Skill: project-init

"I found an existing project config for [project_name]. Do you want to:

1. Update a specific file (tell me which one)
2. Start fresh (overwrite everything)
3. View current config (I'll display all files)"

If the directory is empty or does not exist, proceed to Step 1.

Step 1 — Interview (3 Groups)

Tell the user upfront:

"I'll ask you 3 short groups of questions to get your project started. You don't need to know everything yet — use 'TBD' or 'not sure yet' freely. These files will fill in as your project evolves."

Group 1: Project Identity → project/research-focus.md

Ask:

Group 1 of 3 — Research Identity

1. What do you want to call this project for now? (anything works — "paper1", "my-llm-project", a real system name if you have one)
2. What general research area is this in? (e.g., "NLP", "systems security", "computer vision", "HCI")
3. In 1–3 sentences: what problem are you trying to solve, or what question are you trying to answer? (rough is fine — even a direction counts)
4. Do you have an initial idea for your approach or method, even vaguely? (say "not yet" if you're still exploring)

These four questions are the minimum. Everything else — system name, novelty, contributions, baselines — comes later through other skills.

Group 2: Venue → project/venue-config.md

Ask:

Group 2 of 3 — Target Venue (optional)

1. Do you have a target venue in mind? (e.g., ACL, NeurIPS, USENIX Security, ICSE — or say "unknown")
2. Do you know the submission deadline? (YYYY-MM-DD, or "unknown")
3. Is the submission double-blind (anonymous review)? (yes / no / unknown)

All answers can be "unknown". This file is easy to update later by saying "update venue config".

Group 3: Paper Setup → project/paper-paths.md

Ask:

Group 3 of 3 — Paper Files (optional)

Do you already have a LaTeX project set up? If yes, provide:

• Path to your main .tex file
• Path to your .bib file
• Path to your sections/ directory
• Path to your figures/ directory

If you haven't set up LaTeX yet, just say "not yet" and we'll leave these as TODO.

Step 2 — Write Config Files

After collecting all answers, create the project/ directory and write 3 active config files plus 5 placeholder files for configs that other skills will populate.

mkdir -p project

File 1: project/research-focus.md

# Research Focus

project_name: {{Q1.1 answer}}
research_area: {{Q1.2 answer}}
last_updated: {{TODAY}}

## Problem Statement

{{Q1.3 answer — the problem or research question, in the student's own words}}

## Initial Approach

{{Q1.4 answer, or "Not yet defined — see paper-search-and-triage to explore the space"}}

## System Name

{{Q1.1 answer if a proper name, otherwise "TBD — will be defined as the project matures"}}

## What Makes This Novel

TBD — run paper-search-and-triage and research-gap-mapper to identify the gap
this work fills.

## Headline Result

TBD — fill in after experiments are complete.

File 2: project/venue-config.md

# Venue Configuration