SLOP ✦ CTL
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04/11Command
Set up

init

Initialize agent instructions and skills in a project.

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Initialize instruction files and skills for AI coding agents in your project.

Usage

# Specify at least one of --lang or --agent

# With language conventions
slopctl init --lang <language> [--agent <agent>] [--mission <text|@file>] [--force] [--dry-run]

# Agent only (preserves existing language, or language-independent if fresh)
slopctl init --agent <agent> [--mission <text|@file>] [--force] [--dry-run]

Options

  • --lang <string> — programming language or framework (e.g. c++, rust, shell, swift, c). Optional; omit for language-independent setup
  • --agent <string> — AI coding agent (e.g. claude, copilot, codex, cursor). Optional; when specified alone, preserves the existing language when switching agents
  • --mission <string> — custom mission statement to override the template default. Use @filename to read from a file (e.g. --mission @mission.md)
  • --force — force overwrite of local files without confirmation; also bypasses the already-initialized guard for reinstalls
  • --dry-run — preview changes without applying them

Examples

# Initialize a Rust project (works with all agents)
slopctl init --lang rust

# Initialize a C++ project
slopctl init --lang c++

# Agent only (AGENTS.md + agent prompts, no language files)
slopctl init --agent cursor

# Switch from Cursor to Claude (keeps existing language, e.g. Rust)
slopctl init --agent claude

# Custom mission statement (inline)
slopctl init --lang rust --mission "A CLI tool for managing AI agent instructions"

# Mission statement from a file (multi-line support)
slopctl init --lang rust --mission @mission.md

# Force overwrite existing local files
slopctl init --lang swift --force

# Preview what would be created/modified
slopctl init --lang rust --dry-run

Behavior

  • Uses global templates to set up agent instructions in the current project
  • If global templates don’t exist, automatically downloads them from the default repository
  • Detects template version from templates.yml
  • Must specify at least one of --lang or --agent
  • GitHub URL sources: any source field in templates.yml can be a full GitHub URL (cached by templates --update or fetched via tarball during init)
  • With --agent only (no --lang): creates AGENTS.md with mission, principles, integration (no language files); preserves existing language if previously installed; installs agent-associated skills; creates agent-declared directories (e.g. .cursor/plans)
  • With --lang: creates a single AGENTS.md plus language config files; installs language-associated skills (own + inherited from shared groups) to the cross-client directory; optional --agent adds agent prompts and agent skills
  • Already-initialized guard: when every requested --lang/--agent is already installed (per the file tracker), init errors with guidance pointing to slopctl update, slopctl merge, or --force; adding anything new proceeds normally
  • Checks for local modifications to AGENTS.md (detects if the template marker has been removed); if customized and --force is not specified, skips AGENTS.md
  • Tracked files with local modifications that add no new owners are skipped (local version kept); merge is their update path, --force overwrites
  • Files are placed according to templates.yml with placeholder resolution: $workspace resolves to the current directory, $userprofile to the user’s home directory
  • Merges language-specific and integration fragments into AGENTS.md