name: project-setup
description: "This skill should be used when users want to initialize a new qualitative research project, mentions 'setup', 'initialize', 'new project', 'getting started', or asks about establishing philosophical foundations and epistemic stance. Triggers on phrases like 'start my research project', 'create a new study', 'configure my stance'."

project-setup

Initialize qualitative research projects with epistemic partnership at the core. This skill guides researchers through philosophical foundation establishment via Socratic dialogue, then creates the project infrastructure.

When to Use

Use this skill when:
- User wants to start a new qualitative research project
- User mentions "initialize", "setup", "new project", or "getting started"
- User asks about establishing philosophical foundations
- User needs to configure their epistemic stance

Capabilities

1. Socratic Onboarding - Guide researchers through 5 key philosophical questions
2. Project Structure Creation - Create the sandwich methodology folder hierarchy
3. Configuration Generation - Generate config.json from dialogue responses
4. Partnership Agreement - Establish mutual commitments

Two Modes

Full Setup (15 min) - Recommended

Complete Socratic dialogue exploring:
- What is "data" to you? (ontology)
- When you code, you are...? (epistemology)
- Your role as researcher? (methodology)
- How do you view AI? (relationship)
- Stage 1 status? (sandwich methodology)

Quick Start (3 min)

Use sensible defaults (Gioia/Systematic Interpretivist):
- Ontology: interpretivist
- Epistemology: systematic_interpretation
- Tradition: gioia_corley
- AI Relationship: epistemic_partner

Quick Start still requires Stage 1 manual coding - no shortcuts to theoretical sensitivity!

Scripts

create-structure.js

Creates the project folder hierarchy:

project-name/
├── .interpretive-orchestration/
│   ├── config.json
│   ├── reflexivity-journal.md
│   ├── conversation-log.jsonl
│   └── decision-history.md
├── stage1-foundation/
│   ├── manual-codes/
│   └── memos/
├── stage2-collaboration/
│   ├── stream-a-theoretical/
│   ├── stream-b-empirical/
│   └── synthesis/
├── stage3-synthesis/
│   ├── evidence-tables/
│   └── theoretical-integration/
└── outputs/

Usage:

node skills/project-setup/scripts/create-structure.js --project-path /path/to/project --project-name "My Research"

generate-config.js

Generates config.json from dialogue responses.

Usage:

node skills/project-setup/scripts/generate-config.js \
  --project-path /path/to/project \
  --name "My Research" \
  --research-question "How do..." \
  --ontology interpretivist \
  --epistemology systematic_interpretation \
  --tradition gioia_corley \
  --ai-relationship epistemic_partner

validate-setup.js

Validates project setup completeness.

Usage:

node skills/project-setup/scripts/validate-setup.js --project-path /path/to/project

Returns: JSON with validation status and any missing components.

Dialogue Flow Example

Claude: Welcome to Interpretive Orchestration! Would you prefer:
        [A] Full Setup (15 min) - Socratic exploration
        [B] Quick Start (3 min) - Use defaults

User: A

Claude: Let's explore your philosophical foundations together.

        Question 1: When you read research data, what are you encountering?

        A) Objective facts waiting to be discovered
        B) Meanings requiring systematic interpretation
        C) Co-created realities with participants
        D) Help me think about this

User: B

Claude: You've chosen a systematic interpretivist stance - aligning
        with Gioia & Corley's approach. This means:

        - We'll use language like "construct", "interpret", "build"
        - AI helps you organize evidence; YOU construct meaning
        - Focus on systematic procedures + theoretical sensitivity

        Does "constructing understanding" feel right, or does
        "discovering truth" feel more accurate?

[dialogue continues through all 5 questions]

Templates

This skill bundles these templates (moved from templates/ directory):
- templates/epistemic-stance.md - Human-readable stance questionnaire
- templates/config.schema.json - JSON schema for config validation
- templates/example-config.json - Example configuration file

Defense-in-Depth

While hooks enforce Stage 1 completion deterministically, this skill includes a pre-check:

Before proceeding to Stage 2 features, verify that config.json shows
stage1_complete: true and documents_manually_coded >= 10. If not,
guide the researcher through Stage 1 instead of proceeding.

Output

After completion, creates:
1. Project folder structure
2. .interpretive-orchestration/config.json with researcher's stance
3. .interpretive-orchestration/reflexivity-journal.md initialized
4. Welcome message with next steps based on Stage 1 status

Related

• Commands: /qual-init triggers this skill
• Agents: None directly, but configuration affects all agents
• Hooks: check-stage1-complete.js enforces Stage 1 status
• Other Skills: gioia-methodology/ for data structure templates