init

Purpose

Generate IPA-standard documentation from an existing codebase that has no docs.

This is the entry point for applying IPA workflow to running projects.

Output:

• docs/SRD.md - Inferred from business logic
• docs/UI_SPEC.md - Extracted from UI components
• docs/API_SPEC.md - Extracted from API routes
• docs/DB_DESIGN.md - Extracted from database schema

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Input

Supported Structures

1. Monorepo (single path or current dir):

/ipa:init
/ipa:init ./my-project

2. Separate FE/BE repos:

/ipa:init ./frontend ./backend

3. Microservices (multiple repos):

/ipa:init ./user-service ./order-service ./payment-service

4. Mixed paths:

/ipa:init ~/projects/my-fe ~/projects/my-be ~/projects/shared-lib

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When to Use

Situation	Use This?
Existing project, no docs	✅ Yes
Existing project, has some docs	✅ Yes (will merge/enhance)
Separate FE/BE repos	✅ Yes (pass both paths)
Microservices	✅ Yes (pass all service paths)
New project from scratch	❌ No (use /ipa:all)
After implementing tasks	❌ No (use /ipa-docs:sync)

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Workflow

Step 0: Parse Input Paths

If multiple paths provided:

/ipa:init ./frontend ./backend
        ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Paths detected:                         │
│ - ./frontend → FE (React/Vue/etc.)      │
│ - ./backend → BE (NestJS/FastAPI/etc.)  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

For microservices:

/ipa:init ./user-svc ./order-svc ./payment-svc
        ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Services detected:                      │
│ - user-svc → User Service               │
│ - order-svc → Order Service             │
│ - payment-svc → Payment Service         │
│                                         │
│ API_SPEC will group by service          │
│ DB_DESIGN will show per-service schemas │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘