Project Organization

Use this skill when creating new projects, scaffolding packages, or reviewing project structure to ensure consistency with established patterns.

Quick Reference

R packages: See R project patterns Julia packages: See Julia project patterns

Core Principles

Project Root Structure

Every project should have:

project/
├── .claude/              # Claude Code project config (optional)
│   └── CLAUDE.md         # Or in project root
├── .github/              # GitHub Actions and templates
│   └── workflows/
├── .pre-commit-config.yaml
├── .gitignore
├── CLAUDE.md             # Project-specific instructions
├── LICENSE.md
├── NEWS.md               # Changelog
├── README.md             # Or README.Rmd for R
└── CITATION.cff          # Citation metadata

CLAUDE.md Structure

Every project CLAUDE.md should include:

Package/Project Overview - What it does, core purpose
Development Commands - How to test, build, document
Architecture - Key components and their relationships
Testing Patterns - Framework, conventions, special considerations
Code Style - Language-specific guidelines beyond global rules

Template:

# CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code when working with this repository.

## Package Overview

[Brief description of purpose and core functionality]

## Development Commands

```bash
# Key commands with comments

Architecture

Core Components

Component: Description
Component: Description

Testing Patterns

[Framework, conventions, file naming]

Code Style

[Project-specific rules beyond global CLAUDE.md]


### Pre-commit Hooks

All projects use pre-commit for automated quality checks:

```bash
# Install
pip install pre-commit
pre-commit install

# Run manually
pre-commit run --all-files

Common hooks:

Trailing whitespace removal
End of file fixing
Large file checks
YAML validation
Language-specific linting and formatting

When to Use This Skill

Activate when:

Creating a new R or Julia package
Setting up a research project repository
Reviewing project structure for consistency
Adding configuration files to existing projects
Scaffolding CI/CD workflows

For language-specific patterns, see the reference files.

project-organization