setting-up-a-project

Name: setting-up-a-project
Author: JetBrains

Use whenever asked to set up, onboard, initialize, or spec a project — the front door when the workspace has no spec graph yet (brand-new or an existing codebase); also seeded by the app's Set-up-project card (/skill:setting-up-a-project). Not for feature work in an already-specced project — use the brainstorming skill.

Installation

1
Make sure Claude is on your device and in your terminal.
Skills load from ~/.claude/skills/ when Claude Code starts up — so you need it on your machine first. If you don't have it yet, install it once with the command below, then run claude in any terminal to verify.
One-time setup
```
npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
```
Already have it? Skip ahead.

Paste into Claude Code or into your terminal.

Install

git clone ht•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••• •• ••••• •• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •• •• •• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

This copies the whole skill folder into ~/.claude/skills/setting-up-a-project-jetbrains/ — the SKILL.md plus any scripts, reference docs, or templates the skill ships with. Safe default: works for every skill.

Faster alternative (instruction-only skills)

Skips the clone and grabs only the SKILL.md file. Don't use this if the skill ships Python scripts, reference markdowns, or asset templates — they won't be downloaded and the skill will fail when it tries to load them.

Quick install (SKILL.md only)

mkdir -p ~/.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •• •••• ••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Restart Claude Code.
Quit and reopen Claude Code (or any other agent that loads from ~/.claude/skills/). New skills are picked up on startup.
Just ask Claude.
Skills auto-activate when your request matches the skill's description — no slash command needed. Trigger phrases live in the skill's own frontmatter; you can read them in the “What this skill does” section above.

Prefer to read the source first? Open on GitHub.

When Claude uses it

What this skill does

Setting up a project — dispatcher

The single entry point for turning a project into a spec graph. Figure out which situation you're in, then follow the matching skill — don't improvise the flow yourself.

1. Detect

Look at the workspace and use the spec tools (spec_grep / spec_graph):

Is there already a spec graph (a goal-and-requirements.md or any SPEC.md)?
Is there real source code, or is the repo empty / near-empty (just a README or scaffolding)?

2. Route

Situation	Follow
Already has specs	Don't redo it. Briefly offer to review/extend the graph (fill obvious gaps — a missing `architecture.md`, un-specced modules) or point at the `brainstorming` skill for feature work. Declined → stop. Accepted → Graph extension below.
No specs · empty / near-empty repo	The `starting-a-new-project` skill — interview the user to turn the idea into `goal-and-requirements.md`.
No specs · real source code	The `importing-a-codebase` skill — analyze the code + agent files and draft the first spec graph, asking only for intent the code can't reveal.

Read and follow that skill's steps.

Graph extension (no dedicated skill)

No skill covers extending an existing graph. If the offer is accepted: say so in one line, then align and adapt to the user's request with your own judgment, holding the writing-specs bar.

Handoff

Ends by naming exactly one of: starting-a-new-project, importing-a-codebase, or — when specs already exist — the review/extend offer above (declined → stop; accepted → graph extension: a one-line note that no skill covers it, then judgment against the writing-specs bar).

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