skeleton-development

Skeleton Development

Primary Goal

Evolve the starter kit without making it less useful for future package authors.

Workflow

1. Preserve generic placeholders such as :author_name, :package_name, :vendor_slug, and :package_slug until the configure flow replaces them.
2. Keep starter guidance minimal and split skeleton-maintenance rules from package-author rules.
3. Use temporary phase scaffold tests when proving repository shape, file parity, or generated scaffolding; delete those tests before final validation.
4. Maintain skeleton guidance in AGENTS.md, package guidance in AGENTS_PACKAGE.md, and package-facing local skills in .agents/skills; configure.php generates package AGENTS.md, then links CLAUDE.md to AGENTS.md and .claude to .agents during package configuration.
5. Keep configure.php feature and tool pruning maps, opt-in non-interactive --[feature] and --[tool] flags, service provider wiring, Composer metadata, README_PACKAGE.md, AGENTS_PACKAGE.md, AI guidance, skills, and publishable files aligned.
6. Keep configure-only dependencies in require-dev, include them in configure dependency checks, and prune them through the configure composer remove --no-install step so the configured package's composer.json and composer.lock stay in sync.
7. Preserve the non-interactive contract: metadata validators run against flag and default values before any file changes, results print as single-line JSON on stdout, and --no-interaction, COMPOSER_NO_INTERACTION=1, agent detection, and non-TTY stdin all trigger the mode.
8. Keep development-time authoring files out of Composer dist archives with .gitattributes when they are not runtime package files.

References

• AGENTS.md
• AGENTS_PACKAGE.md
• Linked CLAUDE.md
• README.md
• README_PACKAGE.md
• .agents/skills/
• Linked .claude/
• configure.php
• .gitattributes
• PLAN.md, REQS.md, and phases/ when present

Examples

• Add or rename local guidance under AGENTS.md, AGENTS_PACKAGE.md, or .agents/skills, then update front matter names, root guidance, and any scaffold consistency checks.
• Add temporary Phase tests to lock down generated file shape, run them to prove the change, then delete them before the final composer test.
• Update package-facing README content in README_PACKAGE.md; README.md should stay focused on using this skeleton.
• When adding a selectable package feature, add both the starter files and the matching configure pruning behavior so package authors can select or omit it cleanly.
• When adding or renaming a selectable feature or tool key, verify the derived non-interactive flag includes only the expected generated files.
• When adding a configure-only helper package, update dependenciesAreInstalled(), the removeConfigureDependencies() package list, and temporary copied-skeleton configure checks together.