init

Init — Profile & Workspace Setup

Overview

This skill sets up the user's personal coinskills workspace from scratch. It interviews them to capture their financial profile and preferences, creates a private GitHub repo as their workspace (so all financial state is version-controlled and private), walks through a complete financial snapshot covering cash, credit, investments, debts, obligations, and income, then seeds their first goals and optionally drafts an initial plan for each. At the end the user has a fully initialized workspace and a clear picture of where they stand relative to their goals.

Prerequisites

Before starting, verify both tools are present and configured:

gh auth status
git config user.name

If gh is not authenticated, tell the user to run gh auth login and complete the browser flow before continuing. If git config user.name is empty, ask the user to run git config --global user.name "Your Name". Do not proceed until both checks pass.

---

Step 1: Profile Interview

Ask the user these 8 questions one at a time. Wait for each answer before asking the next. Do not bundle questions.

1. "What name should I use for your profile?"

2. "What is your primary currency? (e.g. EUR, USD, BGN)"

3. "Which modules do you want to enable?"

   • A) Personal finance — income, expenses, budgets, cash flow
   • B) Investments — portfolio, holdings, allocation
   • C) Business / freelance — invoices, expenses, P&L (Accept any combination. Store as a list, e.g. [personal, investments].)

4. "How would you describe your risk tolerance?" (only ask if investments module is enabled)

   • conservative
   • moderate
   • aggressive

5. "How many months of expenses do you want to keep as an emergency buffer? (common: 3, 6, or 12)"

   After this, also collect locale: "What locale should I format dates and numbers in? (e.g. en-US, bg-BG, de-DE)" — if the user is unsure, infer a default from currency (EUR → en-IE, BGN → bg-BG, USD → en-US, GBP → en-GB) and confirm.

5b. "What's a rough monthly total for variable spending — groceries, dining, kids' costs, miscellaneous — EXCLUDING rent, utilities, insurance, and other fixed bills?" Store as variable_spending_estimate (currency = profile.currency).

This number is critical for afford to compute monthly capacity before transaction history exists. The user can correct it later via /coinskills:edit profile. If unsure, suggest a starting point of 0.4 × monthly net income and let them confirm.

6. "How often do you want to do a formal financial review?"

   • monthly
   • quarterly
   • yearly

7. "How do you prefer financial decisions to be presented to you?"

   • data-first — numbers up front, narrative second
   • gut-first — narrative up front, numbers to back it
   • balanced — mixed

8. "Any free-form context I should know? (life situation, dependents, upcoming life events, constraints — or just press Enter to skip)"

After collecting all answers, confirm a summary and ask "Does this look right?" before proceeding.

---

Step 2: Create Workspace Repo

2a. Choose parent directory

Ask: "Where should I create your workspace? (default: ~/finances/)"

Use the user's answer, or ~/finances/ if they press Enter.

2b. Choose repo name

Suggest 6 fun names the user can pick from (or they can provide their own):

• coin-vault
• gold-ledger
• wealth-forge
• coin-keep
• goldsight
• ledgermind

Ask: "Pick a repo name from the suggestions above, or type your own:"

2c. Create the repo

Get the user's GitHub username:

gh api user --jq '.login'

Then create the private repo and clone it:

gh repo create <github-username>/<repo-name> --private --clone --add-readme
cd <parent-directory>/<repo-name>

If gh repo create fails, check:

• The user is authenticated (gh auth status)
• The repo name doesn't already exist under their account
• They have permission to create repos

2d. Initialize directory structure

Create the top-level directories that exist for all configurations:

mkdir -p goals plans snapshots reviews

Then create module directories only for enabled modules:

• If personal is enabled:

  mkdir -p modules/personal/transactions
  

• If investments is enabled:

  mkdir -p modules/investments/transactions
  

• If business is enabled:

  mkdir -p modules/business/invoices modules/business/expenses modules/business/pnl
  

2e. Write workspace .gitignore

Create .gitignore in the workspace root with this content:

.env
*.csv
tmp/
*.pdf
.DS_Store
*.log

2f. Write profile.md

Write profile.md using the following template, substituting the user's answers:

---
name: <user name>
created: <YYYY-MM-DD>
schema_version: 2
modules: [<enabled modules, comma-separated>]
currency: <currency>
locale: <locale, e.g. en-US or bg-BG>
risk_tolerance: <conservative | moderate | aggressive>
emergency_fund_months: <number>
variable_spending_estimate: <user-provided monthly EUR estimate excluding fixed bills>
preferences:
  review_cadence: <monthly | quarterly | yearly>
  decision_style: <data-first | gut-first | balanced>
---
# Notes
<user's free-form context, or leave blank>

If investments module was not enabled, omit the risk_tolerance field. locale is always written (collected in question 5).

2g. Write a pointer file

Write the absolute path of the workspace to ~/.coinskills-workspace so other skills can find it without asking:

echo "<absolute-path-to-workspace>" > ~/.coinskills-workspace

2h. Seed v0.2 state files

Resolve the workspace root (already in <absolute-path-to-workspace> from earlier).

Generate a UTC timestamp now: TS=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ). Generate a 6-hex suffix: HEX=$(python3 -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(3))').

Write <workspace>/changes.jsonl with exactly one line:

{"id":"chg_<TS>_<HEX>","timestamp":"<TS>","skill":"init","op":"create","target":"workspace","before":null,"after":{"schema_version":2},"validation":"ok","note":"workspace initialized"}

Write <workspace>/snapshots/latest.json:

{
  "computed_at": "<TS>",
  "stale": true,
  "last_event_id": "chg_<TS>_<HEX>",
  "liquidity": {"disposable": 0, "emergency_buffer": 0, "monthly_expenses": 0, "monthly_capacity": 0},
  "goals": [],
  "warnings": []
}

Write <workspace>/.gitattributes:

changes.jsonl merge=union

(Copy the template from the plugin's skills/_shared/workspace-gitattributes.txt.)

Create the directories: mkdir -p <workspace>/snapshots <workspace>/.backups.

---

Step 3: Financial Snapshot Interview

Before any write below, resolve the workspace root and apply the path guard from skills/_shared/path-guard.md. Every file written in this section must be inside the workspace root.

For every account/goal/plan/recurring/income/holding write below, follow skills/_shared/mutation-pipeline.md: validate against the relevant schema in <plugin-root>/schemas/, append a changes.jsonl event, then write the file. Mark snapshots/latest.json stale at the end of the entire init flow (one stale-mark, not per-write — init is one logical unit).

Tell the user: "Now let's capture a snapshot of where you stand financially. I'll go through 8 categories — type done at any point within a category to move to the next."

Work through each category below one at a time. For each category, collect the fields listed, write the results to the specified file, and then move on.

---

Category 1 — Liquid cash (banks, savings, e-money)

For each account, collect:

• id (slug, e.g. bank-revolut-main)
• type: bank, savings, or e_money
• name (display name, e.g. "EMoneyA Main")
• currency
• balance (current balance, positive number)
• module: personal

Append each account as an entry in accounts.json (create or extend the array).

---

Category 2 — Credit lines (cards, overdrafts)

For each account, collect:

• id (slug, e.g. card-amex-gold)
• type: credit_card
• name
• currency
• limit
• balance (current statement balance — negative means you owe money, e.g. -340)
• apr (as a decimal, e.g. 0.219 for 21.9%)
• billing_cycle_day (day of month statement closes)
• rewards (free text, e.g. "4x dining, 2x groceries")
• module: personal

Append to accounts.json.

---

Category 3 — Investments (only if investments module is enabled)

For each holding, collect:

• ticker
• shares
• avg_cost (average cost per share)
• currency
• account (broker slug, e.g. trading212)
• asset_class: equity, bond, cash, crypto, commodity, or other (used by analyze: allocation to compute drift vs target)

Write to modules/investments/holdings.json as a JSON array.

Also add each broker as an account entry in accounts.json:

• type: broker
• module: investments
• balance: approximate total value (optional at this stage)

---

Category 4 — Other liquid assets (crypto, metals, collectibles)

For each, collect:

• id (slug)
• type: crypto_wallet or other
• name
• currency
• balance (approximate current value)
• module: personal

Append to accounts.json.

---

Category 5 — Illiquid assets (real estate, vehicles, business equity)

For each, collect:

• id (slug)
• type: real_estate, vehicle, business_equity, or other
• name
• currency
• estimated_value
• notes (optional)

Write to assets-illiquid.json as a JSON array.

---

Category 6 — Loans and debts (mortgages, personal loans, family debt)

For each, collect:

• id (slug)
• type: mortgage, loan, or other
• name
• currency
• balance (negative — amount owed, e.g. -12000)
• apr (decimal)
• monthly_payment
• module: personal

Append to accounts.json.

---

Category 7 — Recurring obligations (subscriptions, fixed bills)

For each, collect:

• id (slug)
• name
• amount (monthly cost, positive number)
• currency
• category (e.g. housing, utilities, subscriptions, insurance, transport)
• frequency: monthly, quarterly, or annual
• due_day (day of month it's due — for monthly; for quarterly/annual, this is the day of the month it falls in)
• last_paid (ISO date YYYY-MM-DD of the last payment; if unknown, ask the user to estimate or set to one full period before today)

Write to modules/personal/recurring.json as a JSON array. If the user types done immediately with no obligations, write an empty array [] so consumers don't hit a missing-file path.

---

Category 8 — Income streams (salary, freelance, rental, dividends)

For each, collect:

• id (slug)
• type: salary, freelance, rental, dividends, other
• name
• amount (net monthly amount)
• currency
• frequency: monthly, quarterly, annual, or irregular
• account_id (where it lands)

Write to modules/personal/income.json as a JSON array. If the user types done immediately with no income streams, write an empty array [].

---

Target file reference

Category	Target file
Liquid cash	accounts.json
Credit lines	accounts.json
Investments	modules/investments/holdings.json + accounts.json
Other liquid assets	accounts.json
Illiquid assets	assets-illiquid.json
Loans/debts	accounts.json
Recurring obligations	modules/personal/recurring.json
Income streams	modules/personal/income.json

accounts.json shape

The full accounts.json is a JSON array. Each entry follows this structure (example):

[
  {
    "id": "card-amex-gold",
    "type": "credit_card",
    "name": "Amex Gold",
    "currency": "EUR",
    "limit": 5000,
    "balance": -340,
    "apr": 0.219,
    "billing_cycle_day": 15,
    "rewards": "4x dining, 2x groceries",
    "module": "personal"
  }
]

Account types: bank, savings, credit_card, e_money, broker, crypto_wallet, loan, mortgage, other.

Fields that don't apply to a given account type (e.g. limit on a bank account) should be omitted.

---

Step 4: Goals Interview

Tell the user: "Now let's set your financial goals. Tell me about each goal — I'll record them one by one. Type done when you've listed them all."

For each goal, collect:

• Title
• Type: savings | debt-payoff | investment | retirement | purchase | custom
• Target amount and currency
• Deadline (YYYY-MM-DD or none)
• Priority (1 = most important; auto-assign if not specified)
• Linked accounts (comma-separated ids from accounts.json)
• Why it matters (free-form — becomes the body of the goal file)

Generate an id from the title: kebab-case, max 30 chars (e.g. "House Deposit 2028" → house-deposit-2028).

Write each goal to goals/<id>.md using this template:

---
id: house-deposit
title: House deposit
type: savings
target_amount: 50000
currency: EUR
deadline: 2028-06-01
priority: 1
status: active
linked_accounts: [savings-emoney, investments-trading212]
created: 2026-04-27
---
# Why
Why this matters. Constraints. What "done" looks like beyond the number.

If the user provides no goals

Suggest defaults in this priority order and ask which to adopt:

1. Emergency fund — 3-6 months of expenses in a savings account
2. High-interest debt payoff — clear any credit card or loan with APR > 10%
3. Investment baseline — start or increase regular investment contributions
4. Specific savings goal — e.g. travel, home purchase, car

For each adopted default, fill in the fields from context already collected (amounts from snapshot, linked accounts, etc.) and write the goal file.

---

Step 5: Optional First Plan Per Goal

For each goal just created, ask: "Would you like to draft an initial plan for '{goal title}' now, or later via /coinskills:plan? (now / later)"

If the user chooses now:

1. Compute available monthly contribution capacity based on income and recurring obligations already captured: monthly_capacity = sum(income.amount) − sum(recurring.amount)

2. Ask: "Which income sources and amounts do you want to direct toward this goal each month?" — present the income streams collected in Step 3.

3. Walk through the contribution schedule and confirm the projected completion date: months_to_goal = target_amount / monthly_contribution projected_date = today + months_to_goal

4. Write plans/<goal-id>-v1.md using this template:

---
goal_ids: [house-deposit]
version: 1
created: 2026-04-27
status: active
monthly_contribution: 1400
contribution_sources:
  - {account: salary, amount: 900, frequency: monthly}
  - {account: freelance, amount: 500, frequency: monthly}
projection: on-track
---
# Strategy
Narrative: how this plan works, assumptions, what triggers a v2.

If the user chooses later, move on. They can run /coinskills:plan at any time.

---

Step 6: Privacy Warning and Initial Commit

Before committing, display this warning verbatim:

⚠️ This repo will contain your real financial state. Verify it's private (gh repo view --json visibility). Never push to a public remote.

Then run:

gh repo view --json visibility

Confirm the output shows "visibility": "PRIVATE". If it does not, stop and instruct the user to make the repo private before continuing:

gh repo edit --visibility private

Once confirmed private, stage and commit everything:

git add .
git commit -m "Initial coinskills workspace"
git push

If git push fails because no upstream is set, run:

git push -u origin main

---

Step 7: Print Summary

Print a clean summary:

Workspace:      <absolute path>
Repo:           <github-username>/<repo-name> (private)
Modules:        <list of enabled modules>
Goals seeded:   <N> — <list of goal titles>
Plans drafted:  <N> — <list of goal ids with v1 plans>

Suggested next steps:
  /coinskills:start    — see status snapshot vs goals any time
  /coinskills:plan     — build or revise a strategy for any goal
  /coinskills:afford   — "can I afford X?" — full goal-impact decision

If no plans were drafted, remind the user: "Run /coinskills:plan when you're ready to build a contribution strategy for your goals."