max-new

/max-new

Create a new MAX/MSP project with the given name and begin the conversational kickoff phase.

Behavior

1. Validate the project name -- must be lowercase alphanumeric with hyphens only, matching ^[a-z0-9]+(-[a-z0-9]+)*$. Reject names with leading/trailing hyphens, spaces, or uppercase letters.

2. Create the project using the lifecycle skill and Python project module:

   • Load src/maxpat/project.py
   • Call create_project(name, base_dir) to scaffold the full directory structure under patches/{name}/
   • Call set_active_project(name, base_dir) to make this the active project
   • create_project() also creates an empty .maxpat file at patches/{name}/generated/{name}.maxpat with canvas background color set. The user can open this in MAX immediately.
   • No intermediary Python scripts are created for new projects.

3. Start conversational kickoff -- ask the user to describe what they want to build, then ask 3-4 clarifying questions:

   • What audio/MIDI requirements does this project have? (audio input/output, MIDI in/out, both?)
   • What is the signal flow? (describe the chain from source to output)
   • Does this need a UI/presentation mode? If so, what controls?
   • Are there any specific MAX objects or techniques you want to use?

4. Record answers -- write the user's responses to the project's context.md file in the project directory.

5. Update status -- set the project stage to "ideation" via update_status().

6. Flow into discuss -- after the kickoff conversation, automatically invoke /max-discuss to dive deeper into implementation decisions. Use the kickoff answers as the starting point — ask about signal flow architecture, object selection, audio design, and UI/control mapping as relevant to the project.

7. Flow into research -- after discussion decisions are captured, automatically invoke /max-research to investigate the best MAX objects, patterns, and techniques for the approach decided in discussion. Research findings are appended to context.md.