Create a New Project

When the user invokes /new-project, scaffold a complete project with version control and Claude Code configuration. The project type determines which conventions, directories, and environments to set up.

Run this skill from inside the target project directory (which may be empty or newly created).

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1. Gather Project Information

Use AskUserQuestion to collect:

Question 1: Project type

• Data science (Recommended) — Analysis project with numbered scripts, data/outs/ directories, renv/conda, Quarto analysis documents
• Documentation — Quarto book or website (teaching material, lab manual, reference docs)
• General — Any other project (infrastructure, tools, packages, scripts without data science conventions)

Question 2: Project basics (all types)

• Project name: Default to current directory name
• Brief description: 1-2 sentences for CLAUDE.md and README

For Data Science projects, also ask:

Question 3: Languages

• R only
• Python only
• Both R and Python (Recommended)

Question 4: Layout

• Flat: Single scripts/ directory — for small projects with <10 scripts on one topic
• Sectioned: Subdirectories under scripts/, data/, outs/ — for larger projects with multiple analytical threads

If sectioned, ask for section names (e.g., phosphoproteomics, transcriptomics).

Question 5: Cluster

• Yes — This project will also live on the YCRC HPC cluster (dual-environment)
• No (Default) — Local analysis only

If yes:

• Adds batch/ directory (tracked in git — SLURM batch scripts)
• Adds logs/ directory (tracked in git — SLURM output for review in both environments)
• Adds a "Dual Environment: Local + Cluster" section to CLAUDE.md (see template below)
• Asks for the cluster path (default: /nfs/roberts/project/pi_jm284/<project_name>/)
• Notes in CLAUDE.md which directories are cluster-only (gitignored)
• Batch scripts use BASEDIR=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel) — no hardcoded paths
• See hpc skill for full dual-environment conventions

For General projects, also ask:

Question 3: Languages

• R only
• Python only
• Both R and Python
• None / other (Markdown, Bash, etc.)

For all types:

Question: GitHub

• Lab organization (recommended for research projects) or personal account?
• Private (recommended) or public?

Question: Changelog

• Yes (recommended) — create a CHANGELOG.md to track changes over time. The /done skill will propose entries automatically.
• No — skip. You can always add one later.

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2. Create Directory Structure

Data Science layout

Flat

mkdir -p R python scripts/exploratory data outs/exploratory .claude

(Omit R/ if Python-only, omit python/ if R-only.)

Sectioned

For each section (e.g., phosphoproteomics, transcriptomics):

mkdir -p R python scripts/exploratory data outs/exploratory .claude
# Per section:
mkdir -p scripts/{section} data/{section} outs/{section}

Cluster directories (if cluster = yes)

mkdir -p batch logs

These are gitignored (see .gitignore section below) — they hold ephemeral SLURM scripts and log output.

Create placeholder files

Add .gitkeep files to empty directories so git tracks them:

touch R/.gitkeep python/.gitkeep scripts/exploratory/.gitkeep outs/.gitkeep data/.gitkeep

Documentation layout

Hand off to the /quarto-book-setup skill:

"This is a documentation project — I'll use /quarto-book-setup to scaffold the Quarto book. Would you like to proceed?"

After /quarto-book-setup completes, return here to add project-type: general to the generated CLAUDE.md (documentation projects use the general type since they don't follow data science conventions).

General layout

mkdir -p .claude

Create only the .claude/ directory. Do NOT create data/, outs/, scripts/, R/, or python/ directories — let the user organize as appropriate for their project.

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3. Python Environment (if using Python)

One-time conda configuration (check first)

conda config --show channel_priority

If not already strict:

conda config --set channel_priority strict
conda config --set solver libmamba
conda config --add channels conda-forge

For Data Science projects: create project-specific environment

source ~/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh
conda create -n {project_name} python=3.11 numpy pandas matplotlib ipykernel -y
conda activate {project_name}

Customize: Replace ~/miniconda3 with your actual conda installation path (see conda-env skill).

ipykernel is required for Quarto to execute Python chunks.

For General projects: default to lab-general

General projects always get the shared lab-general environment by default. This is included in the CLAUDE.md regardless of whether the project currently uses Python — it ensures Claude knows which env to activate if Python is needed later.

1. Check if the lab-general environment already exists:

   source ~/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh && conda env list | grep lab-general
   

2. If it does NOT exist, create it:

   source ~/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh
   conda create -n lab-general python=3.11 ipykernel pyyaml requests pandas -y
   

3. Do NOT export an environment.yml into the project — lab-general is managed independently, not per-project.

Opt-out: project-specific environment. If the user specifically says they need specialized Python dependencies, create a project-specific env instead:

1. Ask the user which packages to install.

2. Create the environment:

   source ~/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh
   conda create -n {project_name} python=3.11 ipykernel {user_packages} -y
   conda activate {project_name}
   

3. Export environment:

   conda env export --from-history > environment.yml
   

Export environment (Data Science and project-specific General only)

Always use --from-history for portable environment files:

conda env export --from-history > environment.yml

Do NOT create an environment.yml for projects using the shared lab-general environment.

Lab policy

• Never install into the base environment
• Data science projects: one environment per project, named to match the project
• General projects: use lab-general shared environment by default; create project-specific only when specialized dependencies are needed
• Prefer conda install over pip install
• Always include ipykernel for Quarto compatibility

---

4. R + renv (Data Science only — if using R)

Check available R versions

rig list

Ask the user which version to use (default: latest installed).

Pin R version in Positron

Ask: "Do you use Positron as your IDE?"

If yes, create .positron/settings.json:

{
  "r.rpath.mac": "/Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/{VERSION}-arm64/Resources/bin/R"
}

Replace {VERSION} with the chosen version (e.g., 4.4). For Intel Macs, use {VERSION}-x86_64.

Add .positron/ to .gitignore (already in the template).

Initialize renv

renv::init()
install.packages(c("tidyverse", "here"))
renv::snapshot()

Lab policy

• Every R data science project uses renv
• Snapshot after every package install
• Commit renv.lock, renv/activate.R, .Rprofile to git
• Do NOT commit renv/library/ or renv/staging/

---

5. Write .gitignore

Data Science .gitignore

# Generated outputs (reproducible from code)
outs/

# R artifacts
.Rhistory
.RData
.Rproj.user/
renv/library/
renv/staging/
renv/local/
*_cache/

# Python artifacts
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*.egg-info/
.eggs/
*.egg
.venv/
venv/

# Quarto rendering
*_files/
.quarto/
*.html

# Claude Code
.claude/worktrees/

# OS files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# IDE settings
.vscode/
.positron/
*.Rproj

# Secrets
.env
*.pem
credentials.json

If cluster project, also add:

# HPC cluster — batch scripts and SLURM logs
batch/
logs/

Note on data/: Whether to gitignore data/ depends on file sizes. Small data files (< a few MB) can be committed. Large files should be gitignored with a data/README.md documenting sources. Ask the user.

General .gitignore

# Python artifacts
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*.egg-info/
.venv/
venv/

# R artifacts
.Rhistory
.RData
.Rproj.user/

# Quarto rendering
*_files/
.quarto/

# Claude Code
.claude/worktrees/

# OS files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# IDE settings
.vscode/
.positron/

# Secrets
.env
*.pem
credentials.json

Omit language-specific sections if that language isn't used.

---

6. Generate .claude/CLAUDE.md

Data Science template

Read templates/claude_md_data_science.md and fill in project-specific details:

• Replace all {placeholders} with actual values from the discussion
• Include only language sections relevant to the chosen languages
• Include the "Dual Environment" section only if cluster = Yes
• Remove <!-- IF CLUSTER --> comment markers after deciding

If ~/lib/R/ or ~/lib/python/ exist, add to the Conventions section:

### Cross-Project Helpers

Shared helper functions are available at:
- `~/lib/R/` — source with `source("~/lib/R/helpers.R")`
- `~/lib/python/` — import with `sys.path.insert(0, os.path.expanduser("~/lib/python"))`

General project template

Read templates/claude_md_general.md and fill in project-specific details. Same placeholder and cluster section rules as the data science template.

Project reminders file

Create .claude/project-reminders.txt — this is read by the project-reminders hook to inject critical project-specific rules at every session start.

Data Science projects

CRITICAL REMINDERS (re-injected after compaction):
1. (Add project-specific rules here as the project develops)
2. Check planning documents before modifying scripts
3. Never silently default unmatched data classifications

General projects

REMINDERS (re-injected after compaction):
1. (Add project-specific rules here as the project develops)

Tell the user: "I created .claude/project-reminders.txt — edit this as you discover critical rules that Claude keeps forgetting after long sessions."

---

7. Generate README.md

Data Science README

# {Project Name}

{Brief description}

## Setup

### Prerequisites
- [Positron](https://positron.posit.co/) (recommended IDE)
- [rig](https://github.com/r-lib/rig) (R version manager)
- [Conda](https://docs.conda.io/) (Python environment manager)
- [Quarto](https://quarto.org/) (literate programming)

### Python
```bash
conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate {project_name}
```

### R
```r
# renv auto-activates via .Rprofile
renv::restore()
```

## Data

(Document data sources and how to obtain them)

## Running the Analysis

(Document how to run scripts in order)

Omit Python or R sections if not using that language.

General README

# {Project Name}

{Brief description}

## Setup

{Document prerequisites and setup steps as the project develops}

## Usage

{Document how to use the project}

---

7b. Create CHANGELOG.md (if requested)

If the user opted for a changelog in Step 1, create CHANGELOG.md:

# Changelog

## {today's date}

### Added
- Initial project setup

The /done skill auto-detects this file and proposes entries at each session wrap-up. No CLAUDE.md entry needed.

---

8. Git + GitHub

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial project setup"

Then create the remote:

# Lab org, private (default)
gh repo create LAB_ORG/{project_name} --private --source=. --push

# Personal, private
gh repo create {project_name} --private --source=. --push

# Personal, public
gh repo create {project_name} --public --source=. --push

Customize: Replace LAB_ORG with your lab's GitHub organization name.

---

9. Summary

After completing all steps, print a type-appropriate summary:

Data Science summary

Project "{project_name}" created successfully!

  Project type: Data science
  Directory structure: {flat/sectioned}
  Languages: {R/Python/both}
  Conda env: {project_name}
  R version: {version} (renv initialized)
  Git remote: {github_url}

Next steps:
  1. Add data files to data/
  2. Create your first script: scripts/01_import.qmd
  3. See the quarto-docs skill for QMD templates

General summary

Project "{project_name}" created successfully!

  Project type: General
  Languages: {languages}
  Conda env: {lab-general (shared) / project_name (project-specific)}
  Git remote: {github_url}

Next steps:
  1. Start adding code and documentation
  2. Update .claude/CLAUDE.md as the project develops