documentation-workspace

This file is intended for skill consumers, not contributors. See AGENTS.md for development context — how this skill is built, iterated, and tested.

Documentation Workspace Bootstrap

This skill teaches an AI agent how to bootstrap a documentation workspace from scratch in an empty (or near-empty) directory. The result is a versioned, file-system-based, fully self-contained knowledge base — owned by the user, free, no vendor lock-in, and structured so the agent working in it never has to think about organization, formatting, or tooling.

The core idea

A bootstrapped workspace contains its own AGENTS.md — a per-workspace, topic-specific "frozen mini-skill" that the agent reads on entry. AGENTS.md is created from a template that this skill ships. Once the workspace exists, the agent follows AGENTS.md, not this skill. This is the entire point: pre-decide the rules once, then never burn tokens re-deriving them.

When to use this skill

Use this skill only when:

• •The user explicitly wants to create / set up / initialize / scaffold a documentation workspace, docs folder, or knowledge base.
• •The target directory is empty or near-empty (or the user has explicitly opted in despite existing files).
• •The target directory does not already contain an AGENTS.md (which would mean it's already bootstrapped).

If AGENTS.md already exists at the target: do not run this skill. Read the existing AGENTS.md and follow it. The user is already in a bootstrapped workspace.

When NOT to use this skill

• •The user wants to add a document, edit a document, link documents, or reorganize within an existing workspace — the workspace's own AGENTS.md governs that.
• •The user wants to push to GitHub, render the workspace in a browser, or set up hosting — different concerns, different skills.
• •The user is asking a generic question about documentation, writing, or note-taking — no skill needed.

What the skill produces

When invoked, this skill creates a workspace containing:

A Git repository is initialized in the workspace if git is available. Dev dependencies are installed if Node and npm are available.

Bootstrap workflow

Follow these steps in order. Confirm with the user at every step where indicated. Never assume.

Step 1 — Confirm target location

Ask the user: "I'll bootstrap the documentation workspace in `<cwd>`. Is this correct? (yes / no / specify a path)"

• •If yes: proceed with cwd as the target.
• •If no: ask for the correct path, confirm, then proceed.
• •If the user said "in this folder" or similar: assume cwd, but still confirm.

Step 2 — Confirm target is empty (or get opt-in)

List the contents of the target directory (excluding hidden files like .git).

If empty: proceed to Step 3.

If non-empty:

1. Show the user what's there.
2. Explain: "This directory isn't empty. By default, this skill refuses to bootstrap into a non-empty directory. I can either (a) abort, (b) you confirm you want me to proceed anyway and I'll leave existing files untouched, or (c) you specify a subdirectory to create the workspace in."
3. Wait for explicit confirmation. If the user does not give strict positive affirmation, abort.
4. If the user says "go ahead" or "yes, proceed" — record that as opt-in and continue.

If AGENTS.md already exists at the target: stop. The workspace is already bootstrapped. Tell the user and offer to read the existing AGENTS.md.

If git is already initialized at the target: skip the git init step later, but proceed.

Step 3 — Collect the topic summary

Ask the user: "What is this documentation workspace for? Describe the topic in 1–2 short paragraphs. This becomes the topic summary in AGENTS.md and the intro in README.md."

Topic summary rules:

• •1 paragraph (preferred), max 2 paragraphs
• •Plain prose, no formatting, no lists
• •Clear statement of what the workspace documents

If the user gives a single sentence: that's fine, use it. If the user gives a longer description: condense it (with their confirmation) or use 2 paragraphs max. If the user says "you decide" or "I don't know yet": prompt for at least one sentence — the topic summary is the only topic-specific part of AGENTS.md, and the workspace needs some anchor.

Step 4 — Run the bootstrap script

Once you have:

• •The target path
• •Confirmation the directory is appropriate
• •The topic summary

...run the bootstrap script:

node <skill-dir>/assets/skill-scripts/bootstrap.js --target <path> --topic "<topic-summary>" ---

The script will:

1. Verify Node.js availability (skip Node-dependent artifacts and warn if not)
2. Verify git availability (skip git init if not)
3. Create the directory structure
4. Instantiate all templates from <skill-dir>/assets/templates/ with {{TOPIC_SUMMARY}} and {{CREATED}} substituted
5. Copy the workspace-shipped scripts (format.js, validate.js, hash.js, reindex.js) to <target>/scripts/
6. Run npm install (if Node + npm are available)
7. Run git init (if git is available)
8. Print a summary of what was created

If the script fails (e.g., permissions, missing tool), fall back to manual file creation using the templates in <skill-dir>/assets/templates/. Manually copy each template to the target, substitute placeholders, and create the scripts directory by copying from <skill-dir>/assets/workspace-scripts/.

Step 5 — Tell the user what was created

After the script finishes, summarize:

• •What files and directories were created
• •Whether git init was run (or skipped, with a reminder)
• •Whether npm install was run (or skipped, with a reminder)
• •That AGENTS.md is now the governing document for this workspace
• •That the workspace is ready to use

Then ask: "Would you like to start working on documentation, or do you want to review the structure first?"

Templates

All template files live in <skill-dir>/assets/templates/. The bootstrap script copies and substitutes them.

Placeholders used:

• •{{TOPIC_SUMMARY}} — replaced with the user's topic description
• •{{CREATED}} — replaced with today's date (YYYY-MM-DD)

The bootstrap script handles the underscore-wrapping convention automatically (a file named _foo_.template becomes .foo in the output).

Workspace-shipped scripts

After bootstrap, the workspace has these helper scripts in scripts/:

All are invokable via npm:

• •npm run format
• •npm run validate
• •npm run hash
• •npm run reindex

References

For deeper context on specific topics, see the references/ directory:

• •references/asset-management.md — How to add, link, and migrate assets (content-addressed storage, manifest, per-doc vs shared)
• •references/document-promotion.md — How to promote a single-file document to a folder when it gains sub-documents

These are loaded into context only when relevant. The main AGENTS.md covers the common cases; references are for the less common ones.

Reminders for the agent (during bootstrap)

• •Topic summary is the only topic-specific content the user provides. Everything else is templated. Don't ask about file naming, link styles, frontmatter fields, commit message style, or any other rule — those are baked into the templates.
• •If the user asks for something the templates don't support, surface it. Don't invent new conventions silently. The right move is to either (a) note it for a future template revision, or (b) implement it as an exception with explicit confirmation.
• •After bootstrap, this skill is done. The next time the user wants to do anything in the workspace, the agent reads AGENTS.md and follows it. This skill does not run again unless the user explicitly asks to bootstrap another workspace or re-bootstrap the existing one.