npx create-expo-app@latest
React Native	npx @react-native-community/cli init
Flutter	flutter create
Tauri	npm create tauri-app@latest
NestJS	npx @nestjs/cli new
Spring Boot	spring init or start.spring.io
Go	go mod init
Rust	cargo new
Chrome Ext	npm create plasmo@latest
T3 Stack	npx create-t3-app@latest

Quick Start Examples

HTML/CSS Website

mkdir my-website && cd my-website
touch index.html style.css
# Or use boilerplate:
npx degit h5bp/html5-boilerplate my-website

HTML + Tailwind (CDN)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>My Website</title>
  <script src="https://cdn.tailwindcss.com"></script>
</head>
<body class="bg-gray-100">
  <h1 class="text-3xl font-bold">Hello World</h1>
</body>
</html>

T3 Stack (Next.js + tRPC + Prisma)

npx create-t3-app@latest my-app

Expo (React Native)

npx create-expo-app@latest my-app --template tabs

Tauri Desktop App

npm create tauri-app@latest my-app -- --template react-ts

Chrome Extension

npm create plasmo@latest my-extension

Example Conversations

Simple HTML/CSS Website

User: Create a simple website with HTML and CSS

Claude: I'll create a static HTML/CSS website:

- Multi-page (Home, About, Contact)
- Mobile-first responsive CSS
- BEM naming convention
- Live Server for development

Structure:
my-website/
├── index.html
├── about.html
├── contact.html
├── css/style.css
├── js/main.js
└── images/

Shall I create this?

Mobile App

User: Create a mobile app for iOS and Android

Claude: I recommend Expo for the easiest setup:

- TypeScript
- Expo Router (file-based navigation)
- NativeWind (Tailwind for RN)
- Tab navigation template

Ready to scaffold?

Full-Stack with Type Safety

User: Create a full-stack app with type-safe API

Claude: I recommend the T3 Stack:

- Next.js 16 (App Router)
- tRPC (type-safe API)
- Prisma (type-safe ORM)
- Tailwind CSS
- NextAuth.js
- PostgreSQL with docker-compose

This gives you full type safety from database to frontend!

Chrome Extension

User: Build a Chrome extension

Claude: What features do you need?

- Popup UI
- Content script (modifies pages)
- Background service worker
- Side panel

Tech stack: React + Vite + TypeScript + Manifest V3

I recommend using Plasmo framework for easier development.

Recording Observations

This skill improves from real usage. Append a line to assets/observations.md when — and only when — one of these happens during a scaffolding session:

Trigger	Example line
User rejects a recommended default	`2026-09-12
Requested framework or option is missing	`2026-09-12
Generated project fails to install or start	`2026-09-12
A template is wrong for the pinned major	`2026-09-12

Format: DATE | TAG | project-type | one-line factual description. Record only what actually happened — never speculation about what users might want. Do not log successful, unremarkable scaffolds; a log of routine successes carries no signal and buries the real findings.

Use the scaffolding-maintainer skill to act on the accumulated log.

Available Resources

Load reference files based on what you need:

Resource	When to Load	Purpose
assets/versions.json	Always, via v()/req() in scaffold.py	Single source of truth for every dependency version
references/wizard-options.md	During Step 3 (gathering user preferences)	Configuration choices and defaults for each framework
references/frameworks.md	When generating code	Project structures, code examples, configuration files
references/best-practices.md	For architecture decisions	Directory organization, naming conventions, patterns
scripts/scaffold.py	For custom scaffolding	Python engine when CLI tools aren't suitable
scripts/refresh_versions.py	When the manifest is stale	Queries npm/PyPI for current versions

Workflow:

1. Present options from wizard-options.md to gather user preferences
2. Use frameworks.md for code patterns and project structure when generating
3. Consult best-practices.md for architecture decisions

Default Recommendations

Runtime and SDK versions are not listed here — they live in assets/versions.json under runtimes and are reported by python3 scripts/scaffold.py --version-status. Read them from there so this table cannot drift out of sync with what the scaffolder actually generates.

Category	Recommendation
Package Manager	pnpm
CSS Framework	Tailwind CSS
State (React)	Zustand + TanStack Query
ORM (Node)	Prisma
ORM (Python)	SQLAlchemy 2.0
ORM (Go)	sqlc
Testing (JS)	Vitest
Testing (Python)	pytest
E2E Testing	Playwright
Linting (JS)	ESLint + Prettier
Linting (Python)	Ruff
CI/CD	GitHub Actions
Containerization	Multi-stage Dockerfile