
Description
Project bootstrapping orchestrator for repos that depend on Vercel-linked resources (databases, auth, and managed integrations). Use when setting up or repairing a repository so linking, environment provisioning, env pulls, and first-run db/dev commands happen in the correct safe order.
SKILL.md
Project Bootstrap Orchestrator
Execute bootstrap in strict order. Do not run migrations or development server until project linking and environment verification are complete.
Rules
- Do not run
db:push,db:migrate,db:seed, ordevuntil Vercel linking is complete and env keys are verified. - Prefer Vercel-managed provisioning (
vercel integration ...) for shared resources. - Use provider CLIs only as fallback when Vercel integration flow is unavailable.
- Never echo secret values in terminal output, logs, or summaries.
Preflight
- Confirm Vercel CLI is installed and authenticated.
vercel --version
vercel whoami
- Confirm repo linkage by checking
.vercel/project.json. - If not linked, inspect available teams/projects before asking the user to choose:
vercel teams ls
vercel projects ls --scope <team>
vercel link --yes --scope <team> --project <project>
- Find the env template in priority order:
.env.example,.env.sample,.env.template. - Create local env file if missing:
cp .env.example .env.local
Resource Setup: Postgres
Preferred path (Vercel-managed Neon)
- Read integration setup guidance:
vercel integration guide neon
- Add Neon integration to the Vercel scope:
vercel integration add neon --scope <team>
- Verify expected environment variable names exist in Vercel and pull locally:
vercel env ls
vercel env pull .env.local --yes
Fallback path 1 (Dashboard)
- Provision Neon through the Vercel dashboard integration UI.
- Re-run
vercel env pull .env.local --yes.
Fallback path 2 (Neon CLI)
Use Neon CLI only when Vercel-managed provisioning is unavailable. After creating resources, add required env vars in Vercel and pull again.
AUTH_SECRET Generation
Generate a high-entropy secret without printing it, then store it in Vercel and refresh local env:
AUTH_SECRET="$(node -e "console.log(require('node:crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('base64url'))")"
printf "%s" "$AUTH_SECRET" | vercel env add AUTH_SECRET development preview production
unset AUTH_SECRET
vercel env pull .env.local --yes
Env Verification
Compare required keys from template file against .env.local keys (names only, never values):
template_file=""
for candidate in .env.example .env.sample .env.template; do
if [ -f "$candidate" ]; then
template_file="$candidate"
break
fi
done
comm -23 \
<(grep -E '^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*=' "$template_file" | cut -d '=' -f 1 | sort -u) \
<(grep -E '^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*=' .env.local | cut -d '=' -f 1 | sort -u)
Proceed only when missing key list is empty.
App Setup
After linkage + env verification:
npm run db:push
npm run db:seed
npm run dev
Use the repository package manager (npm, pnpm, bun, or yarn) and run only scripts that exist in package.json.
UI Baseline for Next.js + shadcn Projects
After linkage and env verification, establish the UI foundation before feature work:
- Add a baseline primitive set:
npx shadcn@latest add button card input label textarea select switch tabs dialog alert-dialog sheet dropdown-menu badge separator skeleton table - Apply the Geist font fix in
layout.tsxandglobals.css. - Confirm the app shell uses
bg-background text-foreground. - Default to dark mode for product, admin, and AI apps unless the repo is clearly marketing-first.
Bootstrap Verification
Confirm each checkpoint:
vercel whoamisucceeds..vercel/project.jsonexists and matches chosen project.- Postgres integration path completed (Vercel integration, dashboard, or provider CLI fallback).
vercel env pull .env.local --yessucceeds.- Required env key diff is empty.
- Database command status is recorded (
db:push,db:seed,db:migrate,db:generateas applicable). devcommand starts without immediate config/auth/env failure.
If verification fails, stop and report exact failing step plus remediation.
Summary Format
Return a final bootstrap summary in this format:
## Bootstrap Result
- **Linked Project**: <team>/<project>
- **Resource Path**: vercel-integration-neon | dashboard-neon | neon-cli
- **Env Keys**: <count> required, <count> present, <count> missing
- **Secrets**: AUTH_SECRET set in Vercel (value never shown)
- **Migration Status**: not-run | success | failed (<step>)
- **Dev Result**: not-run | started | failed
Bootstrap Next Steps
- If env keys are still missing, add the missing keys in Vercel and re-run
vercel env pull .env.local --yes. - If DB commands fail, fix connectivity/schema issues and re-run only the failed db step.
- If
devfails, resolve runtime errors, then restart with your package manager'srun dev.
next-forge Projects
If the project was scaffolded with npx next-forge init (detected by pnpm-workspace.yaml + packages/auth + packages/database + @repo/* imports):
- Env files are per-app (
apps/app/.env.local,apps/web/.env.local,apps/api/.env.local) pluspackages/database/.env. - Run
pnpm migrate(notdb:push) — it runsprisma format+prisma generate+prisma db push. - Minimum env vars:
DATABASE_URL,CLERK_SECRET_KEY,NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY,NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL,NEXT_PUBLIC_WEB_URL,NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL. - Optional services (Stripe, Resend, PostHog, etc.) can be skipped initially — but remove their
@repo/*imports from appenv.tsfiles to avoid validation errors. - Deploy as 3 separate Vercel projects with root directories
apps/app,apps/api,apps/web.
=> skill: next-forge — Full next-forge monorepo guide
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