Initialize a new project with spec-driven development infrastructure — creates directory structure, copies templates, sets up hooks. Use when starting a new project or adding spec governance to an existing one.
Bootstrap a new project (or add spec governance to an existing one) using the spec-driven development workflow.
If $ARGUMENTS is provided, use it as the target directory. Otherwise, ask the user where to initialize.
Before running the bootstrap script, check what already exists in the target:
PRINCIPLES.md already exist?workflows/ already exist?docs/ already exist?CLAUDE.md already exist?.claude/ already exist?If any of these exist, inform the user that the bootstrap script is idempotent (won't overwrite existing files) and ask if they want to proceed.
Ask the user about their project's scale:
If unsure, default to Layer 0. The session-start hook will suggest upgrades when the project outgrows its layer.
Run bash scripts/bootstrap-project.sh $ARGUMENTS (or the target directory).
Layer filtering: Only copy skills where the skill's layer field in its SKILL.md frontmatter is <= the selected project layer. For example, a Layer 0 project receives only layer-0 skills; a Layer 1 project receives layer-0 and layer-1 skills. The bootstrap script handles this automatically via the --layer flag. If running manually, check each skill's SKILL.md for layer: N and skip skills above the target layer.
Create .arboretum.yml in the target directory with the selected layer:
# Arboretum project configuration
# layer: 0 = foundation, 1 = structure, 2 = governance