optimus-prime

Ultrathink.

Mission

Generate a Claude configuration that fits the specific project. Every skill, rule, and CLAUDE.md entry must exist because this project needs it — not because a template included it. Analyze the real codebase deeply, understand its conventions and patterns, and build a config that makes Claude work well here.

Modes

• Fresh prime — no claude config yet. Build from scratch.
• Re-prime — claude config already exists. Preserve intentional project work, refresh what is stale or generic, fill gaps.

Default to re-prime whenever meaningful existing config is found. Never overwrite it wholesale without user approval.

Flow

1. Analyze the repo deeply — stack, conventions, boundaries, docs, existing config. See [analysis-checklist.md](./references/analysis-checklist.md).
2. Propose findings using the Output Format below. Do not touch meaningful files before approval.
3. Create skills via /skill-creator — every skill must go through skill-creator to ensure quality and project fit. Starters in .claude/starter-skills/ are reference input to accelerate creation, not templates to copy.
4. Generate or refine CLAUDE.md — lean, high-signal, always-on context only. Point to docs/READMEs for detail.
5. Rules only if needed — apply the rule test. Zero rules is valid.
6. Offer CLAUDE.local.md — personal preferences (role, sandbox URLs, preferred test data, workflow quirks), gitignored.
7. Clean up — delete .claude/starter-skills/ after processing. Keep protected skills. Confirm all deletions.
8. Verify — references resolve, stack claims match evidence, config is project-specific not generic.
9. Offer skill optimization — after everything is set up, offer optimization paths sized to how many new skills were created. ≤3 skills: recommend full optimization for all. >3 skills: recommend full optimization for user-designated core skills only + description optimization for the rest (avoids long execution time and token burn). Always emphasize that full optimization takes meaningful time and tokens. Run sequentially — never in parallel; concurrent runs overload the user's machine.

Follow full step-by-step in [setup-project.md](./references/setup-project.md).

Placement Decision Matrix

Every piece of knowledge must earn its place. Use this to decide where it belongs:

| Detected need | Where it belongs | Test | |---|---|---| | General framework/library knowledge | Skill (via /skill-creator) | Would a reusable skill teach this across projects? | | Project-specific constraint that still produces wrong code with the right skill loaded | .claude/rules/<name>.md with paths: | With the relevant skill activated, will code still be wrong without this? | | Identity, commands, stack, key architecture, reference pointers | CLAUDE.md | Should this be always-on for most tasks in this repo? | | Detailed architecture or domain explanations | Existing docs/, READMEs — referenced from CLAUDE.md | Valuable but too detailed for always-on? | | Dense agent-oriented reference material - referenced from CLAUDE.md | .claude/project/ (optional) | Do agents need a tighter reference than the human docs provide? |

Principles

• Domain-scoped, project-fitted. Skills target a capability, not the project itself — with this project's patterns baked in. Generic templates and project-named catch-alls both degrade context quality.
• Repo evidence is the source of truth. Verify conventions from actual source files, configs, and docs. Do not assert what you haven't confirmed.
• Lean context, high signal. Follow the context engineering philosophy — load only what's needed, when it's needed. CLAUDE.md carries always-on essentials. Skills load on demand. Rules auto-attach by path.
• Rules are optional and path-scoped. Only create a rule when the rule test passes. Do not modify _apply-all.md — it is a universal boilerplate rule from prime, not project config.
• Reuse over duplication. If the project has strong docs, point to them. Do not re-author parallel agent docs unless existing material is too noisy or incomplete.

Output Format

Before making non-trivial changes, report findings in this shape:

Current State

What Claude config already exists; what the repo evidence says about stack, tooling, and conventions.

Proposed Changes

What to create, update, keep, or remove — including which skills to build and what each should cover.

Files to Touch

Concrete file list with short purpose notes.

Include these only when non-empty:

• Decisions Needing User Input — overwrites, deletions, or major structural changes
• Risks / Assumptions — inferred facts that still need verification

After approval, implement and finish with a short summary of what changed and any follow-ups.

References

| Reference | Content | |---|---| | [analysis-checklist.md](./references/analysis-checklist.md) | What to inspect during repo + existing-config review | | [setup-project.md](./references/setup-project.md) | Fresh-prime / re-prime step-by-step workflow |

Additional Context (Optional)

<user-context>$ARGUMENTS</user-context>