/bootstrap

description: >
  Scaffolds the core-memory-kit directory structure (context/, scripts/,
  cron/jobs/) into the current project. Idempotent — never
  overwrites existing files. Run once per project after installing the
  plugin. Use when the user says "bootstrap the memory system", "set up
  memory here", or "scaffold the memory kit".

bootstrap

Purpose

Scaffold the memory-system files into the user's current project. The plugin itself ships with the hooks and skill, but the user's project needs its own `context/` directory tree, `scripts/` for the auto-extract helper to read project-relative paths, and the cron job declarations.

Steps

1. **Check** the current project directory (`CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR` or pwd) for an existing `context/` directory.

• If exists: ASK the user "context/ already exists. Run bootstrap anyway (skipping existing files)?" Default to yes if no answer.

2. **Create directories** (idempotent):

   context/memory
   context/sessions
   context/transcripts
   scripts
   cron/jobs

3. **For each template file in the plugin's `context-template/` directory**, copy into the user's `context/` if the destination doesn't already exist. Substitute `{{TODAY}}` with today's date and `{{PROJECT_NAME}}` with the project's basename.

Files to scaffold:

• `USER.md.template` → `context/USER.md`
• `MEMORY.md.template` → `context/MEMORY.md`
• `SOUL.md.template` → `context/SOUL.md`
• `memory/INDEX.md.template` → `context/memory/INDEX.md`
• `SETUP.md` → `context/SETUP.md` (no substitution)

4. **Operational scripts** — v0.1.0 ships these as Node bins inside the published `@lh8ppl/core-memory-kit` npm package, NOT as plugin-copied scripts. Users invoke them via `cmk` subcommands:

• `cmk daily-distill` (was: `run-daily-distill.sh`)
• `cmk weekly-curate` (was: `run-weekly-curate.sh`)
• `cmk compress --lazy` (no-cron fallback; new in Task 35)
• `cmk register-crons` (was: `register-crons.py`)

5. **Copy cron job declarations** from the plugin's `cron-template/jobs/` into the user's `cron/jobs/`:

• `daily-memory-distill.md`
• `weekly-memory-curator.md`

6. **Report**: list which files were created vs skipped. Then tell the user:

• Open `context/SETUP.md` for the Layer 6 (crons) install steps
• Open `INSTALL-<your-os>.md` from the kit repo for OS prerequisites
• The plugin's hooks already activate on session start — no per-project hook registration needed

Constraints

• **NEVER overwrite existing files** in the user's project.
• **NEVER modify their `.claude/settings.json`** — the plugin's hooks are registered via the plugin's own `hooks/hooks.json`, not the user's settings file.
• Confirm before scaffolding if `context/` already has content.

Why this is a skill, not an install step

The npm CLI's `cmk install` scaffolds `template/` into a project. The plugin can't do that because Claude Code plugins don't run setup scripts at install time — they only register skills, hooks, agents, and MCP servers.

So instead the plugin ships the template content under `context-template/` and exposes this bootstrap skill, which the user runs explicitly with `/core-memory-kit:bootstrap` after installing the plugin.